“The
function of the novelist... is to comment upon life as he sees it.”
– Frank Norris
Born on this date in 1870, American
journalist and novelist Norris wrote during the so-called Progressive Era. A “naturalist,” he shocked many readers with
his words but was credited with having an impact on such influential people as
Theodore Roosevelt, who cited Norris in his efforts to reform the big
corporations. He is best known for his
unfinished trilogy The Octopus, The Pit,
and The Wolf (the latter only partially
completed when he suddenly and unexpectedly died in 1902 from complications
while in surgery).
His idea for the trilogy was to
follow the journey 
of a crop of wheat from its planting in California to its
ultimate consumption as bread in Western Europe. Along the way, much suffering and death
follows the storyline and its key characters as greed and harsh conditions
often stand in their way.
Sometimes criticized for his
depictions of suffering caused by corrupt and greedy turn-of-the-century corporate
monopolies, he stood solidly behind his writing for both its in-depth research
and for being morally correct and truthful.
“Truth,” he wrote, “ is a thing immortal and perpetual, and it
gives to us a beauty that fades not away in time.”
Share A Writer’s
Moment with a friend by clicking the g+1 button below.
No comments:
Post a Comment