Customer Reviews

The Voice Of The Street

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"The Voice of the Street" is Ernest Poole's first novel. It is rougher and more uneven than his best known work, "The Harbor", and his Pulitzer Prize winning "His Family". There are definitely hints of what would come in this book, but it is not nearly as good as what would come. This book was originally published in 1906, and like the other works I mentioned it deals with what was then current society. Poole concentrates on the common people of the time, and in this case that includes young men and recent immigrants.

The novel is about Lucky Jim, a young man who lives on the streets. He has a past, though the reader only gets a glimpse of it from time to time in the telling of the story. The main part of the story is about Jim trying to lift himself up off the streets. He has help, in the form of the new friends he has made. These friends include Joe (often referred to as Dago Joe) and Fritz Bernstene who prove to be very loyal to Joe, and they play an important role in his life. Jim has friends from his former life as well, namely Skinner who was his former gang leader. His love interest is Fritz's daughter Gretchen, who gives him something to work for, though he tries to keep his past hidden from her.

The story opens with Jim still content on the street, gambling, and earning his nickname Lucky. At this point he must already know Skinner, though the reader does not meet him until later. Jim meets Joe at the start of the story, and from here his life changes. Joe introduces Jim to music and singing, and this is the first of the ways in which Joe tries to elevate his life. Jim is blessed with a great, yet untrained, voice. Together, with Joe on the piano and Jim singing, they work to make their lives better. It is in this capacity that Jim meets Fritz, and then Gretchen. Unfortunately, this attempt at lifting his life above the street fails as Jim damages his voice.

Jim then tries good honest hard work when he takes a job at the stables. He works hard and gets his wages raised numerous times. He is also hoping to recover his voice, and allowing Fritz to determine his course of action with regards to singing. But his old life returns time and time again. Skinner takes him out drinking and gambling. Jim nearly loses this life as well, when he is arrested for being a thief. Once again his former life haunts him as he is suspected because of his past. He is proven innocent though, and holds on to this life for a while longer. However, when Gretchen falls ill and nothing seems to help, Jim finds himself pulled back to his former life again. He pawns Fritz's violin and bets the money on a horse. He lives up to his nickname yet again, and gets the money they need to help Gretchen.

Time and again, Jim tries to get away from his street past, though he always seems to try to quicken the process and he never wants to take it slow. The themes in this book repeat over and over, and that is to the detriment of the story. The obvious one is the street and how it takes over Jim's life and takes him away from Gretchen. Joe is destroyed by the street; Skinner becomes master of the street; the street battles for Jim vs. his voice; Gretchen falls victim to the street in her efforts to help Jim escape it; and Fritz is outside of the influence of the street, but his attempts to completely shield his daughter from it fail. Another theme which repeats, but ultimately fails to deliver any kind of message is the references to Gretchen's apparent age, how she is older or younger depending on the circumstances. Eventually the theme simply disappears leaving the reader confused as to why it was there to begin with. Poole uses repeating themes in his other works as well, but in this case it is much too much and it severely detracts from the story.

This was a difficult book for me to give a rating to. The themes are pushed too many times, and as a result the characters and the story seem very artificial. At the same time, there is a foundation here upon which Poole built to become the writer of "The Harbor" and "His Family". Thus I will give this two stars, recommending it only to that small number of readers who are interested in the seeing his development as a writer. For everyone else, please read one of the two books which he is known for and skip this one.