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A unique coming-of-age story "The Adventures of Augie March" is a coming-of-age story about a young man who grows up in a working-class Jewish neighborhood of Chicago in the first half of the 20th century. Augie is intelligent and articulate, but he seems to wander through life passively with no definite goals and not many interests. As the Depression hits, he is forced to postpone his academic pursuits in order to make a living, taking a wide variety of odd jobs, including stealing books, organizing labor unions, and working as a research assistant to an eccentric wealthy man writing a book about wealthy people. Eventually he decides to become a schoolteacher, but even this profession is relatively short-lived. The novel culminates in Augie's discovery that he must align himself with the "axial lines" of his life.
Augie's "adventures" consist mainly of his getting entangled in various affairs of his relatives, friends, girlfriends, and employers. These episodes range dramatically from his nearly getting caught by the police in a stolen car, to his accompaniment of his friend Mimi to an abortionist and her subsequent grave illness (probably a bold thing to write about at the time), to helping his girlfriend Thea train an eagle to hunt lizards in Mexico. (Thea finds, to her frustration, that she can train neither the eagle nor Augie.) This is a bizarre assortment of events, but the depiction of each is strangely realistic and unique.
The narration is masterfully constructed with Bellow's erudite prose and penchant for rich description. Reading this novel is challenging but ultimately rewarding.
as irrelevent as calling a book 'over-written', here we are This is one of Bellow's most highly regarded novels and there are plenty of reasons why. It's wonderfully written, maintains the interest throughout a very honest, human story that few people won't be able to relate to. It focuses on its time and place directly and gives the reader deep insight into the people who are living, turning the narrative into a seperate dimension, dragging you into this universe and keeping you there, forever, trapped, unhappy after a long time of joy. Augie keeps talking, keeps telling you his story, and after a while it seems like he has run out of things to say. Oh, sure, all these additions allow us to know the boy/kid/man, and he tells it in an intriuging manner, but sometimes things he tells us about himself are repeated, Augie loses focus and when he gets nervous or unsure of himself, he details the shattered, minute details that really don't give us anything.
Yeah, it's a terrific book, but among Bellow's first three novels, I believe it is the least of them. Read it anyway, get what is to be gotten (a lot), then move on, keep it in your mind, allow Augie to haunt you for a while, then, rightly, forget all about that person whom you really liked a lot but just wouldn't shut up.
Don't Give Up! some reviewers have complained "augie march" is a hard read, and to a certain extent they are right. i'm an experienced reader myself and found i needed a good 150 pages to settle into bellow's style. but boy, was it worth it! and now i have the pleasure of carrying augie around inside my head -- and a fascinating companion he makes. to those of you who threw in the towel i direct your attention to the priceless "how to read a book" by van doren and adler. flip straight to chapter 21, "reading and the growth of the mind" and slurp it up. a wonderful 9- or 10-page essay that'll give you the strength to keep turning those pages, and help reveal jewels like "augie march" for the treasures they are.
wide-eyed narrative When this novel is on it's as good as reading gets! Imagine if Dickens magically grew up in Chicago in the 30's, or if you haven't read him maybe if Tolstoy did, and actually had a sense of humor and didnt take himself so seriously.
Anyhow it doesnt matter who you can compare Bellow to. The point is he is phenomenal at capturing intimate details that breath so much life into a story. If trifles make the sum of life and the real spirit is in the details, then Bellow has hit the mark! When i would read about some of his characters, they came off the page so realisitically that i could HEAR them breathing in my room while i was reading about them. I could sense them shuffling uncomfortably in their clothes.
Also Bellow is subtle and true in his writing about different relationships. For me the most powerful and fully realized part was the troubled but loving relationship between Augie and his brother. But yes Bellow also writes wonderfully of Augie completely falling for various girls and being overwhelmed with his daydreamy passion. It's great to read if ever you have been sick to the stomach and shaking upon seeing the girl that for some reason you desire.
I confess that as a whole i found the novel artistically mishappen. If this novel were a human being it would be kind of ugly and probably have a lopsided limp. The whole Eagle in Mexico part i found not only boring but pointless to the novel as a whole. Any reader could easily skip those 80 odd pages and not miss a thing. Also the ending is a bit of a let down. It just sort of tapers off, like life does i guess; their rarely are climactic moments in life. Nevertheless this is art and i like endings that are strong and thorough, a last sentence that kills.
Anyhow this novel was a joy to read; it will make you call in sick to work and skip your classes. It will seem more real than your own life (maybe). And i dont think it was a satire on America; no judgements are made and if anything there is a wide-eyed awe and wonder at all the madness that is swirling around Augie. If he satirizes anything it is the shortcomings he finds in himself, his vanity, ulterior motives etc. This is an intimate, personal novel, and all of the observations and judgements stem from the immediate detail of now.
Unquestionably One of the Best of the Century This sprawling novel is often quite evocative and nearly always entertaining. What it offers is essentially a satire on American culture--but as embodied in a magnificent array of sympathetic characters, both enthusiasts and outcasts. Augie's passivity makes him an ideal vehicle for this examination, and it's easy to identify with his bewilderment. With wise-cracking incisiveness, Bellow takes the American romanticism of writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and turns it on its ear.
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