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A review by kelseystamey
Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
4.0
This is the author's autobiography, thinly veiled as a fictional account of his years growing up in the mountains of North Carolina. Difficult to read, but goodness, it's worth the effort. It took me over a year to commit to finally reading this book (after I bought it in Asheville, natch) because it requires such focus and mental gymnastics to stay with its sometimes-too-convoluted language, dense descriptions, and ponderous storyline.
All that aside, it's not an exaggeration to say the writing is some of the most wrenchingly beautiful I've ever encountered. If it trends overmuch towards the angsty side, who's to blame Wolfe? This is a portrait of the inner thoughts and workings of a young man growing up in a dysfunctional family, after all. [My teenage journals were nothing BUT angst.] It's a humorous book at times, too. I will say the book is problematic in its expressions of blatant racism and sexism, which were par for the course when it was written but still caused me to wince every time I bumped into them. The novel is nonetheless an manifestation of a rare gift for lyrical, masterful prose style, so I give it four stars.
All that aside, it's not an exaggeration to say the writing is some of the most wrenchingly beautiful I've ever encountered. If it trends overmuch towards the angsty side, who's to blame Wolfe? This is a portrait of the inner thoughts and workings of a young man growing up in a dysfunctional family, after all. [My teenage journals were nothing BUT angst.] It's a humorous book at times, too. I will say the book is problematic in its expressions of blatant racism and sexism, which were par for the course when it was written but still caused me to wince every time I bumped into them. The novel is nonetheless an manifestation of a rare gift for lyrical, masterful prose style, so I give it four stars.