So why “Forgotten Craftsman”? Well, Herman Wouk might
not be overlooked by book lovers in general, but I’ve certainly never heard
anyone under fifty talk about enjoying (or even reading) his work. To be
fair, the only reason I know Wouk’s name is because his 1962 novel, Youngblood Hawke, has been my father’s
favorite for as long as I can remember. During my undergraduate years, I decided
to have a look at this book, and could barely put it down after reading the
first few pages. Rereading Hawke now,
I can safely say that its appeal comes largely from the fact that there is
almost no aspect of fiction (i.e. Setting, Characters, Tone, Plot, etc.) that
Wouk doesn’t nail in a compelling way.
If I were to draw an analogy to illustrate Wouk’s appeal,
I’d compare him to tennis star Andy Murray (mostly because I love tennis). Just
as Andy Murray has had the misfortune of playing professional tennis in the era
of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic, Herman Wouk spent much of his career being
overshadowed by heavyweights like Norman Mailer, Ernest Hemingway, and William
Faulker. On the tennis side of things, Murray just doesn’t have the swanlike
grace of Federer or the brutish wallop of Nadal, so he can only succeed by being as good as he possibly can in every aspect of his game. The
case is similar for Wouk, who might not have Faulkner’s exquisite cadence or
Hemingway’s lean, athletic prose, but what he does have is a strong sense of
balance and remarkable attentiveness to his reader.
Wouk’s better-known achievements include The Caine Mutiny, for which he
won the Pulitzer Prize in 1952. The book was largely immortalized, though, because of
Humphrey Bogart’s later portrayal of Captain Philip Franics Queeg in the movie
version. Perhaps Wouk’s most monumental feats, however, were his novels The Winds of War (1971) and War and Remembrance (1978), the
researching and writing of which took him thirteen years to complete. I would suggest
any of these books to someone interested in exploring Wouk’s oeuvre, but as a
starting point, I recommend the aforementioned Youngblood Hawke.
Youngblood Hawke is
the story of a young man from Kentucky named (yup) Arthur Youngblood Hawke, who
has an amazing talent for writing and has moved to New York City after signing
a publishing contract for his first book, the histrionically titled Alms for Oblivion. Hawke is incredibly
prolific, living a normal life by day and writing feverishly by night . Being from a very modest rural background, he is driven by dreams of literary fame and literary fortune. Hawke’s desire for quick money leads him to invest much of
his wealth in shifty deals with friends from his past. Yet as much as he
produces and as much as he makes in advances, he still sinks himself into debt. The scenes that show him pulling all-nighters to keep up with his exorbitant
spending could easily have inspired the manic nocturnal labours of Mozart in
Miloลก Forman’s 1984 film, Amadeus.
Along with Youngblood, the book includes a cast of memorable
characters, some hilarious and some heartbreaking. Youngblood’s mother, for
example, is a steaming teapot of a woman who only seems happy when she’s suing
someone. Hawke’s older love interest, Frieda Winter, is a twiggy time capsule
of 1950s' New York elitism.
Overall, the most enchanting thing about this
book is the way its setting and characters transport you back to the lavish
parties hosted by publishers in New York City during a time when novels were
still a culturally dominant medium and fresh authors could set the entertainment world abuzz.
The narrative effect is similar to what The Great Gatsby achieves in plopping
you right in the middle of the Roaring Twenties. It is by hitting
all the right cues that Wouk is able to make his writing so enjoyably immersive. With all that said, I heartily encourage you to give
this book a try.
Once a contemporary of Hemingway, Faulker, and even
Steinbeck, Mr. Wouk is still alive today. He is 97 years old and resides in
Palm Springs, California. I can only imagine the stories that guy could still
tell.
