Seeking Title/Author of Certain Unceasingly Loathsome Literatary Work
February 21, 2008 6:56 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for the title and author of a certain North American Literature work with only a few details. I read it in a class called "American Realism and Naturalism" and it (the book) was dreadfully and woefully boring/hideous -- and that's coming from an English grad.
The only clues I can offer of the work is that it is generall about a "nouveaux riche" gentleman (newly rich) who has acquired an impressive sum of wealth through a relative's estate that was built upon the paint industry -- perhaps from a parcel of land that had the necessary mineral properties from which to mine the substance foremostly used in paint, or whatnot.
The book is basically about the main character's misadventures in dealing with rich society from an outsider's perspective and having to attend balls, etc. It's set in the 1800s-early 1900s (horse-and-carriage days) in America. I'd likely recognize the author, but have somehow successfully repressed any other details from active memory.
The only clues I can offer of the work is that it is generall about a "nouveaux riche" gentleman (newly rich) who has acquired an impressive sum of wealth through a relative's estate that was built upon the paint industry -- perhaps from a parcel of land that had the necessary mineral properties from which to mine the substance foremostly used in paint, or whatnot.
The book is basically about the main character's misadventures in dealing with rich society from an outsider's perspective and having to attend balls, etc. It's set in the 1800s-early 1900s (horse-and-carriage days) in America. I'd likely recognize the author, but have somehow successfully repressed any other details from active memory.
Yep, seconding The Rise of Silas Lapham (Project Gutenberg link). I don't remember outright hating it, but all the uncomfortable fish-out-of-water stuff made me squirm the same way I do when I watch The Office.
posted by brookedel at 7:39 PM on February 21, 2008
posted by brookedel at 7:39 PM on February 21, 2008
Definitely The Rise of Silas Lapham.
I liked the book, and continue to like William Dean Howells, but I also like Dreiser. So what that says about me I don't know.
posted by MPnonot3 at 7:55 PM on February 21, 2008
I liked the book, and continue to like William Dean Howells, but I also like Dreiser. So what that says about me I don't know.
posted by MPnonot3 at 7:55 PM on February 21, 2008
Response by poster: The title didn't catch my memory, but William Dean Howells pegged it -- thanks! And no trouble, MPnonot3.. most of my music choices bore the snot out of practically all of my local peers. To each his own ;D
posted by vanoakenfold at 10:29 PM on February 21, 2008
posted by vanoakenfold at 10:29 PM on February 21, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
From a review there: "....we are drawn into the world of late 19th century Boston, post-Reconstruction America, where newly rich industrialists attempt to enter the society life of old money. Howells crafts an extraordinarily realistic look at the American Dream gone awry. "The Rise of Silas Lapham" begins with an interview that a local newspaperman is doing of Colonel Silas Lapham, a mineral paint tycoon.
posted by iconomy at 7:18 PM on February 21, 2008