The Human Comedy
by William Saroyan
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Book Summary Information
Author: William SaroyanEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1966-08-15
ISBN: 0440339332
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Dell
Book Reviews of The Human Comedy
Book Review: Beautifully rendered story of innocence lost
Summary: 5 Stars
I was first turned on to Saryoan back in college when the theatre department put on his stage play, "The Time of Your Life." It was one of the few (maybe, 4 or 5) plays that I either wasn't in, didn't work on the sets or have anything to do with. I saw it completely fresh the first time and it captivated me deeply, especially the opening to the play, read in the semi-dark by Ruben Silver, the director:
"In the time of your life, live-so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.
"Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.
"Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.
"In the time of your life, live-so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it."
This is a typical slice of Saroyan's writing, as I've come to understand it. Such flowing, almost poetic turn of phrase appears often in "Human Comedy", sometimes coming from unlikely characters, like Homer himself who is only 14, or spoken TO Homer by his mother. It's not "realistic" dialogue as we understand it in 2006 (it might not have been realisitic for 1943 when it was first published), but it draws you in and comforts you like a down comforter, which is no doubt what gives the book such staying power.
Homer is a sort of EveryBOY, and part of this story is the classic tale of growing up and loosing some of your innocence. Homer is only 14 (technically he's supposed to be 16 to work, but as he's smart and as he's providing $$$ to his family while his older brother Marcus fights in the War and his father is dead, exceptions are made) and determined to be the best telegram delivery boy. His notions change somewhat, however, as he begins to deliver telegrams from Uncle Sam informing mothers that their soldier sons have been killed in action.
Saroyan's "Time of Your Life" and this book have been criticized for not having a plot, per se, as rather little happens in either story other than dialogue and backstory (in "Time..." the whole play takes place in a downtown pub with characters coming and going). I maintain that you don't read Saryoan because you want plot; you read "Comedy" for the same reason you might read Fanny Flagg: you want to let the language flow over you and you want to delve down into the characters.
And what characters there are! There's Ulysses, Homer's younger brother who is only 4 years old but takes in everything and misses nothing. There's Mr. Grogran, an elderly, often drunk but kindly telegraph operator who works the night shift with Homer and frequently passes out from drink ("Every night in this office I shall count on you to see that i shall be able to perform my duties. A splash of cold water in the face if I do not respond when shaken-- this is to be followed by a cup of hot black coffee from Cobertt's."). There's the manager of the office who carries a hardboiled egg as a touchstone and is something of a tabletop philosopher ("You're the boy this office needs on the night shift. You're probably the fastest-moving thing in the San Joaquin valley. You're going to be a great man someday, too-- if you live. See that you live.") And there's Marcus, the soldier, riding the train to his destiny with a newly made friend, an orphan, who immediately falls in love with Marcus' description of Ithica and vows to make it his home when (if) he comes home from the War.
A quick read beautifully rendered, "The Human Comedy" will stick with you long after you've closed the book. Highly recommended.
Summary of The Human Comedy
The place is Ithaca, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The time is World War II. The family is the Macauley's?a mother, sister, and three brothers whose struggles and dreams reflect those of America's second-generation immigrants?In particular, fourteen-year-old Homer, determined to become one of the fastest telegraph messengers in the West, finds himself caught between reality and illusion as delivering his messages of wartime death, love, and money brings him face-to-face with human emotion at its most naked and raw.Gentle, poignant and richly autobiographical, this delightful novel shows us the boy becoming the man in a world that even in the midst of war, appears sweeter, safer and more livable than out own.
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