Scan barcode
A review by habeasopus
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men / A Death in the Family / Shorter Fiction by James Agee, Walker Evans
3.0
I have rarely encountered a more uneven pairing of material than the two novels included in this volume. I was reading A Death in the Family at the time I received word of my own grandmother's death and found it exceedingly poignant and comforting. There is simply no "right" way to grieve. Death is entirely alien to our conception of self, so of course it causes us to question nearly everything in our world. I felt a great connection to the young protagonist, and nearly every other character in the novel. I found Agee's treatment to be sensitive and fair.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, on the other hand, felt like something that was banged out on a tight deadline and suffered for want of an editor willing to stand up to the author. Certainly, there were flashes of brilliant prose and excruciatingly detailed descriptions, but many arguments were rambling, disjointed, and lent no support to the work as a whole. All that being said, I recognized echoes of some of the decorative and household details as being present in the lives of my great-grandparents so I give full credit for a faithful rendition of conditions as Agee found them. I found myself outraged on behalf of the poor farmers and their families, but also frustrated with the indulgent writing style.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, on the other hand, felt like something that was banged out on a tight deadline and suffered for want of an editor willing to stand up to the author. Certainly, there were flashes of brilliant prose and excruciatingly detailed descriptions, but many arguments were rambling, disjointed, and lent no support to the work as a whole. All that being said, I recognized echoes of some of the decorative and household details as being present in the lives of my great-grandparents so I give full credit for a faithful rendition of conditions as Agee found them. I found myself outraged on behalf of the poor farmers and their families, but also frustrated with the indulgent writing style.