The Human Comedy
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| The Human Comedy | |
 First edition cover |
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| Author | William Saroyan |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt |
| Publication date | 4 February 1943 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | NA |
The Human Comedy is a novel by William Saroyan. Homer Macauley is a 14 year-old boy growing up fatherless in the San Joaquin Valley of California during World War II. His oldest brother is off fighting the war, and Homer feels he needs to be the man of the family. To make money, he takes an evening job as a telegraph boy: sometimes he has to deliver the news to a family that a son has died in the War. Yet Homer also keeps up his normal life, going to school, to church, and to the movies. He is buoyed by his home and his loving family, including a very young brother and a mother who plays the harp. His roots and an almost instinctive sense of right and wrong keep him honest and hopeful. The novel was written to give hope during World War II.
Contents |
[edit] Allusions/references to other works
The Human Comedy also has several references to Homer's Odyssey. Homer is both the name of the author of the Odyssey and the main character in this novel. Homer's young brother's name, Ulysses, is the Roman form of the name Odysseus, the Odyssey's protagonist. The theme of both of the books is going home. Ithaca, is both Homer's and Ulysses' home-town in the novel, and Odysseus' home-island in the Odyssey. Helen Eliot, referring to Helen of Troy, is used as the girl that Homer is in love with.
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
[edit] The film
The novel was made into a film in 1943. It stars Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed and Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins.
The movie was adapted by Howard Estabrook and directed by Clarence Brown.
Questionable order of events: Saroyan wrote a movie treatment and a screenplay that he was asked to direct. He was paid off and removed from the project when his film proved to be more than two hours long. Saroyan was not at all happy with the film as completed by Brown, and he wrote his novel from the script he produced. The novel was published at the same time as the film's release with the intent of countering the film version of the story. There are noticeable differences between the film and the novel, including a stronger characterization of Ulysses, the small boy, in the novel and far fewer scenes of sentiment than were incorporated into the film by Estabrook and Brown (social criticism is also much blunter in the novel). See: Rotten Tomatoes
It won the Academy Award for Best Story and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Mickey Rooney), Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Director and Best Picture.
[edit] Theatrical musical
It was also adapted into a 1984 Broadway musical by Galt MacDermot and Bill Dumaresq. It starred Stephen Geoffreys, Rex Smith, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. A commercial failure, it closed on April 15, 1984, only 10 days after its official opening.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- The story of The Human Comedy, Homer and Ulysses in particular is based on Saroyan's life, living fatherless with his siblings and his mother.
- Ithaca, California is based on real town of Fresno, Saroyan's home-town
[edit] External links
The Human Comedy (film)
