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The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel

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One of the finest books of the 20th century, The Last Puritan was a sensation when published in the 1930's. It tells the triumph and tragedy of Oliver Alden, a youth born into a strict, "Progressive" Unitarian family in late 19th Century Boston. As his life progesses, he struggles to reconcile the harsh idealism in which he was raised with the beautifully chaotic nature of the real world. This conflict gives Santayana the ability to discuss God, love, morality, politics and the permanence of human nature all without ever losing sight of one man's heroic and tragic attempt to find his place in a world not meant for him. The Last Puritan remains the only book that has ever driven me to tears, and the only novel that has ever truly changed my life. If you've ever counted yourself a "lost soul" in the world, this book will hit home like nothing you've ever read.

Our hero has everything - intelligence, beauty, wealth, education, wisdom, steadfastness, imagination, an athlete's grace and strength - but somehow that is not enough and this is the story of his unfolding consciousness and gradual recognition of fatal spiritual strengths and weaknesses. This sounds very dull, but one is wonderfully swept along from an overprotected childhood in New England, to his father's yacht and to English student life at Oxford. Oliver cannot be called a wit, a social lion or a womanizer; but he admires those who are, and two of his close friends are merry, sophisticated men of the world. A thoughtful, well-endowed young man with time on his hands, he seeks the meaning of life from a certain distance, and we explore this theme with him from many fascinating angles. He does suffer. His father considers him weak and indecisive and his mother thinks him heartless and inconsiderate; he fights to gain his independence from them both and succeeds. He despairs and agonizes over his course of action, scrutinizes his motives for hypocrisy, dishonesty and self-delusion. Aesthetic beauty, ethics, the spiritual life and poetry are centrally recurring themes. Love also is explored. Our poor hero who has everything turns out to be the most awkward, ungainly, pathetic wooer imaginable. But Oliver is worth it all, and you emerge heartened and profoundly enriched by having known him and survived the various turns of his exacting life.

This is the finest coming of age novel in the known and unknown universe. It has everything..philosophy, memoirs of a world gone by, lots of quirkiness, and a great sense of heart. The best thing of all..is to have a copy of the 1936 edition. The yellowed pages of the edition are a perfect touch for a book written about time gone by.GREAT

In The Last Puritan we are given a rare chance to see how a world-renowned philosopher attempts to bring ideas to life in a work of realistic fiction. The milieu of this story is the world of an extremely rich New England family from the late 19th to early 20th century, which might cause it to seem quite removed from the modern-day reality of most of us. The wealth of the protagonist, however, removes the distracting issue of competing for a living and thrusts upon him a fundamental problem which we, too, would be faced with in similar circumstances. That is: Now that my existence is secured, what is the meaning of it? And how do I use it in a worthy manner? To Oliver Alden these questions transcend any doctrinal creeds or religions, in which he has no faith. He is a puritan in the purest sense; he desires to consecrate himself wholly to the highest truth of his inmost spirit. Oliver is a fabulously wealthy holy fool who has inwardly rejected all the worldly pleasures his riches could procure for him. Though held in high regard and even loved by some for his nobility of character, the world seems to view him with mistrust and some degree of condescension. Not believing in Christ, there are several symbolical allusions to Oliver being a Christ figure himself. Santayana relates this story at great length, describing thoroughly Oliver's heritage and formative influences. The world he was born into was very prim and puritanical. The irony is that he, a puritan to the last degree, saw through the hypocrisy of this society. He recognized that it was a guilt-ridden, cramped defense against a wrathful Deity rather than a free and honest expression of the spirit. It is a parallel to Christ and the Pharisees. So, what was Santayana up to in this epic-length novel of an early 20th century incredibly wealthy Christ? When we have sifted through all the philosophical musings and discussions of this highly-refined, erudite book we see that once again the world rejects Christ(Oliver); misunderstands and abuses him; and finally requires his life as a sacrifice. Santayana seems to be saying that though Oliver's life was noble and his fate was tragic, the world doesn't want or need another earnest, humorless Christ. The author created his protagonist in such a way that he was set up to fail in order to give weight to Santayana's philosophical conclusions. Of course, whoever tells the story can set up the parameters to please himself. Even so, Oliver comes across as a very real character with whom you can sympathize, not just a cardboard symbol. Because he is so believable as a truly good and likable person, Santayana's disposition of him as an illustration of a failed way of life may seem somewhat high-handed. Whatever your opinion of that matter, you will find woven into this novel an incredible amount of stimulating presentation of ideas on philosophy, science, religion, aesthetics, poetry and literature. For someone interested in these subjects, The Last Puritan should be a treasure trove. The language is quite elevated and elegant, which may take some getting used to. After some initial difficulty adjusting to its style, I was immersed in the book to the end.

THE LAST PURITAN is a sort of education of Oliver Alden. The atmosphere of the work is that of a Henry James novel. Initially the chief subject is Nathaniel Alden. Unitarianism has replaced prayers at breakfast with wholesome food. The book is cool and funny. Nathaniel Alden is an awful snob and is supernaturally quiet and unengaged. He has vowed to abstain from carriage travel and so must walk. He lives in Boston in the Back Bay.

His younger brother Peter is being sent to camp in the west prior to beginning preparation for Harvard at Exeter. The camp life in Wyoming is to Peter a godsend after living under the dictates of Nathaniel. Genuine cowboys would sometimes ride into the camp. Peter grows up to attend Harvard and to acquire a medical degree. He never practices medicine. His son Oliver is born. His wife is from Great Falls, Connecticut. Oliver manages to escape almost all the ills of childhood. He has a foreign governess, a German woman.

While boating with his father, Oliver is given THE LEAVES OF GRASSS to read. Oliver and his father visit an old kinsman, Caleb Wetherbee. During the winter Caleb resides on Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill. He is a cripple and has adopted the Catholic religion and has become highly knowledgeable about European matters. He invites Oliver to to participate in his Sunday evening parties when Oliver attends Harvard. Observers find Caleb's deep religious interests to be a clear case of sublimation.

Olivers's mother is apt to take no notice of genius or style, she is concerned with social propriety. Oliver, invited by his father to spend a year abroad, makes a decision to stay at his day school in Connecticut and live with his mother for the final year before college. He also decides that Williams College is good enough for him. He fears that universities are filled with snobs. Football more than anything else restores Oliver's conventional tone after spending time with his father and his father's companion Jim.

Oliver does spend the summer with his father and learns that his will has been ripped up and that the older man fears he is dying. Oliver promises Jim he will take care of him notwithstanding the fact that some of Jim's conduct shocks him. Oliver learns to punt. He meets his cousin Mario at Eton. Mario's grandmother is Peter Alden's sister. Oliver and Peter are detained at Eton when Peter falls ill. Peter is pleased to see that his son is so wide awake intellectually. Oliver feels a need to justify his natural sympathies theoretically. Peter dies.

Two years later Mario and Oliver see each other in Manhattan and in Cambridge. Both of the cousins are attending Harvard. Oliver, spending three years at Williams, suffers a football injury and decides to rededicate himself to his studies in the wider academic setting of Harvard. Oliver never flinches in his determination to pursue higher things. At Harvard through chance Oliver occupies the room occupied previously by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Santayana himself is a character in this tale, a member of the philosophy department at Harvard. Oliver joins in the fighting of World War I. He is described as an ascetic without faith. When Oliver dies, Mario is the executor of Oliver's will. Mario tells the supposed biographer of Oliver in the epilogue that he idealizes Oliver and makes him too complex.

The book is very satisfying. It raises issues that are still pertinent. It is scarcely dated at all.