BOO KS
149
reach across barriers of age, class, educational levels and ethnic back–
grounds and transform the bleak life of an elderly man. The theme
strikes me as too facilely imposed on the harsh fictional environment,
as out of key with the sordidness, violence, prejudice, exploitation and
rigidities that 100m so large in this tough, knowing depiction of city
existence. The locutionary traits of Harry Meyers, who tells his own
story, grow irksome - the habit of referring to himself by his full name
and the monotonous repetition of such expressions as "I can tell you
this," "I can assure you," or "Listen to me." The flatness of the utter–
ance is a burden to the book. The speech as well as the movements of
the Puerto Ricans are rendered with greater verve. But though Neuge–
boren's language lacks the freshness of Tyner's, it never exhibits the taste–
lessness of Jeremy Larner's.
In
The Answer,
also a second novel, the narrator Alex employs
such words as
jellyjam, meatball
and
spaghetti
- as verbs, in addition
to
russian-rouletting
(red lights being driven through) and
twing–
twanged.
The paragraph in which the last verb occurs must be savored
in full:
THE SCHOOL OF LETTERS
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
1969-70
Summer, Fall, and Spring Courses
On the graduate level in the theory and practice of
Literary Criticism
Including work toward advanced degrees in
Criticism, English Literature, and Comparative Literature
1969 Summer Courses by:
Stanley Cavell
John Logan
Austin C. Clarke
Richard N. McKinnon
Baruch Kurzweil
Earl Rovit
Address inquiries on admission and scholarships to:
School of Letters
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
208 S. Indiana Avenue
Bloomington, Indiana 4740 I
