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Confronting the horror: the novels of Nelson Algren

1990; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 27; Issue: 06 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/choice.27-3182

1943-5975

James Giles,

Themes in Literature Analysis

Because naturalism seems antithetical to modernism and literary existentialism, slight attention has been given to existence of a contemporary, or post-World War II, naturalism. Indeed, very term serves as a synonym for old fashioned. While understandable, this view has contributed to misunderstanding, if not neglect, of several American writers who came to prominence in late 1940s and 1950s. James Jones coined term the unfound generation to describe these writers. The career of Nelson Algren exemplifies this phenomenon. Nelson Algren has always been an enigmatic figure, even at peak of his career. Algren himself was source of some of confusion but he was also victim of a long continuing critical misperception, that as a disciple of Theodore Dreiser he stressed external reality and social protest. In fact, while he never wavered in his commitment to lumpenproletariat, society's outcasts, his vision evolved significantly, especially through his acquaintance with Sartre, Beauvoir, and Celine. Algren's best work reflects his despair over absurd at least as much as his outrage over social and economic injustice. In Confronting Horror, James R. Giles examines evolution of Algren's major themes--external oppression and internal anxiety. He discusses Algren's fiction in relation to Maxim Gorky's explanation of lower depths and works of two contemporary writers, Hubert Selby, Jr., and John Rechy, who combine naturalistic technique with a largely existential, absurdist vision. Giles conclusion is forcefully argued, that Algren's novels are thematically richer and more complex than hitherto regarded and represent work of an American writer of first order.