Vandover and the Brute (Broadview Editions), by Frank Norris
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Vandover and the Brute (Broadview Editions), by Frank Norris
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Written circa 1894-95 but published posthumously in 1914, Frank Norris’s Vandover and the Brute presents an unflinching portrait of unconventional sexuality, moral dissolution, and physical degeneration. In the setting of turn-of-the-century San Francisco depicted in Vandover, disaster encompasses far more than the vivid accounts of shipwreck or earthquake that appear in the novel. The slow wasting away of characters who contract syphilis, the suicide of a young girl, and the murder of a man clinging to a lifeboat fascinate readers today as much as they did a century ago, when this scandalous novel was first published. The most complete wreck is Vandover himself, whose artistic talents and constitution collapse after orgies of drink and sexual abandon.
Russ Castronovo’s new edition gathers historical materials on literary naturalism, gender and criminality, and the visual culture of the late nineteenth century.
Vandover and the Brute (Broadview Editions), by Frank Norris - Amazon Sales Rank: #2916747 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-04
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .57" w x 5.50" l, .75 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
Vandover and the Brute (Broadview Editions), by Frank Norris Review
“I’ve been howling like a wolf for years about the absence of a teachable edition of this amazing, just-on-the-verge-of-modern novel. College boys’ drunken revels over a welsh rarebit? Earnest discussions of the moral complexities posed by ‘modern girls’? Gamblers who start acting like living slot machines? Gobbling chocolates in the tub before scratching yourself for an hour? This one has it all. Thank you, Russ Castronovo, for bringing back a text that has never failed to fascinate undergraduates and PhD students alike.” ― Jennifer Fleissner, Indiana University
“An accessible edition of Frank Norris’s outlandish and historically significant novel has been long overdue, and Russ Castronovo has made it happen. An embarrassment of riches, this edition will be of tremendous value to scholars and students. Vandover is an exceptional text, one that demonstrates the intersections of modernity, aesthetics, sexuality, and race in such a way as to make it indispensable in any course on American literature and culture. The critical analysis and historical contextualization Castronovo brings to bear on it serve to enrich our understanding.” ― Dana Seitler, University of Toronto
From the Back Cover
Written circa 1894-95 but published posthumously in 1914, Frank Norris’s Vandover and the Brute presents an unflinching portrait of unconventional sexuality, moral dissolution, and physical degeneration. In the setting of turn-of-the-century San Francisco depicted in Vandover, disaster encompasses far more than the vivid accounts of shipwreck or earthquake that appear in the novel. The slow wasting away of characters who contract syphilis, the suicide of a young girl, and the murder of a man clinging to a lifeboat fascinate readers today as much as they did a century ago, when this scandalous novel was first published. The most complete wreck is Vandover himself, whose artistic talents and constitution collapse after orgies of drink and sexual abandon.
Russ Castronovo’s new edition gathers historical materials on literary naturalism, gender and criminality, and the visual culture of the late nineteenth century.
About the Author
Russ Castronovo is Tom Paine Professor of English and Dorothy Draheim Professor of American Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful. An early example of American realism By D. Cloyce Smith Recalling Crane's "Maggie" in its sexual candor and several of Dreiser's novels in its brutal portrayal of the decline of its protagonist, "Vandover and the Brute" can be read as the American realist version of Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." (The lead character is, not coincidentally, reading Stevenson early in the novel.) Written in 1895, when Norris was 25, but not published until 1914, after Norris's death, it is an important if uneven precursor to the naturalist tradition in American literature.Young Vandover, a Harvard-educated man-about-town whose chief traits are a lack of ambition and a sense of entitlement, is a San Francisco native who wastes every advantage his privileged life presents to him. Yielding to his inner "brute," Vandover gradually descends the rungs of civilized life, losing first his status in "proper" society and then all his wealth and what remains of his integrity. He suffers from the devastation of self-inflicted scandals, the trauma of a shipwreck during exile, and the ravages of syphilis. Yet Norris doesn't direct his barbs solely at indolent, amoral youth like Vandover; just as reprehensible is the ambitious, double-crossing Charles Geary, one of Vandover's friends, who aims "to make his pile in this town and make his way, too." (An interesting aside: unlike most realist fiction, the novel's last sentence ends with a glimmer of hope and a piece of bread--very much like McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City.")Although this novel is no longer available on its own in any edition, interested readers will find it included in The Library of America's omnibus collection of Frank Norris's works.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Should have been written two decades later By Karl Janssen Vandover and the Brute is Frank Norris's first novel, written in the mid-1890's, but it was not published until 1914, more than a decade after his death. During the intervening twenty years, Norris became a celebrated man of letters, and perhaps the most admired champion of Naturalism in American literature, before suffering an untimely death at the age of 32.The hero of the novel, Vandover (whether that's his first or last name is never made clear), is born in Boston. At the age of eight his mother dies, and he moves to San Francisco with his father, who raises him alone. Vandover is not an exceptional student, and he's a bit self-indulgent and lazy, but he does possess a talent for art. He goes off to Harvard to study, where he meets two fellow San Franciscans, Charlie Geary and Dolliver Haight. After graduation the three return to California and maintain their friendship. Like many young men, they develop a taste for liquor and women during their college years. While his two friends learn to control their sinful ways, buckle down, and start to pursue their life's ambitions, Vandover slides deeper into a life of vice. The "Brute" mentioned in the title refers to the animal within him that longs for the pleasures of the flesh. Gradually he succumbs to the negative influences of alcohol, sex, and gambling, and begins to see all that he holds dear taken away from him.This novel is unfortunately ahead of its time. Norris attempts to paint a picture of moral degradation, but the conventions of his time would not allow him the tools to complete the portrait. The vices in question are never explicitly stated, only hinted at. This inhibited expression dulls the effect of the moral lesson. Sexual experiences are replaced by phrases like "She abandoned herself." Any unmarried woman who's not a virgin is labeled as "lost" or "ruined." One of the characters contracts a communicable illness which I assume is syphilis, but I'll never know for sure because Norris dare not speak its name. The scenes of drunkenness are somewhat more blatantly depicted, but at times the results of these debauches inspire laughter rather than horror. Norris was an enthusiastic disciple of the literature of Emile Zola. What he's aiming for here is the sort of gradual moral and financial decline experienced by Gervaise Macquart in Zola's novel L'Assomoir. Zola, however, being French, was not subject to the American prudishness of the late 19th century. He had the freedom to discuss sexual matters more openly, thus his portrayal of a life of sin is more genuine and timeless. To the contemporary reader, Vandover and the Brute seems tepid by comparison, and the various means Norris employs to avoid the outright discussion of vice act as obstacles to the reader's engagement in the story.That's not to say that there isn't some great writing here. This novel contains some expertly crafted examples of the gritty, blunt realism for which Norris would become famous. Halfway through the book there is a disaster scene that's so convincingly drawn it will have you on the edge of your seat. He describes with equal authenticity a night at the opera, a marathon game of cards, or the machinations a shady business deal. Though there are some exceptional scenes here, they never quite coalesce into a cohesive novel. Vandover and the Brute is an early work by a great master that offers a glimpse of the shape of things to come. It captures some of the embryonic brilliance that would mature and blossom in later, greater works like The Octopus and McTeague.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful. An Old Story, Uniquely Rendered; Fascinating but Dreary By L.O.A. Reader The story is an old one, one that I have read too many times. A promising young man becomes hooked on alcohol, sex, and gambling and gradually descends into his own living hell. Without knowing much about Frank Norris, I assume that at least some of the story is semi-autobiographical -- otherwise, why would one want to write a book like this?No question, the book is gripping at times, but the lack of any admirable character or noble purpose makes it hard going. There appears to be no purpose to the novel except its morbid fascination with a character inexorably bent on a slow destruction. Is the novelist simply glorifying Vandover's lurid life while at the same time scorning it, in a typically repressed, confused turn-of-the-century way?The plot and writing is full of a bleak, black humor and rich in irony; it seemed almost to hint of the future work of Kafka. To me, it is a novel by an extremely talented, young (25) writer who doesn't have much to tell us but a story of progressive degradation since he is simply talented, not wise.Since I had just finished "The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton before I read this novel -- also a novel of personal degradation and destruction, written at about the same time -- I couldn't help but compare and contrast the two works. To me, "Mirth" is far superior, a wonderful novel overall; Lily Bart is fatally flawed but her plight is so much more poignant and her demise sweeter in its essential innocence.But the ever-so-pleasant, unexpected surprise in "Vandover" was the hint of possible change and even redemption that occurs at the very end of the novel, when the main character is so down on his luck that he can no longer indulge in his vices and must do filthy, drainingly physical, menial work for a traitorous friend.
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