Word: novels
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Grook," the keyword of the novel, always refers to something ominously exciting, not fully understood, worthy of a boy's wonder and solemn respect. Dr. Sax. the hawk-faced, silent, evil-battling spook whom Jack Duluoz invents (and then sees, fearfully, in every dark doorway), gets from place to place by grooking. Dr. Sax plays poker incessantly, has a high, fiendish laugh ("Mwee hee ha ha ha"). And when his stalking of the evil Great World Snake makes it necessary, he pulls a rubber boat out of his slouch hat, pumps it up and paddles across the Merrimack...
...Zane's novel is not particularly outstanding; but its deficiencies are less his than those of the movement and the life which he writes about. The paucity of thought and craftsmanship which mark the novels of Beatland (On The Road is the bible of this pagan country) betray the trivial superstructure which American beats have errected upon a set of basic and simple propositions about the society they reject and the values they seek to transcend. In short, the beat generation is a barren subject-matter, and the more one has to say about it, the more one becomes repetitious...
...Life's a gas, man," Wyeth remarks late in the novel. "You just gotta learn to compromise where it counts. Right?" But as Steiner points out, "The trouble is, where does it count?" This, alas, is a problem both for Steiner and Zane. Where does one draw a distinction between the moral and immoral? Neither Wyeth, Steiner, nor Zane seems to be particularly concerned with this question except to the extent that they raise it, then let it drop...
...what is better about you, 'the silent ones?'" the psychology professor suddenly spoke out, addressing himself to the students. "When I was young I dreamed of earning a million, saving the world, writing the famous novel. And what are the dreams of the American student of today? They don't go further than the limits of a car in the garage and a job in the 'General Motors' Corporation...
Room at the Top (British). The career and comeuppance of a young Englishman on the make, based on John Braine's bestselling novel. One of Britain's best pictures in years...