Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow Dies at 89

[Rob Damen]

Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow Dies at 89

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Nobel laureate Saul Bellow, a master of comic melancholy who in "Herzog," "Humboldt's Gift" and other novels both championed and mourned the soul's fate in the modern world, died Tuesday. He was 89.

Bellow's close friend and attorney, Walter Pozen, said the writer had been in declining health, but was "wonderfully sharp to the end." Pozen said that Bellow's wife and daughter were at his side when he died at his home in Brookline, Mass.

Bellow was the most acclaimed of a generation of Jewish writers who emerged after World War II, among them Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth and Cynthia Ozick. To American letters, he brought the immigrant's hustle, the bookworm's brains and the high-minded notions of the born romantic.

"The backbone of 20th-century American literature has been provided by two novelists - William Faulkner and Saul Bellow," Philip Roth said Tuesday. "Together they are the Melville, Hawthorne, and Twain of the 20th century."

He was the first writer to win the National Book Award three times: in 1954 for "The Adventures of Augie March," in 1965 for "Herzog" and in 1971 for "Mr. Sammler's Planet." In 1976, he won the Pulitzer Prize for "Humboldt's Gift." That same year Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, cited for his "human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture." In 2003, the Library of America paid the rare tribute of releasing work by a living writer, issuing a volume of Bellow's early novels.

In spite, or perhaps because, of all the praise, Bellow also had detractors. Norman Mailer called "Augie March" a "travelogue for timid intellectuals." Critic Alfred Kazin, a longtime friend who became estranged from Bellow, thought the author had become a "university intellectual" with "contempt for the lower orders." Biographer James Atlas accused Bellow of favoring "subservient women in order to serve his own shaky self-image."

Old-fashioned, but not complacent, the author strove to ward off the "Nobel curse," to be softened by literature's highest honor. He kept writing into his 80s and, hoping to make his work more affordable, had his novella "A Theft" published as a paperback original in 1989.

His recent works included "The Actual," a sentimental novella published in 1997, and "Ravelstein," a 2000 novel based on the life of his late friend, Allan Bloom, author of "The Closing of the American Mind." Also in 2000, Bellow was the subject of Atlas' acclaimed biography.

"If the soul is the mind at its purest, best, clearest, busiest, profoundest," Ozick wrote in 1984, "then Bellow's charge has been to restore the soul to American literature."

Bellow had a gift for describing faces, and the author's own looks - snowy hair, aristocratic nose and space between his front teeth - were familiar from book jackets.

Bellow's personality was equally distinctive. In "Humboldt's Gift," the narrator's childhood sweetheart refers to him as a "good man who's led a cranky life." His longtime agent, Harriet Wasserman, once described him as being as "deeply emotional as he is highly intellectual and cerebral."

He had five wives, three sons and, at age 84, a daughter. He met presidents (Kennedy, Johnson) and movie stars (Marilyn Monroe, Jack Nicholson). He feuded with writers (Truman Capote, Mailer), and helped out writers, notably William Kennedy, on whose behalf he lobbied to get his work published.

After teaching for many years at the University of Chicago, Bellow stunned both the literary and academic world by leaving the city with which he was so deeply associated. In 1993, he accepted a position at Boston University, where he taught a freshman-level class on "young men on the make" in literature.

Like his characters, Bellow's life was an evolution from the unbearable, but comic passion of the Old World, to the unbearable, but comic alienation of the New World.

The son of Russian immigrants, he was born Solomon Bellows on July 10, 1915, in Lachine, Quebec, outside Montreal. He dropped the final "s" from his last name and changed his first name to Saul when he began publishing his writing in the 1940s.

When he was 9, his family moved from Montreal to Chicago.

Hebrew was Bellow's first language. His family life was one of violence (his father), of sentiment (both parents) and of humor (everyone). Nothing was left unsaid.

The classic Bellow narrator was a self-absorbed intellectual with ideals the author himself seemed to form during the Depression. While he would remember the fear most people had during those years, Bellow found them an exciting and even liberating time.

"There were people going to libraries and reading books," he told The Associated Press in a 1997 interview. "They were going to libraries because they were trying to keep warm; they had no heat in their houses. There was a great deal of mental energy in those days, of very appealing sorts. Working stiffs were having ideas.

"Also, you didn't want to waste your time getting a professional education because when you finished there would be no jobs for you. It seems that the time of the Depression was a suspension of all the normal activities. Everything was held up."

Bellow did study at the University of Chicago for two years and then transferred and got an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in nearby Evanston.

He was a contributor to the Partisan Review, along with Kazin, Mary McCarthy and the poet Delmore Schwartz, whom he would re-imagine as Von Humboldt Fleisher in "Humboldt's Gift." He worked on a novel he ended up destroying and eventually debuted with "Dangling Man," in 1944.

From the beginning, Bellow was determined to tell a different kind of American story, to depart from the tight-lipped machismo of Ernest Hemingway.

"Do you have emotions? Strangle them. To a degree, everyone obey this code," Bellow wrote in "Dangling Man." While the Hemingway hero keeps his problems to himself, Bellow declared "I intend to talk about mine."

While the Bellow themes were in place from the start, his prose matured later. As the author himself would acknowledge, his early books were too prim, too careful. Only in 1953, with "The Adventures of Augie March," would readers see another Bellow: the funny Bellow, the immigrant Bellow, Bellow the son of a bootlegger.

"Well, `Augie March' was a sort of Niagara of freedom that poured over me suddenly. I thought of myself as an imperfect writer who needed to perfect himself, perfect his language and style, and all of a sudden that was a suffocating project that I had to break with," he said.

"There was a way for children of European immigrants in America to write about this experience with a new language. I felt like a creator of a language suddenly and was intoxicated. It was truly intoxicating and I couldn't control it. It took me several books to rein it in."

"Augie March" and the books that followed - "Seize the Day," "Henderson the Rain King," "Herzog" - established him as a major writer. In each work Bellow lived up to Augie March's idea of imaginative power, of inventing "a man who can stand before the terrible appearances."

Bellow's men stood before the New World, and trembled. Nonbelievers amid the worship of machines and money, they shook with existential despair. They did everything from compose letters to dead people in "Herzog" to running off to Africa in "Henderson the Rain King."

"There is something terribly nervous-making about a modern existence. For one thing, it's all the thinking we have to do and all the judgments we have to make. It's the price of freedom: make the judgments, make the mental calls," Bellow said.

Among his most personal novels was "Humboldt's Gift," which Bellow described as "a comic book about death," culminating in a graveyard scene as emotional as anything he wrote.

The novel was also personal in other ways. The main character, Charlie Citrine, is an aging Chicago writer chasing a younger woman while trying to keep a former wife from ruining him financially.

Two years after the book was published, Bellow faced a 10-day jail term for contempt of court in an alimony dispute with his third wife, Susan Glassman Bellow. An Illinois appeals court overturned the sentence.

In December 1999, Bellow's fifth wife, Janis Freedman, gave birth to their daughter, Naomi. Bellow, 84 at the time, also had three grown sons from prior marriages, and quipped about finally having a girl: "If I didn't succeed at first, I'll try again."

[Monte Smith]

That's a shame. Rest in peace, Mr. Bellow.

[Brian Olewnick]

Sad news.

[Monte Smith]

Brian and I read the same horrible book by Bellow a few years ago, and yet we both still lament his loss. It says something about Bellow's genius that it can survive "Ravelstein."

[Dr Dave]

Saul Bellow was the Great American Novelist of the 20th Century. It has been a long way from Augie March to "The Dean's December." Bellow had that thing, that certain thing, that thing that makes birds forget to sing,Yes, he had that thing, that certain thing.

[crawjo]

My favorite Bellow was Henderson the Rain King. Among many others, his writing inspired the poet Anne Sexton, who took his words, "Live or Die, but don't poison everything." as something of a personal credo.

There were two giants of American fiction in the 20th century.
In the first half was Faulkner. The second half, Bellow.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

One of my favorite writers. Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet are my favorites.

[Uli]

RIP, Mr. Bellow!

[Chris D]

Your City mourns you, Mr. Bellow.

[Rob C]

I respect Bellow, but I don't particularly like his novels. I feel sure this must be a failure on my part, rather than his, but they just never really click for me.

I also thought it was immensely irresponsible of him to have a baby five years ago. Probably a big ego boost for him, but she was inevitably going to be fatherless at an early age. What a ridiculous thing to do.

Nevertheless, RIP.

[jazzy mary]

I love Bellow, although I have been disappointed in some of his later novels, "Ravelstein", as the most glaring example, just wasn't very good. I adore "Humboldt's Gift" and love "Henderson the Rain King" and "Mr. Sammler's Planet" too. His stories "More Die of Heartbreak" wasn't bad.

I saw Mr. Bellow speak about 10 years ago and he seemed very frail then.

He was a great writer! I still vividly remember one summer home from school where I eagerly read everything he wrote.

[Valerie]

Originally Posted by jazzy mary

I love Bellow, although I have been disappointed in some of his later novels, "Ravelstein", as the most glaring example, just wasn't very good. I adore "Humboldt's Gift" and love "Henderson the Rain King" and "Mr. Sammler's Planet" too. His stories "More Die of Heartbreak" wasn't bad.

I saw Mr. Bellow speak about 10 years ago and he seemed very frail then.

He was a great writer! I still vividly remember one summer home from school where I eagerly read everything he wrote.

jm: he wasn't too frail to father a child five years ago!! ain't that sumthin'?!? he also lived and died in my hometown, brookline, massachusetts.

rip, mr. bellow.

[clinthopson]

89 years is a pretty good run.

Herzog and Augie March are my two favorites.

[stonemonkts]

Herzog is the best American novel I've read from the past 50 years by far. Humboldt's Gift is good too. I couldn't get through Ravelstein.

[Ron Thorne]

Sorry to see Mr. Bellow pass, though I'd agree that he had a pretty full life.

Nice to see you posting again, Mr. Monkts.

Jeez, Ravelstein is not that bad. What other novel has a thinly disguised Paul Wolfiwitz in it?

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by achilles

Jeez, Ravelstein is not that bad. What other novel has a thinly disguised Paul Wolfiwitz in it?

Right, so you can believe me when I tell you I was excited to read this. But I didn't stick around long enough to get to any thinly disguised anybodies (except Allan Bloom), because the book was stankass. And you can tell that to the Nobel Committee, too.

[jazzy mary]

I think everyone kindof thought Ravelstein was uh "stankass". But you can't take away Humboldt and Herzog from Bellow. Not to be a total downer, but I'm going to be really upset when William Styron dies. And then what about Updike?? Right there you have the 3 greatest American writers of the past 50 years!

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Right, so you can believe me when I tell you I was excited to read this. But I didn't stick around long enough to get to any thinly disguised anybodies (except Allan Bloom), because the book was stankass. And you can tell that to the Nobel Committee, too.

let's see a paragraph of your best prose.

[tristano's ghost]

Originally Posted by jazzy mary

I think everyone kindof thought Ravelstein was uh "stankass". But you can't take away Humboldt and Herzog from Bellow. Not to be a total downer, but I'm going to be really upset when William Styron dies.

Any word on whether WAY OF THE WARRIOR is ever going to come out? In any form?

[jazzy mary]

Are you talking about Styron's rememberences of when he was a Marine in WWII? I remember many years ago there was an extraordinary story in Esquire that was, supposedly, to be the basis for his big novel on WWII. As far as I know, there been no news about that. Since then, he published "Darkness Visible" about his bouts with depression--extraordianry book. I've been hoping for years that Styron would write this book. Can you imagine how great it would be?? But I'm not hopeful that it will ever come about.

BTW, The NY Times had a magnificent obit. on Bellow adn really covered his work so thoughtfully.

[tristano's ghost]

Originally Posted by jazzy mary

Are you talking about Styron's rememberences of when he was a Marine in WWII? I remember many years ago there was an extraordinary story in Esquire that was, supposedly, to be the basis for his big novel on WWII. As far as I know, there been no news about that. Since then, he published "Darkness Visible" about his bouts with depression--extraordianry book. I've been hoping for years that Styron would write this book. Can you imagine how great it would be?? But I'm not hopeful that it will ever come about.

BTW, The NY Times had a magnificent obit. on Bellow adn really covered his work so thoughtfully.

JM,
Yes, Styron published an excerpt from THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR as a work-in-progress in Esquire in 1971. Not long after that he bogged down and set the ms aside--then began to write SOPHIE'S CHOICE. He made some stabs at returning to WAY OF THE WARRIOR in the 1980s, changing the protagonist to Stingo from SOPHIE'S CHOICE (some of the new ms was published in Esquire as "Love Day," subsequently included in A TIDEWATER MORNING). Have heard very little after that, save for Styron's remarks to Philip Caputo for an Esquire piece from the late 1980s that mostly revolved around his recovery from depression. Styron said he'd had a vision of a young man in a wheelchair--an angry Viet vet & son of the officer Stingo/earlier protagonist had idolized in WAY OF THE WARRIOR (Stiles is his name, I think). In Styron's new conception, the book would merge WWII and Vietnam and become a kind of father-against-son conflict. Sounded very promising, but I don't believe he ever made much headway with it... there have been rumors in the past few years that he intended to publish it in some form, but I haven't heard anything lately--other than reports of health problems.

As a teenager I wrote a fan letter to Styron around 1984, and he sent back a very gracious, kindly worded postcard in reply. While I don't think as highly of his work as I once did (re-read SOPHIE several years ago and found it a botched masterpiece), I'd still be happy to read anything "new" from him... he's the last of the old-school Wolfe & Faulkner Southern writers.

[jazzy mary]

Wow, Tristano, thanks for all the info. You know way more about it than I do! I also like your story about the fan letter you snt Styron. Very gracious of him to reply. Are you a writer?

IMHO, "Confessions of Nat Turner" is my favorite Styron and I think his true masterpiece.

When "Sophie's Choice" first came out I was spending the summer in a small town near Salem, Oregon working for the Oregon Forestry dept. w/ my then boyfriend, then husband and soon to be ex. (Whew, life can be so strange). At any rate, we had rented a small apt. above this little Mom & Pop store and it had no telephone and no tv (bliss). My sister had given me a signed, first edition of "Sophie's Choice". I can remember vividly curling up with it (so eager to get home after the work day up in the Cascade mountains--that was fun--to return to the story) and just being transported and engulfed in the world of the book. Oh, I loved it so much!!! I haven't read it since, your comment re: botched masterpiece intrigues me.

[steve(thelil)]

I thought Phillip Roth wrote "Stankass." I saw him walking on the street 2 days ago and he looked to be working on the prequal: "Beans and Francis".

[tristano's ghost]

Originally Posted by jazzy mary

Wow, Tristano, thanks for all the info. You know way more about it than I do! I also like your story about the fan letter you snt Styron. Very gracious of him to reply. Are you a writer?

IMHO, "Confessions of Nat Turner" is my favorite Styron and I think his true masterpiece.

When "Sophie's Choice" first came out I was spending the summer in a small town near Salem, Oregon working for the Oregon Forestry dept. w/ my then boyfriend, then husband and soon to be ex. (Whew, life can be so strange). At any rate, we had rented a small apt. above this little Mom & Pop store and it had no telephone and no tv (bliss). My sister had given me a signed, first edition of "Sophie's Choice". I can remember vividly curling up with it (so eager to get home after the work day up in the Cascade mountains--that was fun--to return to the story) and just being transported and engulfed in the world of the book. Oh, I loved it so much!!! I haven't read it since, your comment re: botched masterpiece intrigues me.

JM,
I still write sometimes--published a couple of short stories in the 90's in obscure small literary mags, and have some projects I'd like to work on, but most of my time these days is taken up with jazz DJ'ing. Bellow's death has gotten me to finally start AUGIE, and I'm dazzled by the writing so far--one of those books that really makes me want to write (and can also lead me to despair, "Damn, I'll never be that good").

You know, strangely enough, TURNER is the one Styron novel I haven't read. Don't know why, and I should get around to it one of these days (I do have the 1968 paperback, TEN BLACK WRITERS RESPOND--TURNER caused quite a tempest when it came out). Re: SOPHIE, I still love the book; I just found, upon re-reading, that the Stingo young-writer storyline turned too self-indulgent for my tastes. I think the story Styron came up with is great, but some of the Stingo rite-of-passage sections just seemed (upon re-reading them in my late 20s) to have a meandering, distended, autobiographically self-indulgent quality to them. Still, the writing is beautiful, and the Nathan/Sophie storylines still haunt me... and I'll probably re-read it again some day. I admire any author who can go up against the Holocaust in fiction and come back with something good.

The Cascades... sounds nice. I've always been a fan of the Olympics too. Only been out there a couple of times--used to prowl around the Eliot Bay Book Company in Seattle.

[jazzy mary]

Oh Tristano, you really must read "Nat Turner" right away. The writing is amazing!! I know that it did cause quite a tempest when it came out. I think many people were offended that a white man (a Southerner, no less) wouid try to get so inside the mind of a Black man--but it is an utterly masterful and soulful work!

[jazzy mary]

There is a really interesting rememberence/reflection of Bellow by Philip Roth.