The Magnificent Ambersons

Booth Tarkington was one of the most popular authors of the 1910's and '20s, but is little read today. He is one of only a handful of novelists who won two Pulitzer Prizes, the first coming one hundred years ago for The Magnificent Ambersons, a book that, if it's remembered at all, is remembered for being the basis of Orson Welles' second film, that was famously re-cut by the studio (but is still a great film).

Tarkington wrote mostly about his home town of Indianapolis. In The Magnificent Ambersons, he writes about how the town changed, particularly as the onset of the automobile enabled people to live further out of town, and the city itself deteriorated. The owners of the grand mansions carved them up for apartments, and financial crises brought some to their knees.

"Major Amberson had "made a fortune" in 1873, when other people were losing fortunes, and the magnificence of the Ambersons began then," the book begins. Major Amberson has one daughter, Isabel, who has one son, George, who is horribly spoiled and something of a terror. Everyone is waiting for him to get his comeuppance, but it never quite comes, not even through his college years. He is one of the most insufferable characters ever to appear in American literature, but he sort of compels us to read on, as we are also waiting for him to get his comeuppance, until he becomes such as pathetic figure.

George is a staunch supporter of the old ways. A family friend, Eugene Morgan, has an automobile company, and George can't stand the things (Tarkington also hated the contraption). George is courting Morgan's daughter, Lucy, but she puts off an engagement. She loves George, but is troubled by his attitude, particularly toward work, as he has no intention of going into business but just living off the fortune he will inherit. Suffice it to say things don't quite work out that way.

Another memorable character is Aunt Fanny, a spinster who is also quite pathetic. By the end of the book she will be dependent on George, and have a fit for the ages when he suggests that he get his own place to live.

Tarkington, much like his contemporary, Edith Wharton, is something of an anthropologist, detailing how this gilded class lived: "Trousers with a crease were considered plebeian; the crease proved that the garment had lain upon a shelf, and hence was "ready-made"; these betraying trousers were called "hand-me-downs," in allusion to the shelf." "In the days before deathly contrivances hustled them through their lives, and when they had no telephones—another ancient vacancy profoundly responsible for leisure—they had time for everything: time to think, to talk, time to read, time to wait for a lady!"

Tarkington writes beautifully, but boy does he challenge us with George, who is either an asshole or a figure of pity. He is always worried about what people will say, and when after his father dies and it becomes apparent that Morgan, who dated his mother before she was married, is again courting her, he interferes, much to the detriment of everyone. This makes for some gripping family drama. The best character is George's uncle, also named George, who makes a great speech at the end that I think sums up how I felt about George and the book itself: "I believe I'll say that I've always been fond of you, Georgie, but I can't say that I always liked you. Sometimes I've felt you were distinctly not an acquired taste. Until lately, one had to be fond of you just naturally—this isn't very 'tactful,' of course—for if he didn't, well, he wouldn't! We all spoiled you terribly when you were a little boy and let you grow up en prince—and I must say you took to it! But you've received a pretty heavy jolt, and I had enough of your disposition, myself, at your age, to understand a little of what cocksure youth has to go through inside when it finds that it can make terrible mistakes."