Author-Screenwriter Herman Wouk has died at 103

[sttngfan1701d]

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/17/4687...binson-of-jewish-american-fiction-dies-at-103

He was a WW2 veteran, won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Caine Mutiny" and scripted his novels "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" for television. He was in the business going back to the 30's writing jokes for radio. I've read 5 novels of his and enjoyed every one, as well as his memoir. He lived a good long life, and was witty and quick to the end. It's kind of amazing to me that he doesn't get a lot of recognition...because in my opinion we've just lost one of the great American novelists of the 20th century.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I think part of why Wouk is neglected is because his work was more accessible (read: commercial) than that of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and other mid-century Jewish-American writers, and so scholars and critics kind of looked down their noses at him. And yet I'd argue that The Winds of War and War and Remembrance are the American War and Peace -- telling the story of World War II and the Holocaust through the Henry and Jastrow families the way Tolstoy tells of the War of 1812 through Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, and the other characters. While Wouk's body of work will certainly live on, I hope his passing will mean a reappraisal and new appreciation of what he's left us.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

I think part of why Wouk is neglected is because his work was more accessible (read: commercial) than that of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and other mid-century Jewish-American writers, and so scholars and critics kind of looked down their noses at him. And yet I'd argue that The Winds of War and War and Remembrance are the American War and Peace -- telling the story of World War II and the Holocaust through the Henry and Jastrow families the way Tolstoy tells of the War of 1812 through Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, and the other characters. While Wouk's body of work will certainly live on, I hope his passing will mean a reappraisal and new appreciation of what he's left us.

I've used that same descriptor myself. Those two novels are the American "War and Peace". And they are still imminently readable and contain some of the best summaries (from an operational POV) of the war I've ever read in a work of fiction. I still recommend "The Winds of War" to people. I've read it twice. And as for "War and Remembrance", just the other day that was in my head because of an article in Entertainment Weekly that said Game of Thrones' S8 is the biggest, most ambitious thing ever filmed for TV. I read that and thought "No it's not....have they forgotten about War and Remembrance? Or Winds of War, for that matter?"

I came to his works late...just 5 years ago. But I have enjoyed every single thing of his that I've read, and I'm glad there's still more to discover. He was still gifted with comedy at age 99 in his memoir. His books were a little soapy maybe...he prioritized drama over incisive commentary. But I learned a lot about writing from him. Some of his passages are just beautiful. He was very good at describing people and places.

Another reason people neglect him is that his works were adapted a long time ago. His books were bestsellers turned into movies in the 1950's-1970's. Some people on Twitter reacted to his death not even realizing he was still alive...even though he was still active as a writer until very recently. It's a shame. Next week he would've been 104, and he was writing yet another book.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I think part of why Wouk is neglected is because his work was more accessible (read: commercial) than that of Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, and other mid-century Jewish-American writers, and so scholars and critics kind of looked down their noses at him. And yet I'd argue that The Winds of War and War and Remembrance are the American War and Peace -- telling the story of World War II and the Holocaust through the Henry and Jastrow families the way Tolstoy tells of the War of 1812 through Pierre, Natasha, Andrei, and the other characters. While Wouk's body of work will certainly live on, I hope his passing will mean a reappraisal and new appreciation of what he's left us.

I much prefer Wouk to Roth anyday. War and Remembrance is a brilliant novel.

 

[Starbreaker]

I loved The Winds of War. I've had his autobiography on my wishlist for a while.

 

[cardinal biggles]

And as for "War and Remembrance", just the other day that was in my head because of an article in Entertainment Weekly that said Game of Thrones' S8 is the biggest, most ambitious thing ever filmed for TV. I read that and thought "No it's not....have they forgotten about War and Remembrance? Or Winds of War, for that matter?"

It's not that W&R was ambitious just because of its size -- all the countries they filmed in, and the sprawling cast of characters -- but because of its content. Nobody had ever tried to portray the Holocaust so graphically, at least not on notoriously prudish American network TV. The first half of Part XI is still incredibly difficult to watch.

 

[Admiral2]

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/17/4687...binson-of-jewish-american-fiction-dies-at-103

He was a WW2 veteran, won the Pulitzer Prize for "The Caine Mutiny" and scripted his novels "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" for television. He was in the business going back to the 30's writing jokes for radio. I've read 5 novels of his and enjoyed every one, as well as his memoir. He lived a good long life, and was witty and quick to the end. It's kind of amazing to me that he doesn't get a lot of recognition...because in my opinion we've just lost one of the great American novelists of the 20th century.

I'm genuinely surprised that the author of some of my favorite war stories lived that long. Surely he'll be missed.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

With his death (and hopefully the increased attention to his books) and also the 75th anniversary of D-Day this year and V-E Day next year, perhaps people will look again at War and Remembrance. It's on YouTube, but it is in pretty poor quality. It needs a full restoration. It's too darn important. I know it was shot on film so it should be possible to do. As noted above, it has content that people need to see and remember. I think it deals with the Holocaust at least as well (if not better) than Schindler's List. It's an important piece of TV history.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

I loved The Winds of War. I've had his autobiography on my wishlist for a while.

It's a short little book. I wanted it to be longer, but I understood that a 99 year old man writing what (at the time, anyway) was meant to be his final book could do whatever the hell he pleased, and I was just happy that his humor hadn't waned with age. Was an editor actually going to ask him to revise and expand it once he handed it in? Unlikely. It's packed full of anecdotes, jokes, and while reading it I had to sit back and reflect that this man started his career writing for radio programs, before the advent of TV, and here he was writing about how people complained on internet forums and using Skype to videochat with his children (laughing in the process at the thought of a man that old actually browsing internet forums).

 

[DonIago]

Whoa. I didn't know he was still alive (well, until recently...). I was just reading up on "The Caine Mutiny" (admittedly the film more than the novel) as I hadn't decided whether to purchase the score...which I ordered yesterday.