A review by msand3
Heaven's My Destination by Thornton Wilder
3.0
Although one of the lesser known Wilder novels, Heaven's My Destination addresses some common themes in Wilder's work, including struggles with faith and the difficulty of connecting or communicating with others. George Brush is a highly religious traveling book salesman who is just out of college. His strict adherence to religious dogma gets him into trouble as he chides smokers and drinkers, refuses to accept interest on his investments (and ultimately rejects banks altogether), and tries to convert those who study evolution. He evens struggles with his own vice--women--often to his own detriment. He often feigns ignorance or pretends to be naive in order to avoid self-reflective questions examining his own character and desires that might shake his own faith. ("This is a cathouse? Why, I had no idea! I just thought these were some nice young ladies..." etc.) Ultimately, his obsession with following these religious rules is impossible for him (or anyone) to maintain, yet, ironically, these are the only rules that can sustain his existence. Without them, he might quite literally die.
The novel's tone is light, funny, and episodic. Wilder leaves it to the reader to interpret whether or not George is a critique of religious dogma, American values, or just those lone eccentrics who live their lives by impossibly-strict rules. As with most of his other work I've read, Wilder's novel is mildly interesting, but lacking the spark and fire of his contemporaries. He claims Joyce as a model and inspiration in the essays at the end of the Library of America edition, but this writing lacks any of the insight, style, or penetrating inner examinations of Joyce. (But even when Wilder is at his most "original," he is actually at his most derivative.) In short, I'm still searching for the Wilder work that "wows" me.
The novel's tone is light, funny, and episodic. Wilder leaves it to the reader to interpret whether or not George is a critique of religious dogma, American values, or just those lone eccentrics who live their lives by impossibly-strict rules. As with most of his other work I've read, Wilder's novel is mildly interesting, but lacking the spark and fire of his contemporaries. He claims Joyce as a model and inspiration in the essays at the end of the Library of America edition, but this writing lacks any of the insight, style, or penetrating inner examinations of Joyce. (But even when Wilder is at his most "original," he is actually at his most derivative.) In short, I'm still searching for the Wilder work that "wows" me.