MISS LONELYHEARTS:
Published in 1933, this short work by the author of THE DAY OF THE LOCUST shares a strikingly similar tone of despair and desperation with its Hollywood-focused counterpart, yet has its own unique voice, as well. The protagonist, referred to only by the name of his newspaper column, Miss Lonelyhearts, is drawn by Nathanael West as a pathetic yet endearingly earnest man, who strives to uplift the world of others as an attempt to improve the fortune of his own life. Unfortunately, he fails at every endeavor, presented as an educated, almost erudite man with scholarly thought, who cannot quite find his place or connect with those around him. He is full of impotent rage, repressed sexual drives, and a need to destroy everything that comes in contact with him.
The literary language is always interesting and unique, striving for heights of elegance, absurdity and truth. Miss Lonelyhearts’s boss and rival, Shrike, has the most entertaining dialogue, full of bluster and imagination, satire and insight. The book is a modernist’s dream, filled with desperate characters, awkward dramatic events, and a bleak, hopeless ending. Worth a read, despite (or because of) its savage, unrelenting nature.
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