Mr. Cheever has started to turn me into a socialist. His characters are so restless and discontent in their comfort-grubbing suburban lives that I want to shake them and say, "You must work! Work is the answer!" I am just like one of Chekhov's naïve idealists. Cheever's Shady Hill does share a certain lassitude with Chekhov's countryside. Cheever doesn't provide his own reformers so I am forced into to the role. It's exciting for me, as I am usually an advocate for idleness and gourmandism.
But is it weird that there aren't any young socialists in Cheever? Other books I've read from the same decades have included at least one or two. I'm thinking mainly of Mary McCarthy, Dawn Powell, and John Dos Passos.
Ps. I'm not certain "socialist" is the right word, but I can't think of the appropriate label. Suggestions are welcome.
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Books I met: work
Mr. Cheever has started to turn me into a socialist. His characters are so restless and discontent in their comfort-grubbing suburban lives...
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