Miss Lonelyhearts And The Day Of The Locust [Paperback]

The Day of the Locust is a different sort of monster. Here is a story so harsh, so utterly hopeless and bleak that it is easy to overlook how grounded in reality it truly is. Take this story out of its 1930s historical context and the face of the tale would not change. Here is a story of the dreamers flocking to Hollywood usually with unrealistic and terrifyingly desperate hopes of their own future success. These dreams are not even well thought out, based solely on the unreal idea of a 'celebrity culture' entertainment press and studio propaganda build around their handful of stars. But here everyone believes in their own superstardom, everyone imagines their buried talents becoming public property and every ranging idea they have is absorbed into the unreality of their increasingly hopeless dreams. Even the parody of Hollywood cults is contemporary, of these flighty ideas that the desperate flock to when things aren't going their way; these opportunistic religions, translated today into Scientology, Kabbalah and several other currently in vogue practices that ravage the West Coast nightlife in a mingle of true faith and a drug-induced party atomosphere. Is The Day of the Locust an exaggeration, exploiting legitimate weaknesses in character in the name of satire? Perhaps, although I tend to think of it as a much truer picture of those not quite making it, of those growing tired from their ceaseless efforts and daily failures and how they rattle apart under the pressure of their dreams. This book is honestly one of my favorite of all books, all its brutality, misery and cruelty notwithstanding. It paints a very delicate picture of the fragile human soul being consumed with reckless abandon by the self-serving greed of all aspirants who need to somehow make themselves greater than they are. There are all sorts of psychological explanations one could give to explain away this horror, but even this becomes sort of cultish at its extreme, some terrible excuse that ignores individual human motive. West has written a masterpiece undermining all of these futile ideologies while at the same time telling a swift-moving, entertaining story about something given birth to by the American cult of celebrity. A very important and perpetually lasting fable, The Day of the Locust is happening every day.

The book follows Miss Lonelyhearts (but who else?), a male advice columnist who falls into a depression, egged on by the pitiable letters of his followers. Even though his actions may make you question his morals, Miss Lonelyhearts still triumphs in capturing our attention. Through his miserable life--which, in fact, could be any one of ours--we learn what the purpose of exisiting really is.

Try this. If you end up despising "Miss Lonelyhearts," you can always read "Locust." Love it or hate it, this novel will undoubtedly get you thinking, wondering, pondering. Carpe diem!

THE DAY OF THE LOCUST comes across as more satiric than shrill, perhaps because there is no Shrike here, although West's trademark themes of alienation and futility are fully evident. Tod Hackett is new to Hollywood; he is lazy but ambitious, a painter who hopes to earn a living as a set designer. Tod finds himself drawn to the outsiders of Hollywood, the lower classes, those for whom success is always out of reach. The characters are almost surreal in their quirkiness. Aspiring actress Faye Greener lives in the same building as Tod; by introducing Tod to the vapid decadence of Hollywood, she awakens Tod's violent impulses. Iowan Homer Simpson is a listless, repressed man who has come to California not for show business but for health reasons and to forget what little sexuality he has. West is not a writer to grant the wishes of his characters, but, like Harry Greener, many of the characters "seemed to enjoy their suffering [. . .] the sort that was self-inflicted."

West's philosophy in these two novellas seems to fit into a single line in THE DAY OF THE LOCUST, "Few things are sadder than the truly monstrous." These works display a dark, almost desperate humor that exposes the human condition as West saw it. If you don't think you can take an abundance of hopelessness, you should select another book to read. Still, these are important works, especially for those interested in modern American literature.