Studs Lonigan (Prairie State Books)

About five years ago I brought the Studs Lonigan trilogy with me to Hawaii. Read it in a week. The thing that struck me the most was Farrell's handling of Studs's interior dialogue. His thoughts mirrored mine when I was his age(s). It was shocking; I thought I was the only person who felt and thought what I had, and to see those thoughts and feelings in print was extemely confronting... and comforting knowing I wasn't alone.

Farrell's groundbreaking work is perhaps the best example of American naturalism that we have. It is the story of the rather brief life of the working class Irish protagonist, Studs, who grows up and comes to manhood on the South Side of Chicago. Studs lives through poverty and the Depression, but not without paying a terrible psychic price. Through a relentless piling up of detail, Farrell is able to convincingly present his thesis, that social, political, cultural, and most of all economic forces conspire to decisively shape human character and choice.The novel unflinchingly portrays the violence, chauvanism, and racism that pervades the lives of Studs and his friends. They despise those more privileged than themselves, have complete contempt for women, and fiercely distrust anyone from outside their neighborhood, particularly those with a different skin color. They wear their toughness with pride and have no patience for expressions of sensitivity or remorse.Yet from the opening chapter, Farrell takes pains to show that the young Lonigan is not immune to feelings of tenderness and even love. His portrayal of Studs' romantic adolescent longing for Lucy is convincing and touching, and the author's presentation of it early in the book makes more convincing his documentation of Studs' progressively hardening view of life.Another key element of the trilogy is its sketching of a character increasingly dwarfed by forces beyond his control and understanding. In one key scene, Studs, close to despair as he feels his life slipping away from him, stands by the shores of Lake Michigan and watches the waves pound against the rocks. It's a beautifully naturalistic scene: Farrell uses the images of real life to create symbols of Studs' feelings of helplessness in a world he doesn't understand.The trilogy is primarily about loss. Farrell, I believe, felt that it was difficult for boys like Studs to escape their fate, but he did not feel it was impossible. What was required was character of a sterner stuff than Studs possessed. Studs comes to stand for a generation that wasted its potential on alcohol, petty crime, and on a foolish pursuit of the quick buck. Where imagination was required to dream up a world different than the one to which he was born, Studs settled for the here and now, and it cost him dearly."Studs Lonigan" takes the reader into a world that Farrell knew firsthand. He makes you live in the world of doomed youth and refuses to pull any punches, right up until the last page has been turned.

Not since Dreiser's, "An American Tragedy", have I read a book that described the spiritual depravity of teen age youth and the ignorance that accompanies it. Farrell's masterpiece made the top 100 for this century at #29 and certainly deserves its place there.The book is actually three shorter books combined into one massive saga about a young man named Bill "Studs" Lonigan. Studs is a Catholic, Irish-American who lives in the rough and tumble neighborhood of Chicago during the early portion of this century. The story starts off with Studs being 15 and thinking he knows everything and willing to prove it with his fists. Dropping out of high school to hang around a pool room, he and his friends primarily engage in fights, drinking and picking up women. Studs is the leader of his friends and always feels the need to prove himself by fighting and out drinking them. Despite hearing lectures from his priest about the dangers of drink and sex, he continues to engage in these activities. However, time takes it toll on Studs's health. By 1930, the Depression and his failing health (from his activities in his 20's) force him to realize that he isn't the man who used to be. Farrell depicts the turbulent times perfectly. The reader is draw into the descriptions and accounts of Chicago at the end of the first World War, the socialist movement, the rise in popularity of Sinclair Lewis, and many other events. The roaring 20's are also written about and the reader is taken through gambling halls, speakeasies, and whore houses. Farrell paints a very bleak picture of the Depression as well.While there doesn't seem to be many answers in the book, it does depict that ignorance and a lack of spirituality wreaks havoc upon lives. While it is one thing to have religious rules and regulations, it is another to live them. The reader can be intimidated by the page count, but it is well worth reading. It easily made my list for one of the 10 best books I've read in my lifetime.

Perhaps the most disturbing thing about "Studs Lonigan" is its prescience, which still hovers over all of us more than sixty years later. Sadly, the book seems to have fallen into obscurity, slipping into the cracks that separate one decade from another. If not for Modern Library's recent list, I myself would have remained oblivious to what I can only describe as a work of art. I make no bones about that. I am not proud of it, and lament "what has become of education" that someone can walk through college without stumbling over this book or having it thrust into his lap by every other drommate, the other half of whom clutch "Catcher in the Rye" to their chests as if in ignorance of the fact that, were their copy stolen, another could easily and cheaply be found at the local bookstore. "Why have I never heard of this book before?" I continually asked myself. Why is this book not more widely read, nor found in more bookstores, on more reading lists? Dammit, great literature such as this should not simply fall to the wayside, tossed to the side of the road through the open window of a speeding car like an apple core freshly eaten and so readily disposed of. Forget "Catcher in the Rye." It says nothing that this book does not say ten times better.Read "Studs Lonigan." It is long, yes, but well worth the time.