The Human Comedy (novel)

The Human Comedy (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Human Comedy
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = William Saroyan
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Harcourt
release_date = 4 February 1943
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Human Comedy" is a novel by William Saroyan. Homer Macauley is a 14 year-old boy growing up fatherless in the San Joaquin Valley of California during World War II. His oldest brother is off fighting the war, and Homer feels he needs to be the man of the family. To make money, he takes an evening job as a telegraph boy: sometimes he has to deliver the news to a family that a son has died in the War. Yet Homer also keeps up his normal life, going to school, to church, and to the movies. He is buoyed by his home and his loving family, including a very young brother and a mother who plays the harp. His roots and an almost instinctive sense of right and wrong keep him honest and hopeful. The novel was written to give hope during World War II.

Allusions/references to other works

The Human Comedy also has several references to Homer's Odyssey. Homer is both the name of the author of the Odyssey and the main character in this novel. Homer's young brother's name, Ulysses, is the Roman form of the name Odysseus, the Odyssey's protagonist. The theme of both of the books is going home. Ithaca, is both Homer's and Ulysses' home-town in the novel, and Odysseus' home-island in the Odyssey.Helen Eliot, referring to Helen of Troy, is used as the girl that Homer is madly in love with.

Adaptations

Film

Theatrical musical

It was also adapted into a 1984 Broadway musical by Galt MacDermot and Bill Dumaresq. It starred Stephen Geoffreys, Rex Smith, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. A commercial failure, it closed on April 15 1984, only 10 days after its official opening.

Trivia

*The story of The Human Comedy, Homer and Ulysses in particular is based on Saroyan's life, living fatherless with his siblings and his mother.
*Ithaca, California is based on real town of Fresno, Saroyan's home-town

External links

The Human Comedy (film)


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