Sherry Chandler » Death of an Heroic Novelist
Death of an Heroic Novelist
This from Meredith Sue Willis:
William Styron died November 1, 2006. He is one of the last of the generation of what I think of as Heroic Novelists. …His work has the enviable seriousness of one who truly believes that novels are the most serious form of art and that art is the most serious form of human endeavor. The ones left living include, probably most notably, Phillip Roth, ten years younger than Styron, who was old enough to be a marine in World War II.
When I speak of these Heroic Novelists, I speak of the ones who saw writing as a great proving ground for Men: books were serious, being a novelist was heroic, being a novelist thus was real men’s work.
My life was changed just a bit, if not transformed, by The Confessions of Nat Turner. Sophie’s Choice touched me, made me cry, but didn’t actually change my thinking. The world is sadder for his loss. But, like Meredith Sue, I identify more with Jane Austin.
Read the rest of Meredith Sue’s post here.
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