Item: Vandover and the Brute
Rating: 3.00
Author: briana

by Frank Norris

Posthumously published in 1914, Vandover and the Brute is probably Frank Norris's first complete novel, much of it written when he was a student at Harvard in 1894-1895. The subject matter made it unacceptable to turn-of-the-century taste, and when the book finally did appear one reviewer declared that "it ought to have been issued for private circulation only" (Bookman). The setting of the story is San Francisco in the 1890s. Vandover, fresh out of college and the son of a wealthy owner of slum properties, has dreams of being an artist but lacks the discipline to fulfill them. His seduction of a young woman results in her suicide and the death of his own father. Cheated by false friends of part of his patrimony, Vandover gambles away the rest. Finally, as Warren French writes in Frank Norris, "he becomes a bum reduced to cleaning the offal from the slum houses he once owned. His degeneration has also been marked by attacks of lycanthropy, during which he pads around on all fours, naked, howling like a wolf."

Although present-day critics would agree with one of the few favorable early judgments-that "it is a first novel of which any writer might be proud" (Boston Transcript)-Vandover and the Brute has yet to be established in its proper place in American fiction. Warren French's introduction points out that while the novel is usually considered as an early, unrevised example of American naturalism, it needs to be seen now as a principal example of a "decadent" literature that flourished briefly in the United States in the 1890s as the influence of the genteel tradition was collapsing. It presents the portrait of an artistic young man comparable to the portrait of a young matron in Kate Chopin's now much discussed novel The Awakening.

Vandover and the Brute has an interesting publication history. It was considered too scandalous to be published in the late 1800s but today often just gets pegged as "historically significant" (Dana Seitler). So which is it: fascinatingly salacious or academically of interest?

Personally, I think Vandover is likely to appeal to more academic readers than to those looking for an entertaining read. The novel touches on a number of themes common to naturalist writing; it's quite a treasure trove for those who may wish to explore social determinism, biological determinism, race suicide, degeneration, masculinity, etc. Plot-wise, it's a bit dull.

The dullness is partially a result of intentional authorial choices. Protagonist Vandover is stuck in the rut many scholars see as part of naturalist writings; he cannot really progress. So, while on one hand a large of amount of things happen in the book (which I won't specify to avoid spoilers), it's also possible to say that nothing happens at all. Imagine a graph of Vandover's life as an oscillation, like a sine curve.

However, Vandover is only stuck in some parts of his life. In others, he's actively degenerating. This is what attracts many people to the book: the story of a man regressing into animal. However, I found the description of this more exciting than the actual execution of it in the book. Norris takes a rather strong narrative role and actively comments on what he wants readers to think/know. He's pretty explicit about the man turning to brute plot point. I didn't think there was much to interpret here; one just observes that it's happening and moves on.

I enjoyed reading Vandover somewhat because I did it for class, and the discussion was fairly interesting. However, I don't think it's something that would have appealed to me if I'd read it on my own.

Vandover and the Brute

by Frank Norris

Reviewed by Briana @ Pages Unbound on Apr 25, 2016

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