Posted on 05/27/2005 1:54:16 PM PDT by EveningStar
The great Herman Wouk (pronounced "woke") is 90 today.
He is the renowned author of The Caine Mutiny (and the play, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial), Marjorie Morningstar, Youngblood Hawke, The Winds of War, and War and Rememberance.
He is also an unapologetic religious Jew and the author of This is My God: The Jewish Way of Life.
His works promote traditionalist conservative values.
As someone who married across religious lines, and whose dad was a WWII vet, "War and Remembrance" made a big impression. Great stuff.
When I say that he didnt hold up as well as expected, is that when I originally read him, when the books came out, I found them profound and timeless. With the re-read, I enjoyed them but found them mired in the ground of the times they were written vs the times they were written about. He did not overcome his own zeitgiest and write about the times of WW2. Instead the personal relationships had a 1960's -1970's perspective instead of the 1930's - 40's values. I was not able to see this when I originally read them, mired as I was in the culture. This is of course, one woman's opinion, but it disappointed me.
Thanks for your response about Wouk. I'm surprised since I read the books in the 80's, having gone through the 60's and 70's of course and didn't see that at all. I was so wrapped up in the story of what was happening in the time period he was writing about, I never saw that. Maybe you were looking for something.
I dont think I was "looking for something" but I do know that the thirty years has made a profound difference in my outlook and dated the book.
That's like saying Anna Karenina or A Tale of Two Cities is dated. Oh well.... have a nice day.
No. You didnt get it.Anna Karenina and A Tale of Two Cities had authors who were able to transcend their zeitgeist and write timeless prose. In Winds of War, Wouk was unable to to do this. However it is still a fine story.
We can agree to disagree then. I believe Wouk did in WOW and WAR exactly what the others did; in fact, I think he did something rather interesting because he wove a story into the fabric of historical fact. However, I will rate Anna Karenina as one of the top stories of all time along with East of Eden. They would be in my top ten list.
We can agree to disagree then.
Agreed!
Reread it though when you get a chance....
I wish I had gotten into this conversation when it started. I may be the Guiness record holder for reading WOW and WAR. I am just completing a real time + 60 years reading of the trilogy that I started in 1999. (Winds of War begins in March 1939.)
To me the books don't seem at all dated. To the contrary, the more I learn the more realistic they seem. I was a kid in the fifties and sixties and spent a lot of time around WWII vets and spouses, from career officers to enlisted draftees. Wouk captures the type to a tee. Also, I have read a great deal about the war and have never come across anything that contradicts what Wouk presents as historical fact in the novels. I admit his outlook was colored by the reality that was the nuclear threat that we all lived with during the cold war. I wonder if he would modify his main theme: "Either war is finished or we are."
I read somewhere that Wouk considers the two WWII novels plus the two novels about Israel (The Hope and The Glory)and his autobiographical novel Inside, Outside, to be a set. I recommend them all.
I really enjoyed hearing your comments. I also agree that Wouk was writing with a negative outlook on the atomic bomb but after Oppenheimer saw what happened, he had the same outlook and that was at THAT time; no views based on 60's, etc. I hope what I'm saying isn't confusing. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I also spent time around a lot of vets from WWII and on because every male in my family (on my mother's side) served in the military - I had two uncles in WWII that were quite characters. One was put in a small hut (jail) for some nonsense... typical young rogue back then and he burned it down. They were a couple of brawlers. I had another uncle who was a spy in the Korean war and nobody in the family, including his wife, EVER found out about the details - we only later found he was a spy. One uncle was a green beret in Viet Nam and he has so many medals, I can't even remember what they are for.... interesting guys all of them. My cousin was in Persion Gulf. There are a lot of others but I'm getting carried away.
I agree with you that the books are well researched and give a true ground for the different characters. The affairs between the main characters have a true sixties-seventies flavor... not that the outcome was necessarily different in the forties. Just the thought process.
The war issue, I do know that some people thought that War is finished or we are...ergo the UN.
Happy 93rd!
Thanks for the reminder. :)
Winds of War, War and Remembrance, I liked them both but Robert Mitchum romance scenes are not high on my list for viewing.
The thing about War and Remembrance, is that when it came to depicting the Holocaust, it didn’t pull any punches, which is surprising considering it was Made-For-TV.
All these years I’ve been reading your posts with dyslexia, Divorced White Female Gator.
DFW! DUH! Dallas, I get it now!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Wouk!
Winds of War, and War and Remembrance are two novels I read years ago, that stand out in my memory yet today.
You know what they say: All Wouk and no pray makes Jack a dull goy.
Happy 94th!
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