The Human Comedy (novel)

The Human Comedy is a 1943 novel by William Saroyan. It originated as a 240-page film script written for MGM. Saroyan was planning to produce and direct the film, but he was dropped from the project either because the script was too long or because a short film he directed as a test did not pass muster—or both.[1] He walked off the lot, went home, and swiftly created this novelization, which was published just before the film came out. It was the March 1943 Book-of-the-Month Club selection and became a best-seller a week after its release.[1] Saroyan won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film, The Human Comedy. [1]

This article is about the novel by William Saroyan. For the 1943 film, see The Human Comedy (film). For the 1983 musical, see The Human Comedy (musical). For the 2016 film based on the novel, see Ithaca (film).
The Human Comedy
First edition cover
AuthorWilliam Saroyan
IllustratorDon Freeman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarcourt
Publication date
February 4, 1943
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)

Plot

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, Marcus, 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's optimistic tone came, at least in part, from starting as a screen-treatment for MGM's Louis B. Mayer.[2]

Characters
  • Homer Macauley – Protagonist, 14-year-old telegraph messenger living in fictional town of Ithaca, California
  • Katie Macauley – Homer's mother, who plays the harp
  • Bess Macauley – Homer's elder sister, who plays the piano
  • Mary Arena – Neighbor, girlfriend of Homer's brother Marcus, friend of sister Bess
  • Ulysses Macauley – Homer's 4-year-old brother
  • Mr. Grogan – Owner and old-time telegraph operator of Ithaca's telegraph station
  • Mr. Spangler – Manager of telegraph station
  • Miss Hicks – Homer's history teacher, who moralizes during Homer's detention
  • Hubert Ackley III – Homer's rival
  • Auggie Gottlieb – Newspaper boy and leader of a neighborhood gang of young boys
  • Matthew Macauley – Homer's deceased father
  • Marcus Macauley – Homer's elder brother, enrolled in the Army
  • Mr. Ara – Town grocer
  • Diana Steed – Mr. Spangler's girlfriend
  • "Girl on the corner"

Themes and setting

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

The book contains several references to Homer's Odyssey. Homer is the name of both 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 protagonist of Odyssey. The books share the theme of returning home. Ithaca is both Homer's and Ulysses' hometown in the novel and Odysseus' home island in the Odyssey. Helen Eliot, referring to Helen of Troy, is used as the girl that Homer loves.

The story occurs during World War II.

Revision

Dell paperbacks released a revised edition of the novel in 1966. The revised edition is credited to William Saroyan, with several substantial edits that reduce the story to 192 pages.[3]

Adaptations

The film based on Saroyan's script, The Human Comedy, was released in 1943.

In 1943, Nick Hoffer drew a newspaper comic strip, La Comédie Humaine, based on The Human Comedy. It ran in Le Petit Journal, a Québec newspaper. [4]

An adaption by S. Lee Pogostin aired on television on the Dupont Show of the Month in March 1959. Pogostin's adaptation was highly praised by The New York Times. This production starred Michael J. Pollard and featured narration by Burgess Meredith.[5]

A musical adaptation for the stage, which The New York Times described as a “pop folk opera”[6] opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre on December 28, 1983. and eventually transferred to Broadway, where it closed after 19 previews and 13 performances.[7] [8]

A second film version, Ithaca (2015), was directed by Meg Ryan. Filming began in Richmond, Virginia and Petersburg, Virginia in July 2014.[9]

References
  1. "The Human Comedy (1943) - Notes - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  2. Dickran Kouymjian, "Saroyan Shoots a Film" in Leon Hamalian, ed., William Saroyan: The Man and Writer Remembered (Madison NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 1987), 77-83. ISBN 9780838633083
  3. Changes to "The Human Comedy" by William Saroyan – 1943 and 1966 editions
  4. "Nick Hoffer". lambiek.net. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  5. "'The Human Comedy'". timesmachine.nytimes.com. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  6. Bennetts, Leslie (January 2, 1984). "Holiday Party Inspired 'Human Comedy' Opera". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  7. Freedman, Samuel G. (April 5, 1984). "'Human Comedy' Moves to Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  8. "'Human Comedy' Closes". The New York Times. April 16, 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  9. Heil, Emily (June 23, 2014). "When Sally met Terry: Meg Ryan's directorial debut to film in Va." The Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2017.


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