Customer Reviews

In a Yellow Wood

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

 

 

Gore Vidal's second novel (1947), published when he was 22, is somewhat obscured, falling between Williwaw and The City and the Pillar. Its title comes from Robert Frost's poem "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," about making the basic choice on life's path. Vidal's writing style here is simple and direct, no literary fancies, but succeeds admirably and makes for a good fast read.

The novel is divided into three parts:

DAY: Now free of the army, Robert Holton lives in a New York hotel room. He works in the Statistics department at a brokerage firm and figures the job is good enough for him. The eatery waitress has a crush on him, fellow worker Caroline has an interest in him, fellow worker Kuppelton feels threatened by him. Work plods along and Vidal records the whole thing with deadly truth. He's visited by army buddy Jim Trebling (Vidal's idol Jimmie Trimble died in WWII), but their buddiness has become awkward.

NIGHT: Robert Holton goes to a huge cocktail party and is surprised to find a former Italian girlfriend he hasn't kept up contact with. Vidal's writing in the second part finds more rewarding fodder in the socialite & artistic crowd. Such as the fairy George Robert Lewis (the middle name is pronounced French style, so he's obviously modeled on the real-life fairy Charles Henri Ford). Robert and the Italian woman wind up at a gay club, then carnie 42nd Street, then her hotel bedroom. The club, 42nd, the love bed prompt Vidal to more elaborate dialogue and thought.

THE YELLOW WOOD: Does Robert Holton really want this life that has befallen him, or should he just walk away into a new world?

You'll be quite entertained finding out.

I read "Lincoln" years ago, so I was very much looking foward to "Yellow Wood."
It was a great disappointment. The writing is very good - the characters are very well developed. The choices made by each character is predictable and within character...makes sense ! Except for the Main Character ... he is more than a little disappointing. I cannot recommend this book - I see no value in the story - except perhaps to live in total contrast to the main character. NOTHING illuminating in this work.

As the epigraph from Robert Frost suggests, "In a Yellow Wood" is about making a decision that changes the entire course of your life. One sees Vidal using the novel to work through the question faced by any would-be artist: Do I choose security and give up my artistic dreams or do I follow my dream without knowing whether I'm good enough to make it? Vidal came from an old family well-established in politics (he's related to Al Gore) and could easily have had a career in Washington, DC. Instead, he chose the harder but possibly more rewarding path.

The novel includes some great scenes of New York night life that, by themselves, are a pleasure to read .