- 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 theSan Joaquin Valley ofCalifornia duringWorld 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 theOdyssey and the main character in this novel. Homer's young brother's name, Ulysses, is the Roman form of the nameOdysseus , theOdyssey '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 toHelen 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 andBill Dumaresq . It starredStephen Geoffreys ,Rex Smith , andMary Elizabeth Mastrantonio . A commercial failure, it closed onApril 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-townExternal links
The Human Comedy (film)
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