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Infants of the Spring Wallace Thurman Amritjit Singh 9781555531287 Books

Download As PDF : Infants of the Spring Wallace Thurman Amritjit Singh 9781555531287 Books

Infants of the Spring Wallace Thurman Amritjit Singh 9781555531287 Books

Like so many books documenting life during Prohibition, the characters in "Infants of the Spring" drink preposterous quantities of alcohol. Indeed, one of the couple of climactic events that occur towards the end of this book involves a particularly debilitating hangover that, perhaps, is a symbol of what was becoming of the Harlem Renaissance.

But, okay, wow, what a book. It seems like many of the reviews here make the valid point that you have to make a few allowances for this one - the writing is a little brittle at times - but as the other admirers have pointed out, it's worth the trip. On the one hand it's so "then". A particular moment was happening in Harlem at that point, when a literary movement seemed to be on the verge of something big, and when Harlem was, temporarily, a tourist destination for white people. And of course it was the 1920s, and the love that dared not speak its name isn't speaking its name in this book either. But the closet door is being banged on quite loudly, you might even say with pizazz, and there are plenty of inferences to be read between the lines.

in the end, the protagonist, a stand-in for the author, is the most interesting character, someone who refuses to let anyone, black or white, presume they know who he is or who he should be.


Tags : Infants of the Spring [Wallace Thurman, Amritjit Singh] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This roman clef centers on Niggeratti Manor, fashioned after the Harlem rooming house in which Wallace Thurman once lived with other black artists and writers. Thurman's second novel is one of the most potent satires of the Harlem Renaissance and a retort to the idealized vision of Harlem's artistic community between World War I and the Depression.,Wallace Thurman, Amritjit Singh,Infants of the Spring,Northeastern University Press,1555531288,American - General,USA,African American artists,African American artists;Fiction.,African American authors,African American authors;Fiction.,African Americans,Artists,Authors,Harlem (New York, N.Y.),Harlem (New York, N.Y.);Fiction.,Harlem Renaissance,Romans a clef,20TH CENTURY AMERICAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE,Black studies,English,FICTION African American General,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Historical - General,LITERARY CRITICISM American General,Literary Criticism,Literary Criticism - American; African-American Studies; African-American Fiction,Literary studies: general,Literature: Texts,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction,Non-Fiction,Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -,Romans a clef,SOCIAL SCIENCE Ethnic Studies African American Studies,ScholarlyUndergraduate,UNIVERSITY PRESS,USA,United States,FICTION African American General,FICTION Historical General,Historical - General,LITERARY CRITICISM American General,SOCIAL SCIENCE Ethnic Studies African American Studies,Fiction - General,20th Century American Novel And Short Story,African American Literature,Fiction,Literary Criticism,Black studies,Literary studies: general,Literature: Texts,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Modern fiction,Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -,English

Infants of the Spring Wallace Thurman Amritjit Singh 9781555531287 Books Reviews

Thurman was not the most polished of writers, but he makes up that shortcoming by having a lot to say. I was enraptured with the number of ideas present in this book, and many times I paused to consider the weight of his words.
Yes, the text is often clumsy, but the dialogue is sterling. So this is really what the Harlem Renaissance was about? I wish I could have been there. There are so many memorable characters in this book, and they all are real and possess unique personalities. Even the minor characters are fleshed out.
Buy this book and read it. You won't regret it. After reading it, I have only one question Why isn't Thurman's third novel, INTERNE, available? I can't think of any author to whom to compare Thurman. His dialogue reminds me a bit of Hemingway, but not really. Reading Thurman is a unique experience!
I put off reading this for years because of its leadenly Shakespearian title, and was surprised and pleased to find when I did finally pick it up that it was a pacey, barbed and entertaining read. It's not 'hilarious' (as billed in the promotional blurb above) but it is sharp. In its astute but cynical take on its characters & their situation it made me think of Chester Himes, (& Thurman has a similar 'banged off' style to Himes), & in its subject-matter - black & white bohemia, & the politics of race & sexuality - it's very much a precursor to James Baldwin's 'Another Country'. The debates around the role of the artist, particularly the black artist, in this book seem to me as resonant today as they were when it was written does a black artist have a duty to represent the race, to engage politically with racial issues in an overt or didactic way, or is his or her duty to art as a force - or truth - in itself? Thurman provides no answers, but he shows how such tensions - combined with self-delusion, brittleness, lack of application and other human failings - lead people who are struggling to be creative to collapse in on themselves, with disastrous results. Thurman's style is jaunty and, although highly engaging, deters the reader from empathising greatly with the characters; yet I found the end of the book, which is on one level camp, strangely moving and upsetting.
Wallace Thurman wrote INFANTS OF THE SPRING in 1932, just two years before his untimely death from tuberculosis at the age of 32. The tragedy for all of us is that if he had lived longer, he probably would have written a very fine novel if this one and THE BLACKER THE BERRY are indications of what he would have produced. What this novel lacks in depth of character development, it makes up for in the number and different types of characters Raymond, Paul, Bull, Steve, Sam, Euphoria, Eustace, Pelham, Janet, Amy, Lucille et al. In fact there are so many characters in this small novel that at times it is difficult, at least in the beginning, to keep them separated. Mr. Wallace suffers from what English instructors used to call "fine writing," in that he on occasion uses a five dollar word when a simpler one would have worked as well or better. The words "persiflage" and "tocsin" are good examples. Sometimes he writes beautiful descriptive language, for instance, his account of Raymond's visiting his friend Pelham in the Tombs, the local prison.

What this writer does very well is hold up a mirror to that exciting period of America's literary history, "The Harlem Renaissance." He asks a lot of questions-- but offers few answers-- about slavery, race, what is a fit subject for both the black writer and singer, the color bias in the black community, interracial dating, the difficulty of interracial friendships-- questions that still plague us eighty years later.
Liked all of the characters, even the really bizarre ones. Loved the story which was very realistic as well as the ending.
Needed this book for child in HS Honors English. They have read it in class, but she has not discussed it with me.
Excellent find.
Like so many books documenting life during Prohibition, the characters in "Infants of the Spring" drink preposterous quantities of alcohol. Indeed, one of the couple of climactic events that occur towards the end of this book involves a particularly debilitating hangover that, perhaps, is a symbol of what was becoming of the Harlem Renaissance.

But, okay, wow, what a book. It seems like many of the reviews here make the valid point that you have to make a few allowances for this one - the writing is a little brittle at times - but as the other admirers have pointed out, it's worth the trip. On the one hand it's so "then". A particular moment was happening in Harlem at that point, when a literary movement seemed to be on the verge of something big, and when Harlem was, temporarily, a tourist destination for white people. And of course it was the 1920s, and the love that dared not speak its name isn't speaking its name in this book either. But the closet door is being banged on quite loudly, you might even say with pizazz, and there are plenty of inferences to be read between the lines.

in the end, the protagonist, a stand-in for the author, is the most interesting character, someone who refuses to let anyone, black or white, presume they know who he is or who he should be.