So the movie was not miscast...just cast too early. :)
Posted on 05/17/2019 9:47:02 AM PDT by Borges
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk has died. Wouk was famous for his sprawling World War II novels, including The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, and for his portrayal of Jewish-Americans in the novel Marjorie Morningstar. He died in his sleep today at his home in Palm Springs, Calif.
Many people might remember Wouk for a certain incident in involving strawberries in The Caine Mutiny, which became a film in 1954. After having a breakdown at sea, the tyrannical Captain Queeg accuses his crew of stealing a quart of strawberries and becomes obsessed with finding the culprit.
Humphrey Bogart played Queeg in the film, but he wasn't exactly what Wouk had in mind when he wrote the character. In the book, Wouk described the captain as "a small man" with "strands of sandy hair across an almost bald head." In 2004, the author told NPR, "Now Captain Queeg is Humphrey Bogart. There's nothing you can do about it, and I'm perfectly content with [it.] That was one of the great performances, I think, of his career."
The Caine Mutiny was Wouk's most celebrated book, but he had a substantial career both before and after it. He got his start in writing years earlier, in comedy. For five years starting in 1936, Wouk wrote jokes and sketches for the popular radio host Fred Allen. But after Pearl Harbor, the 26-year-old enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific. In his off hours, Wouk began to write Aurora Dawn, a novel that got mixed reviews. His second book, City Boy, did worse. But The Caine Mutiny put him on the map. It won a Pulitzer Prize, it was a bestseller and it became a play and a movie.
Wouk told NPR, "When I finished The Caine Mutiny, I wrote in my work journal ... 'Unless I'm mistaken, this is a good book. But it's not yet the war novel I mean to write.' "
In fact, it was the first in a run of ambitious books that included The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, each about a thousand pages long. And war wasn't Wouk's only subject. He wrote about the publishing world, a fictional Caribbean island and the founding of Israel. And in Marjorie Morningstar, he tapped into his own heritage as a New York-born child of Jewish immigrants to tell the story of a young girl trying to break into show business.
He really was the Jackie Robinson of Jewish-American fiction.
Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster
"He really was the Jackie Robinson of Jewish-American fiction," says Jonathan Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster and editor of Wouk's last book, Sailor and Fiddler. "He was on the cover of Time magazine for Marjorie Morningstar, and he popularized a lot of themes that other writers — like [Saul] Bellow and [Philip] Roth and [Bernard] Malamud — would deal with in their novels."
Karp says that one of the reasons Wouk appealed to readers for so many years was the variety in his novels. "He really did not want to write the same novel twice. The writers he admired were the greats — they were the Victorian novelists, they were writers like [Thomas] Hardy. He wanted to write big novels about complicated lives and the cultures in which they took place."
Herman Wouk Says He's A 'Happy Gent' At 100 AUTHOR INTERVIEWS Herman Wouk Says He's A 'Happy Gent' At 100 Despite his popularity with readers, Wouk didn't always get a good critical response. The New York Times called The Winds of War long and "mildly interesting" with an "indifference to quality" and a "reliance on clichés."
According to Karp, many of the critics missed the point. "One of the reasons why he didn't get the kind of stellar reviews that writers like Saul Bellow got was because he was accessible." And Wouk did express serious ideas in his fiction. In one section of War and Remembrance, he reflects on the Holocaust:
"The accounts I have heard of what the Germans are doing in camps like [Auschwitz] exceed all human experience. Words break down as a means of describing them. ... The Thucydides who will tell this story so that the world can picture, believe, and remember may not be born for centuries. Or if he lives now, I am not he."
But Karp says Wouk was the writer to tell these stories. "I think he aimed high and had large ambitions for reaching a lot of readers — and he entertained millions of them." And with all of his major works still in print, chances are, in the years to come, Herman Wouk will entertain millions more.
Yes i read it years ago. Would love to reread it. I member being fascinated by Jewish culture. What a rare gem Herman Wouk was!
Yuge!
The Caine Mutiny is one hell of a literary achivement. Probably the best twentieth century coming of age story.
RIP, H. W.
I admit that the “shocking” part of it was finding out he was still alive.
Wow, over 100. He had a good run. Really enjoyed his work, although Leon Iris was my my favorite.
Add Leon Iris to that list and I agree with you.
When I am reading a good book I hate for it to end no matter how long it is. That being said many of the books that I have read would be better in the Cliff Notes version. Wouk doesn't fall in that category.
“If you want to do something about it, I’ll be outside. I’m drunk, so it should be a fair fight.”
Puts me in mind of another favorite author from when I was a young man - James Michener - writer of all those historical fiction novels like Space, Texas, Alaska, Hawaii, Poland, etc. Looked him up just now and he's been dead for 20 years. Anyway, he did make it to 90 himself so not too shabby.
Ping
Yeah, we only get so many trips around the sun.
Some of leave bigger footprints than others.
The Pug Henry part required and Robert Mitchum supplied GRVITAS
“Winds of War” and “War and Rememberance” are two tours de force. i have read them both repeatedly and enjoy them each and every time!
So the movie was not miscast...just cast too early. :)
He’s considered more a writer of popular fiction as opposed to literature.
I wonder how many other potentially great authors threw in the towel after two strikes. Not all persistent people succeed, but I think all successful people are persistent and don't become easily discouraged.
RIP Mr. Wouk
The character of von Roon, was his German counterpart, he certainly didn't agree with Hitler, but he carried out the orders. Blobel (who oversaw Babi Yar) was another fascinating portrayal in War and Remembrance, when he matter of factly describes what happened at Babi Yar, and expressed disgust that people were watching as if it were a soccer match.
Thanks for the ping.
Wouk was a truly great writer. I look up from the screen to the shelf above, and “This Is My God” stares back at me.
I note that the infamous “Hitler Rants” scene from Downfall, was pretty much lifted from War and Remembrance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKQZ5HpI73s
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