Customer Reviews

The Enormous Room (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading Cumming's poetry was never a priority in my school days, except such excerpts as appeared in my far from comprehensive American Lit book. After reading this, I wish I'd paid more attention to this truly gifted writer.

The Enormous Room is the story of Cumming's three month incarceration at La Ferte Mace, a squalid French prison camp. Cummings is locked up as accessory to exercise of free speech, his friend B. (William Brown) having written a letter with some pro German sentiments. What Cummings experienced in those three months and the stories of the men and women he met are, despite the straits of the polyglot texture of the book, never other than fascinating. At moments touching (the stories of the Surplice and The Wanderer's family), hilarious (the description of the Man In the Orange Cap is hysterical), and maddening (the smoking of the four les putains), this is a brilliant weft of memorable characters and not a little invective for the slipshod French goverment.

Something I noticed. Though the book claims as its primary influence Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, I noticed a similarity with Thoreau's Walden. In both books, there is the idea of self-abnegation breeding liberty and peace of mind. The idea is to shear away all luxuries, all privileges. But Thoreau had one very important luxury to his credit: Free will. Whereas Thoreau chose his isolated and straitened existence near Walden Pond, Cummings' was involuntary. So, if the touchstone of freedom both men share is valid, is not Cummings, by virtue of the unrequested nature of his imprisonment, the freer of the two men?

This is a fascinating, thought provoking, ribald and intelligent book. I only regret that the Fighting Sheeney was never given commupance...

First published in 1922, THE ENORMOUS ROOM, is Edward E. Cummings's remembrance of his six-months stay in a French detention center before World War I. Almost never published, this odd little book details how Cummings and another American,working as volunteer ambulance-drivers, were picked up on suspicion of treason and then held in a kind of limbo, in "The Enormous Room," with other unfortunates whose only crime was not being French, and were hence also considered traitors. The almost six months spent imprisoned under horrendous conditions left indelible memories of the immigrants Cummings met there, and also shaped his distrust for all in authority. The book may be slighly difficult for readers without a knowledge of a bit of French, but the delighful and swarmy character-descriptions that Cummings draws, should more than compensate for this. This book is eccentric, exquisitely written, and a true treat for any Cummings admirer who yearns for more insight into his life --before he was a poet, and before he was "e.e."

This book gives so much insight into cummings, not to mention it's just a great book. The characters are amazing; he certainly has a way with them. Totally great, and eaiser to read (a.k.a. understand quickly) than most of his poetry! (His other novel, Eimi, is also extememly interesting, but very difficult to read. It's like 200 pages of his wackier poems.) I would say, if you really want to get to know cummings, you have to read this book.

Written by America's most inventive poet, "The Enormous Room" is a book of prose set in a French detention camp during World War One. It is a coming-of-age story in which events happen, not always to the narrator (E.E. Cummings), but to the inhabitants of a place that serves as a microcosm for all the folly and brutality of war itself. As a war narrative it is unique -- unlike Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" or Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front," the central story doesn't take place on the front lines. The plot of the book is basically non-linear, with the exception of the first three or four chapters, and several passages are written in French (thankfully a glossary of foreign terms is printed at the back of the book). I would describe Cummings' story as a stream-of-consciousness dialogue with himself, written in the language of a talented budding poet. Most memorable are the wonderful characters Cummings encountered during his short stay at La Ferte Mace, the name of the camp in which he was interned. They are objects of torn humanity and how terrible it must have been for him to leave them, knowing that upon his release many would languish in prison for the rest of their lives. "The Enormous Room" is a unique historical fiction. It is not an easy read, but it is one of those books that is even more difficult to put down. I have never read another book quite like it. [P.S.: There are two editions of the book, one published by Boni & Liveright and the other by Penquin Classics. The Liveright edition is the better one (and naturally harder to locate online or in book stores), and includes samples of drawings that Cummings made during his confinement.]

When I was ten, I read "In Just-" from Cummings' _Chansons Innocentes_. It changed the way I lived, thought and wrote from that moment onward. Since then, I've been a devout fan of Cummings' poetry... yet, until 1996, more than 15 years later, I'd never read any of his prose. Then a friend lent me _The Enormous Room_.

Despite what may have been said by previous critics, this is not a book about or against war. It's not a guilty diatribe of anguish and violence. Although it takes place in a french concentration camp during WW1 where atrocities are committed daily, Cummings doesn't waste words complaining. The focus and subject of this tale is the things he learned, the people he knew, the beauty he finds recollecting his experience in that place.

I read _The Enormous Room_ in one sitting, and when I'd finished it I read it again. Slowly. It's gorgeous, it's funny, it's intelligent, and it's so damned big-hearted that it makes me feel like a gnat. A very happy gnat. And that's about the highest compliment I think I've ever paid a book.

'Nuff said. Read it.

E. E. Cummings, The Enormous Room (Liveright, 1921)

Cummings became famous for his poetry, but before that he wrote a now obscure novel-cum-memoir about his temporary imprisonment during World War I, The Enormous Room. Modeled loosely after Bunyan's magnum opus, Pilgrim's Progress, Cummings gives us the arrest and detention (for he is never sent to prison, only detained awaiting the word of the Commission on whether he is to be imprisoned or freed) of a friend of his and himself. The friend is charged with treason after writing letters home critical of the French government; Cummings is charged with nothing but being his friend.

The book touches all the expected bases; the horrors of war, problems with authority, etc., etc. Nothing here you haven't seen before. What causes it to stand out is Cummings' treatment of the whole thing. Cummings takes an horrific experience and makes it a whimsical way to pass the time, only allowing enough of the horror to show through so that the reader can understand the irony of Cummings' presentation here.

The book is well-written, though a bit jarring in places; it is written rather like you would hear the story from someone sitting next to you at the club smoking a cigar, although all too overeager at times. Cummings' enthusiasm for his subject, though, is a refreshing change from the usual war novel. This is not a book that is easy to digest, but is worth the effort. *** ½

I am confused as to why the editorial review described this as a novel - it is NOT a novel. The edition that I have of this book has a foreword by Robert Graves & includes letters by cummings' father to the government during his imprisonment. That edition calls this a biography/narrative.

That being said - if you're a fan of cummings' poetry as I am, this book goes a long way towards explaining his transition from an idealistic youth into the more cynical man who manages to retain an appreciation for the beautiful. Check out "etc.: the unpublished poems of e. e. cummings"; I recommend it in addition to this, but if the narrative of "enormous room" bothers you, "etc." shows the transformation through poetry and brief editorial notes. Basically, I recommend this book because of the insight, the flow of the narrative (although it WAS occasionally hard to follow), and the descriptiveness of the narrative which is very reminiscent of his poetry. It's great to see this finally back in print.

This is not a book for everyone. I received this book as a gift from a relative, and that's the main reason I thought I'd try it. The book is a portrayal of E.E. Cummings' imprisonment in France during WWI, and the bulk of the work is a portrayal of the many characters Cummings saw at the prison -- and the many cruelties they suffered at the hands of their keepers and each other. While Cummings' prose is casual, ironic, and sometimes amusing, the work as a whole suffers from a lack of a plot to drive it forward. I frequently grew tired of reading one elaborate character sketch after another. Other people obviously are forgiving of this fault because they enjoy Cummings' prose so much, but I couldn't bear it.

Never more relevant than today, eighty-some years removed from World War I (to end all wars, ironically), this book deals with issues that nations still have not seemed to solved: fascist governments, disregard for due process, injustice in the name of expediency and national security. That the US quarantines Japanese-Americans twenty years after its first run only embarasses us; that eighty years later we still do the same thing breaks your heart.

Mr. Cummings writes in a sort of stream-of-consciousness first person, something on the order of Romantic prose mixed with his own style that is inimitably his own. A student of Cummings might be quick to see the parallel between his earliest poems and that evolution to his modern free verse, as taking place within this novel right before one's eyes.

Enjoyable stories, and Mr. Cummings and his friend are something of snobs, something of braggards even (becoming fluent in French after two weeks is extremely hard to believe). The annoyance quickly passes (and crops up again whever he mentions how much more evolved he is than other Americans) when he paints such vivid mental images of life in the enormous room, the ennui and absurdity of being held without due process, and the veritable Ellis Island of characters populating his new world.

A reader would do well to approach this book without reading the hyperbole of its back cover or the well-meaning but misguided praqises of some reviewers. This is a great book, but not a classic. Cummings is not a master novelist, which does not dimish his effort or take anything from his creative genius. Rather, it is much like falling into the trap of thinking a master in one form can be a master in another. Enjoy the reading, and marvel at ironic relevance it holds for us today.

Fred

Perhaps the fact that, as I view this item, there is only one copy left in stock speaks volumes about the story itself. In continuous print since its original publication in 1921 (or 1922, I can never remember precisely), The Enormous Room is Cummings' tale of his ordeal as a prisoner of the French government during WWI. Cummings & his friend, William Slater Brown, being pacifists volunteered to drive ambulances for a French company. However, when they found that the paranoid French were heavily censoring their letters home & were spying on the foreign nationals that worked for them, Brown in particular began to include many salacious bits in his letters in order that he might really raise the ire of the censors, never thinking that he & his friend could be arrested for sedition or whatever it was that they were charged with. For four months, Cummings spent time in the grueling hell of La Ferte Mace, suffering greatly at the hands of the French who were supposed to be our allies.

Still, rather than see this as a moment to whine about his predicament, Cummings instead employed his usual individualist outlook onto the situation. As only Cummings can, he brings to life his experience through his use of language--his characteristically lyrical English with liberal doses of his aurally received French sprinkled throughout. This edition has a handy glossary at the back to help with the translation of the massive amount of French in the book, & it also contains the original illustrations, restored to the text as Cummings himself had wanted. The use of French is interesting in itself because of how Cummings & Brown would learn the language. At the outset, their adventure begins in chaos as they are lost in Paris with no way to find their ambulance company headquarters (not that they had the desire to find their post, either). During this time, they learned French while spending time with "ladies of the evening" in the Parisian pubs of the day. This colloquial French is what finds its way into the book, with many intentional misspellings that represent to the reader the experience Cummings & Brown would have had as Americans galavanting about Paris with absolutely no knowledge of the language or the customs of the locals. It is this almost childlike approach to experience that Cummings brings to the horror of his French prison ordeal, allowing him to elevate the human spirit, through comedy & through his unique outlook on life, in a way that can only be said of E.E. Cummings.

There are many direct allusions to "A Pilgrim's Progress," an old, English morality play (by Bunyan, I believe), as Cummings sees his imprisonment as his own odyssey of a sort. Of course, as is often the way with Cummings, there is also a healthy dose of his philosophy of the individual, of the indomitability of the human spirit, & of his sense of wonder at everything around him. He conveys things through language in a manner that is specific to the poet yet is undoubtedly the hand of a gifted novelist & storyteller. In so many ways, Cummings allows you to feel every second of his experience, at once awe-ful & awesome, a true journey to the depths of hell & back out through his own purgatory to a final salvation as he realizes that even at his lowest, he was always the free-minded individual who refused to be conquered by circumstance. This book stands alone among the many WWI novels. This is a story that is distinctly E.E. Cummings, distinctly the concision of a poet, yet beautifully crafted narrative that allows us to enter into his experience as he brings it to life on the page.

I highly recommend "The Cummings Typescript Editions" printing of this book, with forward by George J. Firmage. This edition, of all the editions I have found, is the most true to the author's original intent & contains the manuscript as he himself envisioned it (he actually oversaw a reprinting of the book, I believe in 1935 though it might have been 1928, in which he restored all of the language as he intended it, but I do not believe this version had any of the drawings he had made for the book). The flow of the text, the very helpful glossary of French idioms, & the emotive pencil drawings that illustrate the text make this a truly unique printing of this story. It is certainly worth owning, especially if you're a fan of Cummings already. If you have never read Cummings, this is certainly a good place to start because this was his very first book, a novel, published well before he ever put out a book of poems, though as I've said the poet is certainly present in the way he crafts the narrative to bring to life the imagery that makes up any good story. Of course, given the level & copious amount of French in the book, once you've gone through it using the glossary to understand everything, you really should go back through it at least one additional time just to experience the story all the way through as a continuous work, without stopping to look up the meanings you hopefully have retained from your first read through. This book is well worth the time & effort that several readings require, but I'm not really sure it's fair to call such pleasured reading "effort."