Fast is, of course, in the line of the great critical realists with a humanistic bent. The epic sweep of the Immigrant series, its depiction of bourgeois culture against a backdrop of capitalist imperialism and twentieth-century global conflict, is clearly reminiscent of Tolstoy — Dan Lavette reads War and Peace while serving time for a barroom brawl. In the American line, he is clearly indebted to Twain, whom he regards as a model for the popular, realistic novel. He is indebted to Melville for his social message. Hamlin Garland, Sherwood Anderson, and William Dean Howells, whose Rise of Silas Lapham is a model for urban realism, continue the line, although the Western setting brings most clearly to mind Frank Norris and Jack London (who is mentioned many.....
This is a free excerpt of 126 words. This section contains 250 words. This
Short Guide contains 2,277 words (approx. 8 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Short Guide with our The Immigrants Access Pass.
