Slightly disturbing but interestng, 29 Jan 2002
These are the only Nathanael West stories I've read (I don't know what else he's written, or even how much of it there is), and while I found them entertaning and interesting, they are also quite dark and left a foul taste in my mouth. The first story seemed more serious, and pottered happily (or not so happily) along on the lines of manipulation and desire. In fact, it reminded me a little of "The Great Gatsby", but I've only read both that and this once apiece, so it could well be due to mere superficial similarities. It's not something I would read to escape from my own life when it all gets too much - I wouldn't like to fall into that world while I was feeling vaunerable or insecure! - but it's interesting to observe from a safe distance.
The second story, on the other hand, while still a little weird and dark, is much more frivolous and funny. It's lined with strands of fevered logic which are interesting to read and justify the word "dream" appearing in the title.
All in all a book I'm very glad I read, but one I was equally glad to finish in the knowledge that it was a world I didn't have to re-enter for a while.

Slightly disturbing but interestng, 29 Jan 2002
These are the only Nathanael West stories I've read (I don't know what else he's written, or even how much of it there is), and while I found them entertaning and interesting, they are also quite dark and left a foul taste in my mouth. The first story seemed more serious, and pottered happily (or not so happily) along on the lines of manipulation and desire. In fact, it reminded me a little of "The Great Gatsby", but I've only read both that and this once apiece, so it could well be due to mere superficial similarities. It's not something I would read to escape from my own life when it all gets too much - I wouldn't like to fall into that world while I was feeling vaunerable or insecure! - but it's interesting to observe from a safe distance.
The second story, on the other hand, while still a little weird and dark, is much more frivolous and funny. It's lined with strands of fevered logic which are interesting to read and justify the word "dream" appearing in the title.
All in all a book I'm very glad I read, but one I was equally glad to finish in the knowledge that it was a world I didn't have to re-enter for a while.

"Christ: the Miss Lonelyhearts of Miss Lonelyhearts.", 12 Apr 2008
"Miss Lonelyhearts" is the 26-year-old son of a Baptist preacher, working in New York in 1933 as the writer of a gossip column. A sensitive person, he reads thirty or so traumatic letters from readers every day, ranging from women with too many children and abusive husbands, to people who have no idea where their next meal will come from, and he must offer some sort of hope to each one. Shrike, a features editor, is his antithesis, a nihilist who mocks Miss Lonelyhearts's Christian faith, every other philosophy which might offer hope, and Miss Lonelyhearts's every attempt to escape from the sadness of his life. Sex and alcohol do not help, and Miss Lonelyhearts gradually descends into obsessive behavior, hypochondria, and religious fanaticism while still trying to help his readers, several of whom he meets in person.

Though the novel is often described as having dark humor, its emotional power is so overwhelming that few people will find much to laugh about here. Shrike, whose name is both satiric and symbolic (shrikes are birds which impale their prey on thorns, much as a butcher hangs meat on a hook), is bent on destroying Miss Lonelyhearts and what he represents (the search for hope), and at a party Shrike has all the guests read aloud and mock the letters from Miss Lonelyhearts's desk--about paralyzed children, a teenager without a nose, suicidal mothers, and exhausted caregivers.

Tautly constructed with overlapping motifs and symbols, the novel is firmly rooted in the Depression and the edge-of-disaster lives of ordinary Americans. As Miss Lonelyhearts becomes drawn into his readers' heart-rending problems, he tries to become a rock, emotionally and symbolically, and as he examines the sadness around him, he also begins to think that God has sent him to perform the kinds of miracles that God performs. West's satiric attitude toward religion here and the use of Miss Lonelyhearts as a Christ-figure, filled with agony and passion, also suggest some sort of satiric Christian martyrdom, but the ending, when it comes, is shocking and unexpected.

Extremely emotional and filled with cynicism and despair, the novel is the consummate example of Depression literature, firmly establishing the attitudes and philosophies that prevailed as people tried to deal with events so overwhelming that no philosophy, other than nihilism, could fully explain them. West's focus on themes and philosophies and the symbols which illuminate them prevents this brilliant but often heart-rending novel from descending into melodrama and pathos. Mary Whipple

Slightly disturbing but interestng, 29 Jan 2002
These are the only Nathanael West stories I've read (I don't know what else he's written, or even how much of it there is), and while I found them entertaning and interesting, they are also quite dark and left a foul taste in my mouth. The first story seemed more serious, and pottered happily (or not so happily) along on the lines of manipulation and desire. In fact, it reminded me a little of "The Great Gatsby", but I've only read both that and this once apiece, so it could well be due to mere superficial similarities. It's not something I would read to escape from my own life when it all gets too much - I wouldn't like to fall into that world while I was feeling vaunerable or insecure! - but it's interesting to observe from a safe distance.
The second story, on the other hand, while still a little weird and dark, is much more frivolous and funny. It's lined with strands of fevered logic which are interesting to read and justify the word "dream" appearing in the title.
All in all a book I'm very glad I read, but one I was equally glad to finish in the knowledge that it was a world I didn't have to re-enter for a while.

"Christ: the Miss Lonelyhearts of Miss Lonelyhearts.", 12 Apr 2008
"Miss Lonelyhearts" is the 26-year-old son of a Baptist preacher, working in New York in 1933 as the writer of a gossip column. A sensitive person, he reads thirty or so traumatic letters from readers every day, ranging from women with too many children and abusive husbands, to people who have no idea where their next meal will come from, and he must offer some sort of hope to each one. Shrike, a features editor, is his antithesis, a nihilist who mocks Miss Lonelyhearts's Christian faith, every other philosophy which might offer hope, and Miss Lonelyhearts's every attempt to escape from the sadness of his life. Sex and alcohol do not help, and Miss Lonelyhearts gradually descends into obsessive behavior, hypochondria, and religious fanaticism while still trying to help his readers, several of whom he meets in person.

Though the novel is often described as having dark humor, its emotional power is so overwhelming that few people will find much to laugh about here. Shrike, whose name is both satiric and symbolic (shrikes are birds which impale their prey on thorns, much as a butcher hangs meat on a hook), is bent on destroying Miss Lonelyhearts and what he represents (the search for hope), and at a party Shrike has all the guests read aloud and mock the letters from Miss Lonelyhearts's desk--about paralyzed children, a teenager without a nose, suicidal mothers, and exhausted caregivers.

Tautly constructed with overlapping motifs and symbols, the novel is firmly rooted in the Depression and the edge-of-disaster lives of ordinary Americans. As Miss Lonelyhearts becomes drawn into his readers' heart-rending problems, he tries to become a rock, emotionally and symbolically, and as he examines the sadness around him, he also begins to think that God has sent him to perform the kinds of miracles that God performs. West's satiric attitude toward religion here and the use of Miss Lonelyhearts as a Christ-figure, filled with agony and passion, also suggest some sort of satiric Christian martyrdom, but the ending, when it comes, is shocking and unexpected.

Extremely emotional and filled with cynicism and despair, the novel is the consummate example of Depression literature, firmly establishing the attitudes and philosophies that prevailed as people tried to deal with events so overwhelming that no philosophy, other than nihilism, could fully explain them. West's focus on themes and philosophies and the symbols which illuminate them prevents this brilliant but often heart-rending novel from descending into melodrama and pathos. Mary Whipple

The perfection of the dark side of human psychology., 21 Jun 1999
This book had some of my all time favourite writings in it. Of everything i've read in my lifetime, i've never read anything that comes close to nathanael west's mastery of dark imagery and dark commentary on the way the human mind works. Miss lonelyhearts has the feeling of a very strange comic strip to it, as it is told in small little bits, each bit with its own title. It uses alot of religious imagery, but in a very dark way. Miss lonely hearts is a writer for an advice column who develops some form of a god complex, or rather, he see's himself as some sort of martyr who will inevitably suffer to prevent other people from suffering. The imagery was very dark feeling, and there was just the right amount of a random-crazy-insane sense to it where it is scary, but close enough to reality to make me wonder how close everyone in the world is to actually going crazy. There is a similar concept in The Day of the Locust. People living in hollywood, they all want to lead normal lives, but there is some part of them that doubts EVERYTHING and leads to a deep frustration that can only find an outlet in the form of mass destruction. The ending was, to me, the best ending to a book ever written. A wonderful insane scary end to it all. Everytime i read it or see the movie i feel very disturbed for days... a very thought provoking story, it taught me to question how close we all are to... well... going nuts. I read many of the letters Nathanael West wrote... most were not too terribly wonderful, mostly he was just seeking advice/editing/ideas for his writings. But reading some of the letters explained alot about his ideas and motivations behind his more significant works. They did bother me a little because i thought The Day of the Locust and Miss Lonelyhearts (and others) were the product of only Nathanael West, but the letters indicate that much of his ideas were edited and deleted by other people. Also, there is an outline for a story he never wrote that sounded like a very promising idea. It was about a friendship club, people pay money to join the Golden Friendship Club (or something like that, i forget). I thought it was an excellent idea because it deals with this strange inner lonelyness that most people don't ever really recognize. It's very depressing... i believe people try to remain strong and convince themselves of independence and security, but there is a lonelyness that gnaws away at them, and if it goes unrecognized it prevents them from ever reaching their full mental potential. It is a very sad thing to realize, and i believe this story touches some part of that depressing lonelyness and makes it partially surface... sending the reader into a dark realm of self discovery, if they allow that to happen. All of the writings in this book are dark, tragic, and create an internal fear that could not be found ANYWHERE else. It is really a very sad book, don't read it if you don't want to be sad.