Argent's review
Summer Crossing: A Novel (Modern Library Paperbacks)
by Truman Capote
Argent's review
Summer Crossing: A Novel (Modern Library Paperbacks) by Truman Capote
Argent's review
rating:
Lost Truman Capote manuscript, uncovered in 2004, of his first novel, started when he was 19 years old. It's about a 17 year-old socialite named Grady McNeil, left alone on Long Island while her parents are in Europe, who stumbles into a hasty marriage with her working-class Jewish lover, with tragic results.
Thin novella (only about 130 pages) becomes somewhat hazy about two-thirds of the way through -- dialogue marks disappear, etc. -- and it clearly needs a polish that Capote never gave it. It's too bad, because for as much as Capote apparently disowned it, it's very good, and it wouldn't have taken a lot to make it great. It's a beautifully written, sharply observed piece of work, with a vivid sense of place and typically incisive grasp of human foibles.
Thin novella (only about 130 pages) becomes somewhat hazy about two-thirds of the way through -- dialogue marks disappear, etc. -- and it clearly needs a polish that Capote never gave it. It's too bad, because for as much as Capote apparently disowned it, it's very good, and it wouldn't have taken a lot to make it great. It's a beautifully written, sharply observed piece of work, with a vivid sense of place and typically incisive grasp of human foibles.
