Our Dangling Man keeps a journal in which he agonizes over the gaps between his past and present selves. His encounters with people sound largelyantagonistic.
The voice of the journal belongs to Joseph, a young man living in Chicago. At this moment in his life, Joseph is unemployed, and 1942 America is at war. Joseph's voice captures truths that are universal (or, at least national), temporal, and personal. Frustration over his compulsion to drill and drill himself for value taint Joseph's reflections. Although determined to unleash these thoughts, Joseph is an unwilling participant in a culture that increasingly casts every self in the lead role.
At the time of his writings, Joseph, Canadian by birth, has been waiting for word on his acceptance into the American army during World War II. He surrenders his personal freedom to end this suffering. He closes his journal with the words,
Hurray for regular hours! And for the supervision of the spirit! Long live regimentation!
Notes: Dangling Man, written in 1944, is Saul Bellow's first published work. I thought Dangling Manhad interesting moments, but I did not enjoy reading it.
Have you seen the movie? I did, and before I read the book. Memories of the film flooded my reading experience. The novel includes lots more detail and expands the cast. I enjoyed the film more because the reveal--who is the spy?--is done with greater effect. And of course, the Julio Iglesias overdub at the end is magnificent. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the story of a forcibly retired senior officer of British intelligence, George Smiley, getting informally recruited back into service. His mission is to identify a Soviet mole in the head office. The story is a study in the play between loyalty and identity. I found the narrative thread difficult to follow in both film and print. Fans of the film who have never read the book can do without the read. But my opinion is that the reverse is not true.
Note: The British spy jargon created problems for me. A lexicon appendix would have helped.
This book is celebrated for being evenhanded; I would say that indeed it focuses on the immediate rather than the theoretical. The narrative relays many of the terrors and revulsions of war. But does that make it neutral? No. The book is, however, a valuable document of the war experience from a ground-level, engaged perspective. In With The Old Breed, Eugene Sledge gives us his experiences in the Pacific during World War II, in vicious battle and prolonged rot and anxiety. Sledge describes the horrors, the toll on one's mind, the resentments, prejudices, anxiety, and dehumanization a soldier experiences and witnesses. This book is a closeup. Sledge's disgust for the worst events comes through, but he devotes double that time to recognizing and honoring fellow soldiers. His praise is probably mythification, but for the shit they went through, Sledge's heroes deserve whatever token he can deliver.
Most cultures and countries have their national myths. The myth serves many functions: They create and enable shared experiences, solidify a national identity, and promote values, just to name a few.
In America, myths about the Founding Fathers abound. America also has many myths about its soldiers. A primary myth revolves around the story of the young soldier--a boy, really--who goes off to war and returns a man, stronger than he was when he left.
Ideally, some young woman waits for him. This is the story of the journey, but focused and particular to the American soldier. These myths come to life in movies, books, and video games. But they take deep root in the public psyche when perpetuated through news media. The media's promotion and America's subsequent embrace of the so-called "Greatest Generation" exemplifies many of our military myths, including this one. Military sacrifice thus becomes the highest honor affordable to the middle and lower classes.
That returning soldiers often face unemployment, alcoholism and addiction, shrinking benefits, and physical and mental trauma goes unmentioned.
