Rating: 
Summary: two great stories
Review: Not necessarily recommended to those who shy away from the bleaker perspectives, but these are great stories. _The Day of the Locust_ is set in film making L.A. of the 30's(?) and the main character, Homer Simpson, does not exactly fit in. Because of this, his adventures bring out many of the oddities and illnesses of the culture. You feel that even though he can't express his situation and environment, his subconscious is somehow in tune with it. _Miss Lonelyhearts_ was also written in the 30's, I think, although I can't really recall the exact setting. Miss Lonelyhearts is a newspaperman drawn to self-abuse and melancholy swings and his job writing the daily advice column under the pseudonym of the title provides plenty of 'food for the soul,' so to speak. (Boy, that sure sounds like a back-of-jacket blurb. Oh well.) Both stories are pretty short. I'm a slow reader that rarely reads the same book twice (there's just so much else out there), but I reread these both recently in a day and thoroughly enjoyed them again.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant work of art
Review: Perhaps one of the greatest novels ever written, Miss Lonleyhearts hurts the mind and soul with its uncompromising intensity and overwhelming authenticity. West's reflections on life and human relationships are simultaniously philosophical and absurd, and in the end leave the reader shell-shocked. It would be difficult to summarize in any way this novel's message or describe its impact on modern fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: for insight into The Simpsons
Review: Simpsons Fans: must read.
One of the main characters in Day of the Locust is Homer Simpson, who is described by other characters in the book as "a big idiot." This is the birth of Homer.
Rating:
Summary: for insight into The Simpsons
Review: Simpsons Fans: must read.
One of the main characters in Day of the Locust is Homer Simpson, who is described by other characters in the book as "a big idiot." This is the birth of Homer.
Rating:
Summary: for insight into The Simpsons
Review: Simpsons Fans: must read.
One of the main characters in Day of the Locust is Homer Simpson, who is described by other characters in the book as "a big idiot." This is the birth of Homer.
Rating: 
Summary: So dissapointed
Review: These books are loved. They're on all the top 100 lists. I had such high hopes, and didn't enjoy either one.
Rating:
Summary: I describe Miss Lonelyhearts as a look into our own humanity
Review: This book is not for the weak of heart, nor the weak of mind. Be prepared to engage all of your senses in a roller coaster through hell, through the depression, through all the pain that one can possibly feel. This book is a tumult of emotion, a book in which the main characters are void of feelings, and the reader in turn emotes for them. Be prepared to cry, and to laugh at the obscenities within the letters. Be prepared to feel the guilt and the pain that accompanies the laughter, and the pity that sets in long after the last chapter has been closed. Miss Lonelyhearts himself is the guidance to his pathetic audience's salvation, and his opposition, Shrike (the editor) plays the devil's advocate. In a fit of freedom, it is only Miss Lonelyhearts who can tear away from the pain leaving Shrike in the dust. The reader becomes Miss Lonelyhearts himself. And I must say, it is a position that the entire world should be placed in, if even for a moment.
Rating:
Summary: Miss Lonelyhearts begs to be read by you
Review: This conveniently thrifty Nathanael West
collection sat on my bookshelf for a few weeks, and I kept taking peeks at it. It just kept
looking at me. I gave in to this seduction
eventually and read Miss Lonelyhearts (this was a
few weeks ago, and I still haven't read Day of the Locust). Most New Directions paperbacks are pretty ugly (sue me, I'm a jacket admirer), and this one is too, but in a very compelling way. But the novel is a million times more so. I'd read
a bit about it before, and knew that both Flannery
O'Connor and F. Scott Fitzgerald were admirers of
West's, and the premise sounded like my kind of
book, so I couldn't help working myself into a fit
about it. This was a rare instance for me --
generally when I'm excited about reading a book
beforehand, it's a let down, usually not because it's a poor book, but because my expectations
were too high. But nope, not with Miss
Lonelyhearts. Yes, okay, so it's a black comedy, yes it's an "absurdist" work of art, but not in
a juvenile or self-conscious way (ahem, ahem, Salvador Dali). It works better than others because it doesn't occur to you that it's dead serious until you're thinking about it later in the middle of the night fighting insomnia. While
reading, you're too busy snortin' and guffawin'
to give a good god damn about its "relevance" or
its "theme". But it is a novel to be taken seriously, even if it is laugh-out-loud hilarious and if it's as accessible as a glass of milk. I'm
tempted to give away some of the more dreadful
or ridiculous parts, but I won't, just anticipate
reading some over the top Dear Abby letters and a brilliant and horrifying book wrapped around
them.
Rating:
Summary: Miss Lonelyhearts
Review: this is probably the most incredibly personal book i have ever read. while reading Miss Lonelyhearts, i could picture myself living his life and reacting to all the situations in the same way as he. as far as West's style, i think he is far more talented than most writers i have ever read. he speaks to a more modern generation who, though we exist 80 years later, have more in common with depression-age people than i ever thought possible. this is by no means an ordinary story of an ordinary man. though the plot is one we've all seen before: man seeks love and himself in a world that is crumbling around him, it is told with the voice of the severely depressed, hopeless, helpless, and confused. Miss Lonelyhearts is me. i just hope everyone can feel so intensely connected with this fine example of american literature.
Rating:
Summary: This book offers a refreshing slant on mundane reality
Review: West offers a slanted few of reality in these two novellas. It is a few that helps bring into focus the problems plauguing the soul of society. Through the eyes of the main characters we are taken through reality room by room, through the exposed characters in the novel. Everday Miss Lonelyhearts must find something positive to say to those who have suffered and will suffer. In The Day of the Locust, one begins to wonder if anyone's dream ever comes true. These two stories give the reader a break from the monotony of conventional narrative.
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