Originally posted here.
The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe
…Light came and went and came again, the booming strokes of three o’clock beat out across the town in thronging bronze, light winds of April blew the fountain out in rainbow sheets, until the plume returned and pulsed, as Grover turned into the Square.
Thomas Wolfe, The Lost Boy
The Lost Boy, a novella by Thomas Wolfe is a surprising gem of a story. A fictionalized portrait of the author’s elder brother, who died of typhoid fever at age twelve, the novella consists of four parts each told from a different point of view. The first is a third person narrative that presents an important afternoon in Grover’s life. We see him at home, roaming around the town square, going from shop to shop. He builds up his nerve and purchases 15 cents worth of fudge from the stingy candy shop owner who is angered that Grover pays him in stamps and insists he return three one cent stamps the boy mistakenly gave him. Afriad that the store keeper will accuse him of stealing the stamps, he confesses to his father who takes dramatic action to correct the situation.
The second and third parts look at Grover from the point of view of his mother, who has always held that Grover was the smartest of her children, and his sister, who can’t quite believe that the author does not remember Grover more than he does. The interesting story here is that of the mother. She relates the tale of a train ride from St. Louis to Indiana and how proud she is that her son insists a black man return to the proper passenger car once they enter Indiana even though Jim Crow laws do not apply there. This part of the novella was excised by Wolfe’s editors in early editions, but I’d have to suport it’s inclusion in this version. Wolfe is telling it like it was, showing us that his mother’s belief that Grover was the best of her children is wrapped up in the prejudices they shared. It’s not a flattering portrait but it does help explain why she felt his loss so deeply.
It’s in the final part of the novel, a largely first person account of the author/narrator’s attempt to visit the St. Louis house his family lived in and his brother Grover died in, that the particular power of this novella and Wolfe’s writing comes to fruition. That you can’t go home again comes as no surprise to any fan of Thomas Wolfe, but no one portrays that particular sense of loss as well as he does. In The Lost Boy we not only morn the passing of the world and people of our youth, we morn a particular loss, a particular person. It’s not just the sometimes vague, sometimes tangible sense that something has passed out of our lives forever, there really is someone missing this time.
I found The Lost Boy by Thomas Wolfe compelling, touching and haunting. I’m giving it five out of five stars. I would not normally read a novella, but for the novella challenge I’ve signed up for. You can find out more about it here.
March 23, 2008 at 11:13 am
My reivew of The Newton Letter by John Banville can be found here.
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2008/03/newton-letter-by-john-banville.html
I gave it three out of five stars.
March 23, 2008 at 8:27 pm
My review of The Dead by James Joyce:
Click Here
April 1, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I’m not sure I’m going to count these toward the challenge because I finished The Uncommon Reader on March 28th, and Cannery Row on March 31st, but here are links to my reviews:
http://thebluestockingsociety.blogspot.com/2008/03/uncommon-reader-part-ii.html
http://thebluestockingsociety.blogspot.com/2008/04/cannery-row.html
April 1, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I guess you can count me in on the “cake under the nose” kinda reader as I jumped the gun too. You may post my verbatim if you wish, I don’t mind at all.
Thanks for hosting this, your doing a great job.
April 2, 2008 at 4:15 am
I finished my first book for the challenge 🙂 Here is my review of Absent by Betool Khedairi and feel free to post it however you want
http://corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/absent-by-betool-khedairi.html
April 2, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Here’s No One Writes to the Colonel. It’s terrific!
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2008/04/no-one-writes-to-colonel-by-gabriel.html
April 3, 2008 at 4:18 am
http://corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/when-emperor-was-divine-by-julie-otsuka.html
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka – very worth reading!
April 3, 2008 at 8:35 am
Here is my review of Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey.
http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2008/04/before-midnight.html
April 5, 2008 at 5:51 pm
And you have my permission to post any of my novella challenge-related reviews.
April 13, 2008 at 9:59 am
My review of Old Man by William Faulkner
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2008/04/old-man-by-william-faulkner.html
It’s lots of fun, really. If you’ve been put off by Faulkner in the past, this might be a good one for you to try.
April 14, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Here’s my review for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
April 19, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I read The Woman Who Waited by Andrei Makine –
[url=http://corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/woman-who-waited.html]Here is my review[/url]
April 21, 2008 at 3:12 am
Here’s my review for THE GINSENG HUNTER:
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/04/review-ginseng-hunter.html
April 21, 2008 at 8:50 am
Here’s my review for Where the Flame Trees Bloom
http://corinnesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2008/04/where-flame-trees-bloom-by-alma-flor.html
April 24, 2008 at 3:27 am
The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/04/miracle-at-speedy-motors.html
April 24, 2008 at 8:18 pm
My review of two novellas by Diana GAbaldon is at
http://hikaruthedragon.livejournal.com/6652.html
Quenby
April 27, 2008 at 3:58 am
My review for The Devil and Miss Prym can be found here:
http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-thoughts-devil-and-miss-prym.html
April 28, 2008 at 7:44 am
My review of Tortilla Flat.
April 29, 2008 at 3:11 am
My review for The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/04/review-uncommon-reader.html
April 29, 2008 at 5:34 am
My review of The Golden Pot by E.T.A. Hoffman
April 29, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Here is my review of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann.
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2008/04/death-in-venice-by-thomas-mann.html
Just one more to go and I’ll have six.
May 1, 2008 at 3:17 am
Here’s my review of EMBITTERED JUSTICE:
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-embittered-justice.html
May 4, 2008 at 6:37 pm
My review of No One Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
May 6, 2008 at 5:27 am
I finished the challenge!
Here’s what I read:
Kaddish for a Child Not Born by Kertesz
Detective Story by Imre Kertesz
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Silk by Alessandro Baricco
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
May 7, 2008 at 5:24 am
This may be off-topic. I’m trying to trace a beautiful novella I read many years ago. I only remember some of the plot:
It’s set in France. An orphan is raised by a farmer and his wife, but the boy is treated cruelly, and is basically a slave farm-worker.
There are excellent pen sketches of some of the snobbish local villagers and their attitude to him.
By the end of the novella, they have turned against him (unjustly), regard him as evil, trap him in a barn and set fire to it. The last we see of him, he is on the roof-ridge of the barn, arms upraised, before the roof collapses and he falls ito the flames inside. There is a sense, though, that the boy has not died, and that his spirit lives on.
If anyone recognises the novella, I’d love to know author/title, so that I can read it again.
May 7, 2008 at 5:37 am
This is on-topic:
Here’s a reading suggestion: The Earthquake in Chile (Das Erdbeben in Chile) by Heinrich von Kleist. Just brilliant.
Re the definition of a novella: I understood that a requirement for a novella was that it had a twist in the tale – a surprise ending. Do others agree?
May 8, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’ve reviewed two books that qualify for this challenge:
http://thebluestockingsociety.blogspot.com/2008/04/breakfast-at-tiffanys.html
http://thebluestockingsociety.blogspot.com/2008/05/alchemist.html
Feel free to post them here! Thanks for hosting.
May 10, 2008 at 2:39 am
Here is my review of The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint
http://brideofthebookgod.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/the-dreaming-place/
May 11, 2008 at 11:56 am
I’ve finished novella number six.
Candide by Voltaire.
My review is here
http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.com/2008/05/candide-by-voltaire.html
I loved it.
May 13, 2008 at 9:21 pm
[…] Novella Reviews From Participants […]
May 16, 2008 at 8:53 am
Hi! Here’s my first one:
Lesley Castle
http://chris-book-a-rama.blogspot.com/2008/05/lesley-castle-review.html
May 16, 2008 at 11:49 am
My review for Persian Brides by Dorit Rabinyan can be found here:
http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-thoughts-persian-brides-dorit.html
May 18, 2008 at 4:09 am
My review for The Postman is here:
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-postman.html
May 21, 2008 at 3:02 am
My review for Entropy is here:
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-entropy.html
May 21, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Here’s another review, this time of Death in Venice:
http://thebluestockings.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/death-in-venice/
May 22, 2008 at 4:22 am
My review of Cheerful Weather for the Wedding is here: http://brideofthebookgod.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/cheerful-weather-for-the-wedding/
May 22, 2008 at 9:24 am
My review for A Kestrel for a Knave can be found here: http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-thoughts-kestrel-for-knave-barry.html
May 24, 2008 at 4:59 am
My review of The Alchemist – Coehlo can be found here:
http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-thoughts-alchemist-paulo-coelho.html
May 24, 2008 at 5:24 pm
My review of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, is here:
May 25, 2008 at 3:00 am
Here’s my review of Boone’s Creek: Almost Home.
http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/2008/05/review-boones-creek-almost-home.html
May 29, 2008 at 3:19 pm
My review of Bauby’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly:
http://orchidus.wordpress.com/2008/05/29/the-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly-by-jean-dominique-bauby/
May 30, 2008 at 8:45 am
My review of Moon Tiger is here:
http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-thoughts-moon-tiger-penelope-lively.html
May 31, 2008 at 7:45 am
I read my last book for this challenge and this was the first challenge I have completed! My review for Orchard on Fire is here:
http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2008/05/my-thoughts-orchard-on-fire-sheena.html
June 1, 2008 at 2:02 am
My review of Odd and the Frost Giants is here:
http://brideofthebookgod.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/odd-and-the-frost-giants/
June 4, 2008 at 9:39 am
My review of Did I Expect Angels? is here:
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/06/did-i-expect-angels.html
June 8, 2008 at 2:20 pm
I finished! Here’s my list:
Stardust by Neil Gaiman 238 p
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett 124 p
This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun 190 p
The Awakening by Kate Chopin 190 p
Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe 188 p
The Call of the Wild by Jack London 172 p
June 20, 2008 at 4:59 am
I’m done! My wrap-up post is here:
http://lostinagoodstory.blogspot.com/2008/06/novella-challenge-wrap-up.html
Thanks Trish, that was fun!
June 28, 2008 at 5:51 pm
My review of The Grass Harp by Truman Capote is here:
http://pageafterpage-kim.blogspot.com/2008/06/grass-harp.html
July 7, 2008 at 9:10 am
Here are two more of my reviews:
http://thebluestockings.com/2008/06/on-chesil-beach/
http://thebluestockings.com/2008/07/the-fires/
Only one more to go!
July 10, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Here’s my review for my first novella:
http://the-ravelld-sleave.blogspot.com/2008/07/june-book-report.html
I’m really enjoying this challenge!
July 18, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Here’s my review for Harris and Me:
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/07/harris-and-me.html
July 21, 2008 at 7:27 am
I’ve completed the challenge!! Here’s the link to my last review:
http://thebluestockings.com/2008/07/stardust/
Thanks for hosting such a fun challenge, Trish.
August 5, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Here’s the review for Death in Venice:
http://orchidus.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/death-in-venice-by-thomas-mann/
August 10, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I just wrote my review of Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf:
http://the-ravelld-sleave.blogspot.com/2008/08/july-book-report.html
August 13, 2008 at 8:34 pm
A review for Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress:
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/08/balzac-and-little-chinese-seamstress.html
August 14, 2008 at 5:04 pm
My review for Foe, by J.M. Coetzee is here:
http://linussblanket.typepad.com/linuss_blanket/2008/08/foe-jm-coetzee.html
August 17, 2008 at 6:39 am
I just reviewed Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote:
http://chris-book-a-rama.blogspot.com/2008/08/breakfast-at-tiffanys-review.html
August 24, 2008 at 7:49 am
My review for Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong:
http://orchidus.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/raise-the-red-lantern-by-su-tong/
August 27, 2008 at 6:37 am
My review for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne:
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/08/boy-in-striped-pajamas.html
August 29, 2008 at 2:55 am
My review for The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.
http://linussblanket.typepad.com/linuss_blanket/2008/08/the-penelopiad.html
September 8, 2008 at 6:28 pm
My review for The Weaver Takes a Wife by Sheri Cobb South.
http://libraryqueue.blogspot.com/2008/09/weaver-takes-wife.html
September 16, 2008 at 10:04 pm
A review of Saul Bellow’s The Actual!
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/actual-by-saul-bellow.html
September 18, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Just posted a review of Emily L. by Marguerite Duras.
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/emily-l-by-marguerite-duras.html
Thanks Trish for leaving comments on my blog!
September 19, 2008 at 10:25 am
Three down, three to go!
Knocked out a review of The Cuttlefish by Maryline Desbiolles.
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/cuttlefish-by-maryline-desbiolles.html
September 23, 2008 at 8:27 am
Just finished this review for Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell, novella number four! Two to go.
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/old-herbaceous-by-reginald-arkell.html
September 24, 2008 at 10:30 am
Here is my review of Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates; five down, one to go!
http://brideofthebookgod.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/rape-a-love-story/
September 24, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I’ve sort of let this Challenge go. I doubt I’ll finish all 6. If I don’t finish…thanks for hosting this and I hope you’ll try it again next year?
Anyway here is my little review of War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. #33 for the year and third for this Challenge.
http://hikaruthedragon.livejournal.com/12663.html
September 26, 2008 at 7:31 am
Number Five!
Lila Says by Chimo
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/lila-says-by-chimo.html
One more to go and only a few days left. Gotta turn those pages!
September 26, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Just wanted to add that I’ve added pics and vids to my blog.
September 29, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Finished! Here’s my review of The Touchstone by Edith Wharton
http://brideofthebookgod.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/the-touchstone/
September 29, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Hooray! Number six!!!
Borges and the Eternal Orangutans by Luis Fernando Verissimo …
http://bigbookbigevil.blogspot.com/2008/09/borges-and-eternal-orangutans-by-luis.html
October 4, 2008 at 5:17 am
I’m still finishing up, with one more to go, but here is what I had to say for three novellas I read in September:
http://the-ravelld-sleave.blogspot.com/2008/10/september-book-report.html
November 12, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I know it’s been officially over for a while, but I finally finished my last book for this challenge in October, and posted my thoughts about the book in a blog post written this evening. If you are interested, the post is here: http://the-ravelld-sleave.blogspot.com/2008/11/october-book-report.html.
I really enjoyed this challenge – thanks for hosting it!