American literature of the first half of the 20th century. American writers

1. Truman Capote - "Summer Cruise"
Truman Capote is one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century, author of such bestsellers as Breakfast at Tiffany's, Other Voices, Other Rooms, In Cold Blood and The Meadow Harp. We bring to your attention the debut novel written by the twenty-year-old Capote, when he first arrived from New Orleans to New York, and for sixty years was considered lost. The manuscript for "Summer Cruise" surfaced at Sotheby's in 2004, and was first published in 2006. In this novel, Capote, with unsurpassed stylistic grace, describes the dramatic events in the life of high-society debutante Grady McNeil, who remains in New York for the summer while her parents sail to Europe. She falls in love with the parking lot attendant and flirts with her childhood friend, remembers her past hobbies and dances in fashionable dance halls...

2. Irving Shaw - "Lucy Crown"
The book includes one of the most famous novels by American prose writer and playwright Irwin Shaw, “Lucy Crown” (1956). Like the writer's other works - "Two Weeks in Another City", "Evening in Byzantium", "Rich Man, Poor Man" - this novel opens up to the reader a world of fragile connections and complex, sometimes unpredictable relationships between people. The story of how one mistake can turn the entire life of a person and his loved ones upside down, of unappreciated and destroyed family happiness, is told in deceptively simple language, amazes with the author’s knowledge of human psychology and invites the reader to reflection and empathy.

3. John Irving - "Men Not Her Life"
The undoubted classic of modern Western literature and one of its undisputed leaders plunges the reader into a mirror labyrinth of reflections: the fears from the children's books of the once popular writer Ted Cole suddenly take on flesh, and now the fabulous mole man turns into a real maniac killer, so that almost forty years later Ruth Cole , the writer’s daughter, also a writer, while collecting material for a novel, became a witness to his cruel crime. But first and foremost, Irving's novel is about love. The atmosphere of condensed sensuality, love without shores and restrictions fills its pages with a certain magnetic force, turning the reader into a participant in a magical action.

4. Kurt Vonnegut - "Mother Darkness"
A novel in which the great Vonnegut, with his characteristic dark and mischievous humor, explores the inner world of... a professional spy reflecting on his own direct participation in the destinies of the nation.

Writer and playwright Howard Campbell, recruited by American intelligence, is forced to play the role of an ardent Nazi - and gets a lot of pleasure from his cruel and dangerous masquerade.

He deliberately piles absurdity upon absurdity, but the more surreal and comical his Nazi “exploits” are, the more they trust him, the more people listen to his opinion.

However, wars end in peace - and Campbell will have to live without the opportunity to prove his non-involvement in the crimes of Nazism...

5. Arthur Haley - "Final Diagnosis"
Why did Arthur Hailey's novels captivate the whole world? What made them classics of world fiction? Why, as soon as “Hotel” and “Airport” came out in our country, they were literally swept off the shelves, stolen from libraries, given to friends “in line” to read?

Very simple. The works of Arthur Haley are a kind of “slices of life”. Life at the airport, hotel, hospital, Wall Street. A closed space in which people live - with their joys and sorrows, ambitions and hopes, intrigues and passions. People work, fight, fall in love, break up, achieve success, break the law - that’s life. That's what Hayley's novels are like...

6. Jerome Salinger - "The Glass Saga"
“Jerome David Salinger’s series of stories about the Glass family is a masterpiece of American literature of the 20th century, “a blank piece of paper instead of an explanation.” Zen Buddhism and nonconformism in Salinger’s books inspired more than one generation to rethink life and search for ideals.
Salinger loves the Glasses more than God loves them. He loves them too exclusively. Their invention became a hermit's hut for him. He loves them to the point that he is ready to limit himself as an artist."

7. Jack Kerouac - "Dharma Bums"
Jack Kerouac gave a voice to an entire generation in literature, during his short life he managed to write about 20 books of prose and poetry and became the most famous and controversial author of his time. Some branded him as a subverter of foundations, others considered him a classic of modern culture, but from his books all beatniks and hipsters learned to write - to write not what you know, but what you see, firmly believing that the world itself will reveal its nature.

A celebration of the outback and the bustling metropolis, Buddhism and the San Francisco poetic revival, Dharma Bums is a jazz-improvised tale of the spiritual quest of a generation that believed in kindness and humility, wisdom and ecstasy; generation, the manifesto and bible of which was another Kerouac novel, “On the Road,” which brought the author worldwide fame and entered the golden fund of American classics.

8. Theodore Dreiser - "American Tragedy"
The novel "An American Tragedy" is the pinnacle of the work of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. He said: “No one creates tragedies - life creates them. Writers only depict them.” Dreiser managed to portray the tragedy of Clive Griffiths so talentedly that his story does not leave the modern reader indifferent. A young man who has tasted all the charm of the life of the rich is so eager to establish himself in their society that he commits a crime for this.

9. John Steinbeck - "Cannery Row"
The inhabitants of a poor neighborhood in a small seaside town...

Fishermen and thieves, small traders and swindlers, “moths” and their sad and cynical “guardian angel” - a middle-aged doctor...

The heroes of the story cannot be called respectable; they do not get along well with the law. But it is impossible to resist the charm of these people.

Their adventures, sometimes funny and sometimes sad, under the pen of the great John Steinbeck, turn into a real saga about a Man - both sinful and holy, vile and ready for self-sacrifice, deceitful and sincere...

10. William Faulkner - "The Mansion"
"The Mansion" is the last book in William Faulkner's trilogy "Village, Town, Mansion", dedicated to the tragedy of the aristocracy of the American South, which was faced with a painful choice - to maintain former ideas of honor and fall into poverty, or to break with the past and join the ranks nouveau riche businessmen making quick and not very clean money from progress.
The mansion in which Flem Snopes settles gives the title to the entire novel and becomes the place where inevitable and terrible events take place that rock Yoknapatawaw County.

The last decade and a half of the 19th century were marked by the intensification of the country's intellectual life: a whole group of thinkers appeared who tried to resolve both eternal philosophical questions and issues of social justice and humanity. Philosophers Josiah Royce, George Santayana, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, John Dewey, Oliver Wendell Holmes as a legal specialist, economists and sociologists Thorstein Veblen, Herbert Crowley, Lester Frank Ward, Henry George and the greatest thinker of black America William Du Bois - all of them they complained about the superficial judgments and “vicious ideology” that occupied the “mental space of the United States.”

The new school of American philosophers and psychologists sought to ensure that seemingly abstract discussions of materialism, idealism, determinism and free will became established in the minds of Americans as something that directly concerned them. In this way they tried to prevent the truly human foundations of life from being washed away by the massive flow of mechanistic forces.

The publishing industry in the country continued to develop intensively. Farmers, factory workers, small townspeople, every ethnic group, every region now had its own newspaper or magazine.

Simultaneously with the expansion of the readership, its stratification occurred. The discerning reader, who previously lived exclusively in Boston and other cities of the northeast coast and spread throughout all major centers of the United States, always received magazines that suited his spiritual and aesthetic needs and political leanings. Now a mass of publications appeared that served a wide variety of audiences and were oriented towards their cultural level and tastes. The gap in reading habits was so wide that America seemed to be in the midst of a cultural civil war. "Between university ethics and business ethics, between American culture and the American people,<...>There is and cannot be anything in common between academic pedantry and tabloid slang, no “neutral zone,” wrote the famous critic of the early 20th century V.V. Brooks.

However, reading not only newspapers and magazines, but also fiction has finally become a national habit.

Printing in America, since the period of Reconstruction, was also clearly oriented toward two layers, one might say, two classes of readers. Large centers of book sales - New York, Boston and Philadelphia supplied bookstores with products for educated city dwellers, while "subscription" publishing houses provided booksellers who carried "culture" throughout the small towns and villages of America. A huge, mostly literate, but not very refined readership: craftsmen, farmers and members of their families - ordered in advance the publication of books on history, moral issues, medical care, patriotic or humorous essays, and only occasionally - works of art.

In these conditions, writers, in order to achieve success, had to “extricate themselves” with all their might: organize public lectures (later - public “readings”), for the sake of popularity, and not just to earn money, publish in cheap magazines, create stage versions of their works, etc. how the public, having watched the “performance,” willingly ordered the publication of “the novel they liked.” A literary career required the talents of a businessman, and in the 1880s authors began to increasingly resort to the services of literary agents. However, the income of writers has increased noticeably compared to pre-war, which in many ways pushed them to seek reader favor. Ultimately, this, along with other circumstances, hampered the development of literature.

American literature at the turn of the century did not immediately come into line with the scale of economic and social changes in the country. For a long time, the main literary achievements remained associated with romanticism, which continued to dominate poetry. Prose, which undertook to pave the way for realism, was marking time. Firstly, she was in no hurry to free herself from the system of values ​​that had developed under the sign of Puritan ideology.

The vitality of the Puritan worldview was facilitated by the fact that it did not at all contradict the new Protestant ethic of business success, but, on the contrary, even strengthened it: “Make yourself wealthy!” preacher R. Conwell urged. “Honestly acquired wealth is the best way to preach the Gospel.” As a result, Spencer’s popular social-Darwinist ideas (they inevitably penetrated into the United States from Europe and captivated the writers of the younger generation - Garland, London, Dreiser) paradoxically coexisted with the demand for the chastity of literature, in relation to which the new realities of life and even the originality of artistic mastery turned out to be secondary.

In this regard, the creative fate of Kate Chopin (1851-1904), a talented prose writer, a strong master of the short story genre and “local color”, who won reader recognition with two collections of stories from the life of Louisiana Creoles “The Old Timers of Bayeux” (1894) and “Night in Acadia”, is very indicative "(1897). The writer was literally destroyed by criticism and subjected to public ostracism after the publication of the novel “The Awakening” (1899), a psychologically subtle and masterfully executed study of the female soul.

The work was considered provocative and indecent: its heroine, a young married lady Edna Pontilier, commits adultery, is not at all worried about it, and in addition, in the finale, falls into the unforgivable sin of suicide, not even out of repentance, but simply obeying a momentary impulse. The public was outraged by the deep immorality of the heroine, who did not think about the consequences of her actions, and by the author's obvious sympathy for her.

In reality, it was not the philistine (there is not a single explicit scene in the novel) but the artistic courage of K. Chopin that was incredible. She innovatively - without the author's commentary or moralizing - depicted the not yet fully formed, but only the awakening personality of a young woman, wide open to all the sounds, colors and smells of the world around her. Shocked readers and critics simply did not notice either the beauty and perfection of the style, or the tragic, without melodrama, power of the work. Their verdict was final; The defamed author of a novel ahead of her time, K. Chopin left literature forever, and five years later, from life.

The development of realistic prose was hampered, secondly, by the spread of the “smiling” tradition, recognized as “the most American,” but in fact limiting and narrowing the writers’ vision of such a versatile and often crisis-ridden modern life. This “smile” became more and more deliberate and gradually began to be perceived almost as a “grimace of a fool.” The clearest example of this is the work of William Sidney Porter, who wrote under the pseudonym O. Henry (1862-1910).

A brilliant master of the short story and at the same time an author who has no equal in “binding up the wounds” of ordinary Americans, he enjoyed great popularity only among the most indiscriminate readers. The invariably happy endings of his stories eventually became boring to his contemporaries. O. Henry's letters and unfinished manuscripts indicate that he was not entirely willing to remain a “good storyteller,” but dreamed of “simple, honest prose.”

Thirdly, a kind of “limiter” was the almost inevitable desire of writers for commercial success, to which many writers in the USA found themselves victims. For example, Francis Bret Harte(1836-1902), who came from Albany to San Francisco in the 1870s, became for a time America's most famous writer. One of the pioneers of "local color," he, in The Happiness of the Roaring Mill and Other Stories, essentially created the popular image of the Wild West, peopled by sentimental swindlers, brave renegades and fallen women with hearts of gold.

At the age of thirty-five, Bret Harte went to the east of the country as a winner and signed a contract of 10 thousand dollars with the large Atlantic Monthly magazine, after which his literary career quickly ended. His works, in which the writer clearly repeated himself, were not successful, large debts and bitter disappointment ultimately made Harte a voluntary exile. In 1878, he entered the consular service in England and left the United States, as it turned out, forever.

And, finally, the most serious reason for the lag of American literature both from European literature and from the pace of socio-political development of its own country was the immaturity of the national realistic tradition, its provincial character, due to all previous circumstances. Having brilliantly mastered the romantic principles of depicting reality, but faced with changed life realities, US literature again had to start practically from scratch, without copying the European experience, which did not correspond to American specifics. Once again, as before, an inspiring idea was needed that could give impetus to artistic development.

A certain fresh breath was the formation and increasingly confident activity of the “local color” schools, which were gradually freed from the inertia of elegant, “decent” writing, the ardent of which remained the highly educated Boston “Brahmins” - Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Having done a lot for the national culture in their time, this triumvirate continued to try to define the aesthetic norms of American literature, “as if there had been no Civil War, and there were no other regions in America except New England,” as a contemporary said about him.

The United States of America can rightfully be proud of the literary heritage left by the best American writers. Beautiful works continue to be created even now, however, most of them are fiction and mass literature that do not carry any food for thought.

The best recognized and unrecognized American writers

Critics still debate whether fiction is beneficial to humans. Some say that it develops imagination and a sense of grammar, and also broadens one’s horizons, and individual works can even change one’s worldview. Some people believe that only scientific literature containing practical or factual information that can be used in everyday life and develop not spiritually or morally, but materially and functionally, is suitable for reading. Therefore, American writers write in a huge number of different directions - the literary “market” of America is as large as its cinema and variety stage are diverse.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Master of the True Nightmare

Since the American people are greedy for everything bright and unusual, the literary world of Howard Phillips Lovecraft turned out to be just to their taste. It was Lovecraft who gave the world stories about the mythical deity Cthulhu, who fell asleep at the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago and will wake up only when the time of the apocalypse comes. Lovecraft has amassed a huge fan base around the world, with bands, songs, albums, books and films named in his honor. The incredible world that the Master of Horror created in his works never ceases to frighten even the most avid and experienced horror fans. Stephen King himself was inspired by Lovecraft's talent. Lovecraft created a whole pantheon of gods and frightened the world with terrible prophecies. Reading his works, the reader feels a completely inexplicable, incomprehensible and very powerful fear, although the author almost never directly describes what one should be afraid of. The writer forces the reader’s imagination to work in such a way that he himself imagines the most terrible pictures, and this literally makes the blood run cold. Despite the highest writing skills and recognizable style, many American writers turned out to be unrecognized during their lifetime, and Howard Lovecraft was one of them.

Master of Monstrous Descriptions - Stephen King

Inspired by the worlds created by Lovecraft, Stephen King created a lot of magnificent works, many of which were filmed. Such American writers as Douglas Clegg, Jeffrey Deaver and many others worshiped his skill. Stephen King is still creating, although he has repeatedly admitted that because of his works, unpleasant supernatural things often happened to him. One of his most famous books, with the short but loud title “It,” excited millions. Critics complain that it is almost impossible to convey the full horror of his works in film adaptations, but brave directors are trying to do this to this day. King’s books such as “The Dark Tower”, “Necessary Things”, “Carrie”, “Dreamcatcher” are very popular. Stephen King not only knows how to create a tense, tense atmosphere, but also offers the reader a lot of absolutely disgusting and detailed descriptions of dismembered bodies and other not very pleasant things.

Classic fantasy from Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison is still very popular in fairly wide circles. His style is easy and his language is straightforward and understandable, qualities that make his works suitable for readers of almost any age. Garrison's plots are extremely interesting, and the characters are original and interesting, so everyone can find a book to their liking. One of Harrison's most famous books, The Untamed Planet boasts a twisting plot, relatable characters, good humor and even a beautiful romance. This American science fiction writer made people think about the consequences of too much technological progress, and whether we really need space travel if we still cannot control ourselves and our own planet. Garrison showed how to create science fiction that both children and adults can understand.

Max Barry and his books for the progressive consumer

Many modern American writers place their main emphasis on the consumer nature of man. On the shelves of bookstores today you can find a lot of fiction telling about the adventures of fashionable and stylish heroes in the field of marketing, advertising and other big business. However, even among such books you can find real pearls. Max Barry's work sets the bar so high for modern authors that only truly original writers can leap over it. His novel "Syrup" centers on the story of a young man named Scat, who dreams of making a brilliant career in advertising. The ironic style, apt use of strong words and stunning psychological pictures of the characters made the book a bestseller. “Syrup” got its own film adaptation, which did not become as popular as the book, but was almost as good in quality, since Max Barry himself helped the screenwriters work on the film.

Robert Heinlein: a fierce critic of public relations

There is still debate about which writers can be considered modern. Critics believe that they can also be included in their category, and after all, modern American writers should write in a language that would be understandable to today's people and would be interesting to them. Heinlein coped with this task one hundred percent. His satirical and philosophical novel “Passing through the Valley of the Shadow of Death” shows all the problems of our society using a very original plot device. The main character is an elderly man whose brain was transplanted into the body of his young and very beautiful secretary. A lot of time in the novel is devoted to the themes of free love, homosexuality and lawlessness in the name of money. We can say that the book “Passing through the Valley of the Shadow of Death” is a very tough, but at the same time extremely talented satire that exposes modern American society.

and food for hungry young minds

American classic writers concentrated most of all on philosophical, significant issues and directly on the design of their works, and they were almost not interested in further demand. In modern literature published after 2000, it is difficult to find something truly deep and original, since all the topics have already been brilliantly covered by the classics. This is observed in the books of the Hunger Games series, written by the young writer Suzanne Collins. Many thoughtful readers doubt that these books are worthy of any attention, since they are nothing more than a parody of real literature. First of all, in the “Hunger Games” series, designed for young readers, the theme of a love triangle, shaded by the pre-war state of the country and the general atmosphere of brutal totalitarianism, is attractive. Film adaptations of Suzanne Collins' novels hit the box office, and the actors who played the leading characters in them became famous throughout the world. Skeptics about this book say that it is better for young people to read at least this than not to read at all.

Frank Norris and his for ordinary people

Some famous American writers are practically unknown to any reader far from the classical literary world. This can be said, for example, about the work of Frank Norris, who did not stop him from creating the amazing work “Octopus”. The realities of this work are far from the interests of the Russian people, but Norris’s unique writing style invariably attracts lovers of good literature. When we think of American farmers, we always picture smiling, happy, tanned people with an expression of gratitude and humility on their faces. Frank Norris showed the real life of these people without embellishing it. In the novel "Octopus" there is not even a hint of the spirit of American chauvinism. Americans loved to talk about the lives of ordinary people, and Norris was no exception. It seems that the issue of social injustice and insufficient pay for hard work will concern people of all nationalities in any historical time.

Francis Fitzgerald and his reprimand to unlucky Americans

The great American writer Francis gained a “second popularity” after the release of the recent film adaptation of his magnificent novel “The Great Gatsby.” The film made young people read the classics of American literature, and the leading actor Leonardo DiCaprio was predicted to win an Oscar, but, as always, he did not receive it. "The Great Gatsby" is a very short novel that vividly illustrates the perverted American morality, masterfully showing the cheap human inside. The novel teaches that friends cannot be bought, just as love cannot be bought. The main character of the novel, the narrator Nick Carraway, describes the whole situation from his point of view, which gives the whole plot piquancy and a little ambiguity. All the characters are very original and perfectly illustrate not only American society of that time, but also our present-day realities, since people will never stop hunting for material wealth, despising spiritual depth.

Both poet and prose writer

America's poets and writers have always been distinguished by their amazing versatility. If today authors can create only prose or only poetry, then previously such a preference was considered almost bad taste. For example, the aforementioned Howard Phillitt Lovecraft, in addition to amazingly creepy stories, also wrote poetry. What is especially interesting is that his poems were much lighter and more positive than prose, although they provided no less food for thought. Lovecraft's mastermind, Edgar Allan Poe, also wrote great poems. Unlike Lovecraft, Poe did this much more often and much better, which is why some of his poems are still heard today. Edgar Allan Poe's poems contained not only stunning metaphors and mystical allegories, but also had philosophical overtones. Who knows, perhaps the modern master of the horror genre Stephen King will also sooner or later turn to poetry, tired of complex sentences.

Theodore Dreiser and "An American Tragedy"

The life of ordinary people and the rich was described by many classical authors: Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Bernard Shaw, O'Henry. The American writer Theodore Dreiser also followed this path, placing more emphasis on the psychologism of the characters than directly on the description of everyday problems. His novel "An American Tragedy" perfectly presented the world with a vivid example of one that collapses due to the wrong moral choices and vanity of the protagonist. The reader, oddly enough, is not at all imbued with sympathy for this character, because only a real scoundrel who causes nothing but contempt and hatred can violate all societies so indifferently. In this guy, Theodore Dreiser embodied those people who want to break out of the shackles of a society that is disgusting to them at any cost. However, is this high society really so good that one can kill an innocent person for its sake?

This is the era of colonization, the dominance of Puritan ideals, patriarchal pious morals. Theological interests predominated in literature. The collection “Bay Psalm Book” () was published; poems and poems were written for various occasions, mainly of a patriotic nature (“The tenth muse, lately sprung up in America” by Anne Bradstreet, an elegy on the death of N. Bacon, poems by W. Wood, J. Norton, Urian Oka, national songs “Lovewells. fight”, “The song of Bradoec men”, etc.).

Prose literature of that time was devoted mainly to descriptions of travel and the history of the development of colonial life. The most prominent theological writers were Hooker, Cotton, Roger Williams, Bayles, J. Wise, Jonathan Edwards. At the end of the 18th century, agitation for the liberation of blacks began. The champions of this movement in literature were J. Woolmans, author of “Some considerations on the Keeping of Negroes” (), and Ant. Benezet, author of “A caution to Great Britain and its colonies relative to enslaved negroes” (). The transition to the next era was the works of B. Franklin - “The Path to Plenty” (eng. The Way to Wealth), “The speech of Father Abraham”, etc.; He founded Poor Richard's Almanac. Poor Richards Almanack).

Age of Revolution

The second period of North American literature, from before 1790, embraces the era of revolution and is distinguished by the development of journalism and political literature. Major writers on political issues: Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, J. Matheson, Alexander Hamilton, J. Stray, Thomas Paine. Historians: Thomas Getchinson, supporter of the British, Jeremiah Belknap, Dove. Ramsay and William Henry Drayton, adherents of the Revolution; then J. Marshall, Rob. Proud, Abiel Golmez. Theologians and moralists: Samuel Hopkins, William White, J. Murray.

19th century

The third period covers all of 19th century North American literature. The preparatory era was the first quarter of the century, when the prose style was developed. " Sketch-book"Washington Irving () marked the beginning of semi-philosophical, semi-journalistic literature, sometimes humorous, sometimes instructive-moralistic essays. The national traits of the Americans were especially clearly reflected here - their practicality, utilitarian morality and naive, cheerful humor, very different from the sarcastic, gloomy humor of the British.

Edgar Allan Poe (−) and Walt Whitman (−) stand completely apart from the others.

Edgar Allan Poe is a deep mystic, a poet of refined nervous moods, who loved everything mysterious and enigmatic, and at the same time a great virtuoso of verse. He is not at all American by nature; he does not have American sobriety and efficiency. His work bears a sharply individual imprint.

Walt Whitman is the embodiment of American democracy. His " grass leaves"(English) Leaves of Grass) sing of freedom and strength, joy and fullness of life. His free verse revolutionized modern versification.

In the prose literature of America, novelists, as well as essayists, are in the foreground - then Washington Irving, Oliver Holmes, Ralph Emerson, James Lowell. The novelists portray the energetic, enterprising natures of both the former settlers, who lived amidst danger and hard work, and the modern, more cultured Yankees.

Emigrants played a major role in American literature of the twentieth century: it is difficult to underestimate the scandal that Lolita caused; a very prominent niche is American Jewish literature, often humorous: Singer, Bellow, Roth, Malamud, Allen; one of the most famous black writers was Baldwin; Recently, the Greek Eugenides and the Chinese Amy Tan have gained fame. The five most significant Chinese-American writers include Edith Maude Eaton, Diana Chang, Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Gish Jen. Chinese-American literature is represented by Louis Chu, author of the satirical novel Eat a Bowl of Tea (1961), and playwrights Frank Chin and David Henry Hwang. Saul Bellow won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976. The work of Italian-American authors (Mario Puzo, John Fante, Don DeLillo) enjoys great success. Openness has increased not only in the national-religious field: the famous poet Elizabeth Bishop did not hide her love for women; Other writers include Capote and Cunningham.

J. Salinger's novel "The Catcher in the Rye" occupies a special place in the literature of the 50s. This work, published in 1951, has become (especially among young people) a cult favorite. In American dramaturgy of the 50s, the plays of A. Miller and T. Williams stand out. In the 60s, the plays of E. Albee became famous ("An Incident at the Zoo", "The Death of Bessie Smith", "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", "The Whole Garden"). At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, a number of novels by Mitchell Wilson were published , related to the topic of science (“Live with Lightning”, “My Brother, My Enemy”). These books became widely known (especially in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s).

The diversity of American literature never allows one movement to completely displace others; after the beatniks of the 50-60s (J. Kerouac, L. Ferlinghetti, G. Corso, A. Ginsberg), the most noticeable trend became - and continues to be - postmodernism (for example, Paul Auster, Thomas Pynchon). books by postmodernist writer Don DeLillo (b. 1936). One of the famous researchers of American literature of the 20th century is the translator and literary critic A.M. Zverev (1939-2003).

In the United States, science fiction and horror literature became widespread, and in the second half of the 20th century, fantasy. The first wave of American sci-fi, which included Edgar Rice Burroughs, Murray Leinster, Edmond Hamilton, was primarily entertaining and gave rise to the "space opera" subgenre. By the mid-20th century, more complex fiction began to dominate in the United States. Among the world-famous American science fiction writers are Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Andre Norton, Clifford Simak. In the USA, a subgenre of science fiction called cyberpunk arose (Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling). By the 21st century, America remains one of the main centers of science fiction, thanks to authors such as Dan Simmons, Lois Bujold, David Weber, Scott Westerfeld, and others.

Most of the popular horror authors of the 20th century are American. A classic of horror literature of the first half of the century was Howard Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos. In the second half of the century, Stephen King and Dean Koontz worked in the USA. American fantasy began in the 1930s with Robert E. Howard, author of Conan, and was subsequently developed by authors such as Roger Zelazny, Paul William Anderson, Ursula Le Guin. One of the most popular fantasy authors in the 21st century is the American George R. R. Martin, creator of Game of Thrones.

Literary genres

• American fiction
• American detective
• American novella
• American novel

Literature

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• American detective. Collection of stories by US writers. Per. from English Comp. V. L. Gopman. M. Legal. lit. 1989 384 p.
• American detective. M. Lad 1992. - 384 p.
• Anthology of Beat poetry. Per. from English - M.: Ultra. Culture, 2004, 784 p.
• Anthology of Negro poetry. Comp. and lane R. Magidov. M., 1936.
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• Venediktova T. D. Finding your voice. American national poetic tradition. - M., 1994.
• Venediktova T. D. “American Conversation”: the discourse of bargaining in the literary tradition of the USA. - M.: New Literary Review, 2003. −328 p. ISBN 5-86793-236-2
• Bernatskaya V.I. Four decades of American drama. 1950-1980 - M.: Rudomino, 1993. - 215 p.
• Bobrova M. N. Romanticism in American literature of the 19th century. M., Higher School, 1972.-286 p.
• Benediktova T.D. Finding your voice. American national poetic tradition. M., 1994.
• Brooks V.V. Writer and American life: In 2 vols.: Transl. from English / Afterword M. Mendelssohn. - M.: Progress, 1967-1971
• Van Spankeren, K. Essays on American Literature. Per. from English D. M. Course. - M.: Knowledge, 1988 - 64 p.
• Vashchenko A.V. America in a dispute with America (Ethnic Literatures of the USA) - M.: Knowledge, 1988 - 64 p.
• Geismar M. American contemporaries: Trans. from English - M.: Progress, 1976. - 309 p.
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Despite its relatively short history, American literature has made an invaluable contribution to world culture. Although already in the 19th century the whole of Europe was reading the dark detective stories of Edgar Allan Poe and the beautiful historical poems of Henry Longfellow, these were only the first steps; It was in the 20th century that American literature flourished. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression, two world wars and the struggle against racial discrimination in America, classics of world literature, Nobel Prize laureates, writers who characterize an entire era with their works are born.

The radical economic and social changes in American life in the 1920s and 1930s provided the ideal soil for realism, which reflected the desire to capture the new realities of America. Now, along with books whose purpose was to entertain the reader and make him forget about surrounding social problems, works appear on the shelves that clearly show the need to change the existing social order. The work of the realists was distinguished by a great interest in various kinds of social conflicts, attacks on the values ​​​​accepted by society and criticism of the American way of life.

Among the most prominent realists were Theodore Dreiser, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner And Ernest Hemingway. In their immortal works, they reflected the true life of America, sympathized with the tragic fate of young Americans who went through the First World War, supported the fight against fascism, openly spoke in defense of workers and without hesitation depicted the depravity and spiritual emptiness of American society.

THEODORE DREISER

(1871-1945)

Theodore Dreiser was born in a small town in Indiana into the family of a bankrupt small businessman. Writer from childhood I knew hunger, poverty and need, which was later reflected in the themes of his works, as well as in his brilliant description of the life of the ordinary working class. His father was a strict Catholic, narrow-minded and despotic, which forced Dreiser hate religion till the end of one's days.

At the age of sixteen, Dreiser had to leave school and work part-time in order to somehow earn a living. Later, he was still enrolled at the university, but was only able to study there for a year, again due to money problems. In 1892, Dreiser began working as a reporter for various newspapers, and eventually moved to New York, where he became a magazine editor.

His first significant work was a novel "Sister Carrie"– published in 1900. Dreiser describes, close to his own life, the story of a poor village girl who goes to Chicago in search of work. As soon as the book barely made it into print, it immediately was called against morality and was withdrawn from sale. Seven years later, when it became too difficult to hide the work from the public, the novel finally appeared on store shelves. The writer's second book "Jenny Gerhard" published in 1911 was also trashed by critics.

Then Dreiser begins to write the series of novels “Trilogy of Desires”: "Financier" (1912), "Titanium"(1914) and unfinished novel "Stoic"(1947). His goal was to show how at the end of the 19th century in America "big business".

In 1915, a semi-autobiographical novel was published. "Genius", in which Dreiser describes the tragic fate of a young artist whose life was broken by the cruel injustice of American society. Myself the writer considered the novel his best work, but critics and readers greeted the book negatively and it was practically wasn't for sale.

Dreiser's most famous work is the immortal novel "American tragedy"(1925). This is the story of a young American who is corrupted by the false morals of the United States, causing him to become a criminal and a murderer. The novel reflects American way of life, in which the poverty of workers from the outskirts stands out clearly against the background of the prosperity of the privileged class.

In 1927, Dreiser visited the USSR and the following year published a book “Dreiser looks at Russia” which became one of the first books about the Soviet Union, published by a writer from America.

Dreiser also supported the movement of the American working class and wrote several journalistic works on this topic - "Tragic America"(1931) and "America is worth saving"(1941). With tireless strength and skill of a true realist, he depicted the social system around him. However, despite how harsh the world appeared before his eyes, the writer never didn't lose faith to the dignity and greatness of man and his beloved country.

In addition to critical realism, Dreiser worked in the genre naturalism. He meticulously depicted seemingly insignificant details of the daily life of his heroes, cited real documents, sometimes very long in size, clearly described actions related to business, etc. Because of this style of writing, critics often accused Dreiser in the absence of style and imagination. By the way, despite such condemnations, Dreiser was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in 1930, so you can judge their veracity for yourself.

I don’t argue, maybe sometimes the abundance of small details is confusing, but it is their ubiquitous presence that allows the reader to most clearly imagine the action and seem to be a direct participant in it. The writer's novels are large in size and can be quite difficult to read, but they are undoubtedly masterpieces American Literature, worth spending time on. It is highly recommended for fans of Dostoevsky's work, who will certainly be able to appreciate Dreiser's talent.

FRANCIS SCOTT FITZGERALD

(1896-1940)

Francis Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most prominent American writers lost generation(these are young people drafted to the front, sometimes not yet graduating from school and starting to kill early; after the war they often could not adapt to peaceful life, they became drunkards, committed suicide, and some went crazy). These were people devastated from within, who had no strength left to fight the corrupt world of wealth. They try to fill their spiritual emptiness with endless pleasures and entertainment.

The writer was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, into a wealthy family, so he had the opportunity to study at prestigious Princeton University. At that time, there was a competitive spirit at the university, which influenced Fitzgerald. He tried with all his might to become a member of the most fashionable and famous clubs, which attracted with their atmosphere of sophistication and aristocracy. For the writer, money was synonymous with independence, privilege, style and beauty, while poverty was associated with stinginess and limitation. Later Fitzgerald I realized the falsity of my views.

He never finished his studies at Princeton, but that was where his literary career(he wrote for the university magazine). In 1917, the writer volunteered for the army, but never took part in real military operations in Europe. At the same time he falls in love with Zelda Sayre who came from a wealthy family. They got married only in 1920, two years later after the resounding success of Fitzgerald's first serious work. "The Other Side of Heaven", because Zelda didn't want to marry a poor unknown man. The fact that beautiful girls are attracted only by wealth made the writer think about social injustice, and Zelda was subsequently often called prototype of heroines his novels.

Fitzgerald's wealth grows in direct proportion to the popularity of his novel, and soon the couple become the epitome of a luxurious lifestyle, they even began to be called the king and queen of their generation. They lived luxuriously and ostentatiously, enjoying fashionable life in Paris, expensive rooms in prestigious hotels, endless parties and receptions. They constantly pulled out various eccentric antics, had scandals and became addicted to alcohol, and Fitzgerald even began writing articles for the glossy magazines of the time. All this is undoubtedly destroyed the writer's talent, although even then he managed to write several serious novels and stories.

His major novels appeared between 1920 and 1934: "The Other Side of Heaven" (1920), "The Beautiful and the Damned" (1922), "The Great Gatsby", which is the writer's most famous work and is considered a masterpiece of American literature, and "Night is tender" (1934).

Fitzgerald's best stories are included in collections "Tales of the Jazz Age"(1922) and "All These Sad Young Men" (1926).

Shortly before his death, in an autobiographical article, Fitzgerald compared himself to a broken plate. He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood.

The main theme of almost all of Fitzgerald's works was the corrupting power of money, which leads to spiritual decay. He considered the rich a special class, and only over time began to realize that it was based on inhumanity, his own uselessness and lack of morality. He realized this along with his heroes, who were mostly autobiographical characters.

Fitzgerald's novels are written in beautiful language, understandable and sophisticated at the same time, so the reader can hardly tear himself away from his books. Although after reading Fitzgerald's works, despite the amazing imagination a journey into the luxurious “age of jazz”, there remains a feeling of emptiness and futility of existence, he is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding writers of the 20th century.

WILLIAM FAULKNER

(1897-1962)

William Cuthbert Faulkner is one of the leading novelists of the mid-20th century, set in New Albany, Mississippi, from an impoverished aristocratic family. He studied at Oxford when the First World War began. The writer's experience gained at this time played an important role in the formation of his character. He entered military flight school, but the war ended before he could complete the course. After this Faulkner returned to Oxford and worked postmaster at the University of Mississippi. At the same time, he began taking courses at the university and trying to write.

His first published book, a collection of poems "Marble Faun"(1924), was not successful. In 1925, Faulkner met the writer Sherwood Anderson, which had a great influence on his work. He recommended to Faulkner do not engage in poetry, prose, and gave advice to write about American South, about the place Faulkner grew up in and knows best. It is in Mississippi, namely in a fictional county Yoknapatawpha the events of most of his novels will take place.

In 1926 Faulkner wrote the novel "Soldier's Award", who was close in spirit to the lost generation. The writer showed tragedy of people who returned to peaceful life crippled both physically and mentally. The novel was also not a great success, but Faulkner was recognized as an inventive writer.

From 1925 to 1929 he works carpenter And painter and successfully combines this with writing.

The novel was published in 1927 "Mosquitoes" and in 1929 – "Sartoris". That same year, Faulkner published the novel "The Sound and the Fury" which brings him fame in literary circles. After this, he decides to devote all his time to writing. His work "Sanctuary"(1931), a story of violence and murder, became a sensation and the author finally found financial independence.

In the 30s, Faulner wrote several Gothic novels: "When I was dying"(1930), "Light in August"(1932) and "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936).

In 1942, the writer published a collection of short stories "Come Down, Moses", which includes one of his most famous works - the story "Bear".In 1948 Faulkner writes "Defiler of Ashes", one of the most important social novels associated with the problem of racism.

In the 40s and 50s, his best work was published - a trilogy of novels "Village", "City" And "Mansion" dedicated to the tragic fate of the aristocracy of the American South. Faulkner's last novel "The Kidnappers" released in 1962, it is also part of the Yoknapatawpha saga and depicts the story of the beautiful but dying South. For this novel, and also for "Parable"(1954), whose themes are humanity and war, Faulkner received Pulitzer Prizes. In 1949, the writer was awarded "for his significant and artistically unique contribution to the development of the modern American novel".

William Faulkner was one of the most important writers of his time. He belonged to Southern School of American Writers. In his works, he turned to the history of the American South, especially the times of the Civil War.

In his books he tried to deal with the problem of racism, knowing full well that it is not so much social as psychological. Faulkner saw African Americans and whites as inextricably bound together by a shared history. He condemned racism and cruelty, but was sure that both whites and African Americans were not ready for legislative measures, so Faulkner mainly criticized the moral side of the issue.

Faulkner was skilled with the pen, although he often claimed to have little interest in writing technique. He was a bold experimenter and had an original style. He wrote psychological novels, in which great attention was paid to the characters' lines, for example, the novel "When I was dying" is built as a chain of monologues of the characters, sometimes long, sometimes in one or two sentences. Faulkner fearlessly combined contradictory epithets to powerful effect, and his works often have ambiguous, uncertain endings. Of course, Faulkner knew how to write in such a way that stir the soul even the most fastidious reader.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

(1899-1961)

Ernest Hemingway - one of the most widely read writers of the 20th century. He is a classic of American and world literature.

He was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of a provincial doctor. His father was fond of hunting and fishing, he taught his son shoot and fish, and also instilled a love for sports and nature. Ernest's mother was a religious woman who was entirely devoted to the affairs of the church. Due to different views on life, quarrels often broke out between the writer’s parents, which is why Hemingway couldn't feel calm at home.

Ernest's favorite place was the house in northern Michigan, where the family usually spent the summer. The boy always accompanied his father on various forays into the forest or fishing.

Was at Ernest's school gifted, energetic, successful student and excellent athlete. He played football, was on the swim team and boxed. Hemingway also loved literature, writing weekly reviews and poetry and prose for school magazines. However, Ernest's school years were not calm. The atmosphere created in the family by his demanding mother put a lot of pressure on the boy, so he ran away from home twice and worked on farms as a laborer.

In 1917, as America entered World War I, Hemingway wanted to join the active army, but due to poor eyesight he was refused. He moved to Kansas to live with his uncle and began working as a reporter for the local newspaper. The Kansas City Star. Journalistic experience clearly visible in Hemingway's distinctive writing style, laconicism, but at the same time clarity and precision of language. In the spring of 1918, he learned that the Red Cross needed volunteers for Italian front. This was his long-awaited chance to be at the center of the battles. After a short stop in France, Hemingway arrived in Italy. Two months later, while rescuing a wounded Italian sniper, the writer came under machine gun and mortar fire and was seriously wounded. He was taken to a hospital in Milan, where after 12 operations, 26 fragments were removed from his body.

Experience Hemingway, received in war, was very important for the young man and influenced not only his life, but also his writing. In 1919, Hemingway returned to America as a hero. Soon he travels to Toronto, where he begins working as a reporter for a newspaper. The Toronto Star. In 1921, Hemingway married young pianist Hadley Richardson, and the couple moves to Paris, a city that the writer has long dreamed of. To collect material for his future stories, Hemingway travels around the world, visiting Germany, Spain, Switzerland and other countries. His first job "Three stories and ten poems"(1923) was not successful, but the next collection of stories "In our time", published in 1925, achieved public recognition.

Hemingway's first novel "And the Sun Rises"(or "Fiesta") published in 1926. "A Farewell to Arms!", a novel depicting the First World War and its aftermath, published in 1929 and brings great popularity to the author. In the late 20s and 30s, Hemingway published two collections of stories: "Men Without Women"(1927) and "Winner takes nothing" (1933).

The most outstanding works written in the first half of the 30s are "Death in the Afternoon"(1932) and "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). "Death in the Afternoon" tells about the Spanish bullfight, "Green Hills of Africa" and a well-known collection "Snows of Kilimanjaro"(1936) describe Hemingway's hunting in Africa. Nature lover, the writer masterfully paints African landscapes for readers.

When did it start in 1936? Spanish Civil War, Hemingway rushed to the theater of war, but this time as an anti-fascist correspondent and writer. The next three years of his life are closely connected with the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism.

He took part in the filming of a documentary film "Land of Spain". Hemingway wrote the script and read the text himself. The impressions of the war in Spain are reflected in the novel "For whom the Bell Tolls"(1940), which the writer himself considered his best job.

Hemingway's deep hatred of fascism made him active participant in World War II. He organized counterintelligence against Nazi spies and hunted German submarines in the Caribbean on his boat, after which he served as a war correspondent in Europe. In 1944, Hemingway took part in combat flights over Germany and even, standing at the head of a detachment of French partisans, was one of the first to liberate Paris from German occupation.

After the war Hemingway moved to Cuba, sometimes visited Spain and Africa. He warmly supported the Cuban revolutionaries in their struggle against the dictatorship that had developed in the country. He talked a lot with ordinary Cubans and worked a lot on a new story "The Old Man and the Sea", which is considered the pinnacle of the writer’s creativity. In 1953, Ernest Hemingway received Pulitzer Prize for this brilliant story, and in 1954 Hemingway was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature "for the narrative mastery once again demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea."

During his trip to Africa in 1953, the writer was involved in a serious plane crash.

In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. In November 1960, Hemingway returned to America to the town of Ketchum, Idaho. Writer suffered from a number of diseases, which is why he was admitted to the clinic. He was in deep depression, because he believed that FBI agents were watching him, listening to telephone conversations, checking mail and bank accounts. The clinic accepted this as a symptom of mental illness and treated the great writer with electric shock. After 13 sessions Hemingway I lost my memory and the ability to create. He was depressed, suffered from bouts of paranoia, and increasingly thought about suicide.

Two days after being released from a psychiatric hospital, on July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway shot himself with his favorite hunting rifle in his home in Ketchum, leaving no suicide note.

In the early 80s, Hemingway's FBI file was declassified, and the fact of surveillance of the writer in his last years was confirmed.

Ernest Hemingway was, of course, the greatest writer of his generation, who had an amazing and tragic fate. He was freedom fighter, vehemently opposed wars and fascism, and not only through literary works. He was incredible master of writing. His style is distinguished by laconicism, accuracy, restraint in describing emotional situations, and specificity of details. The technique he developed entered the literature under the name "iceberg principle", because the writer gave the main meaning to the subtext. The main feature of his work was truthfulness, he was always honest and sincere with his readers. While reading his works, confidence in the authenticity of events appears, and the effect of presence is created.

Ernest Hemingway is the writer whose works are recognized as true masterpieces of world literature and whose works, without a doubt, are worth reading for everyone.

MARGARET MITCHELL

(1900-1949)

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She was the daughter of a lawyer who was chairman of the Atlanta Historical Society. The whole family loved and was interested in history, and the girl grew up in atmosphere of stories about the Civil War.

Mitchell first studied at Washington Seminary and then entered the prestigious all-female Smith College in Massachusetts. After studying she started working in The Atlanta Journal. She wrote hundreds of essays, articles and reviews for the newspaper, and in four years of work she grew to reporter, but in 1926 she suffered an ankle injury, which made her work impossible.

The energy and liveliness of the writer’s character could be seen in everything she did or wrote. In 1925 Margaret Mitchell married John Marsh. From that moment on, she began to write down all the stories about the Civil War that she heard as a child. The result was a novel "Gone With the Wind", which was first published in 1936. The writer worked on it for ten years. This is a novel about the American Civil War, told from the point of view of the North. The main character is, of course, a beautiful girl named Scarlett O'Hara, the whole story revolves around her life, family plantation, love relationships.

After the release of the novel, an American classic bestseller, Margaret Mitchell quickly became a world-famous writer. More than 8 million copies have been sold in 40 countries. The novel has been translated into 18 languages. He won Pulzer Prize in 1937. Later a very successful film was filmed movie with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable and Leslie Howard.

Despite numerous requests from fans to continue O'Hara's story, Mitchell did not write more not a single novel. But the name of the writer, like her magnificent work, will forever remain in the history of world literature.