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James Gould Cozzens, an Almost Forgotten Novelist 11/1/2016 7:45:21 PM
Two friends have been riding on a passenger train and haven't spoken to each ist other for half an hour. Finally, one of them, Tom, looks up from a book he's almost finished reading.
"You've been lost in that thing for the longest time," his friend Harry says. "What are you reading about?"
"A novel," Tom replies. "'The Just and the Unjust". About legal affairs in an American town. By James Gould Cozzens. Ever heard of him?"
"Yes, but not for a long time," Harry replies. He's an authority on literary matters and loves to debate. "Do you like it? Why bother with a novel that's 75 years old?"
"I read it in high school and wanted to check it out again. It's stodgy in places and limited in its view of society, but it sure holds my attention. Very well put together. Highly intelligent. Thoroughly thought out. And filled with lovely irony. It starts strong and gets stronger. Cozzens' subject matter would appeal to a thriller writer, but it's not a thriller. He examines the ways of a prosperous town and brings out both strengths and weaknesses. It's a marvellous novel, close to being a classic. I love the way he upends the expectations of the town's leaders, decent people if narrow, to serve the cause of justice. The main character makes a compromise to secure his well-being that he promised himself he wouldn't. Terrific! This novel shows the way life is. I'm surprised it isn't better known."
Tom's praise of the old, nearly-buried work makes Harry uncomfortable. "You must know the outlines of Cozzens' story," Harry says. "He was successful in the 1940's and '50's, even won a Pulitzer Prize, and then faded out of sight."
"Yes, I recall that story. A famous literary critic and an up and coming novelist who later became known most everywhere trashed his work. The elite turned away from him -- gave him a superficial label -- said he was too conservative -- and were blind to his skill and the wonderful irony I mentioned. They held his privileged background against him (his grandfather was a governor of Rhode island) and argued that his family's history defined him. Good writing got pushed to the side of the road. But Cozzens' novels are still fresh and readable. I can't wait to begin 'Guard of Honor'."
Harry cleared his throat. "Cozzens got in the way of a whirlwind. Kerouac and the beatniks came along, then the hippies. It wasn't only young people who challenged society's established ways. New ideas and forces came in to supplant the old. That's the way life goes. Cozzens was old hat the day he began. He wrote as if James Joyce and Hemingway and Faulkner and Virginia Woolf never published a word."
"For me, the issue is quality," Tom says, "not literary fashions. Cozzens wrote fine books that will stand up. I agree with you in one way. Homer said that the newest songs always get the most applause. The world doesn't run by wave upon wave of newness, though. Civilization is a steady continuity that began at the start of the human story. Be truthful. Work hard. Love justice. Be careful with money. Respect your neighbors. Don't kill or cheat or grab for more than you're entitled to. Families are key elements of society. Good work sets an example and receives its reward. People thrive in conditions of freedom, when we can determine what's best for ourselves. These are eternal values. Ignore them and find trouble. Higher values come into the story as well: forgiveness, faith in God, love. These are likewise eternal.
"But back to what we were talking about. The work of Joyce and those others will stay around for sure. The point is that the history of novels and stories forms a wide and broad spectrum. Today's majority culture occupies a narrow slice of it. The wider culture may be submerged for us but it still exists."
"And you think Cozzens' work is part of it," Harry says with sardonic exasperation.
"He and countless others," Tom replies. "The set-up is richer and more abundant than most of us may suppose. It'll go on that way."
The train reaches its destination and Harry breathes a sigh of relief.
