Quotes from bookLook Homeward, Angel
Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a depiction of Wolfe himself. The novel briefly recounts Eugene's father's early life, but primarily covers the span of time from Eugene's birth in 1900 to his definitive departure from home at the age of 19. The setting is a fictionalization of his home town of Asheville, North Carolina, called Altamont, Catawba in the novel.
“O lost,
And by the wind grieved,
Ghost,
Come back again.”
Thomas Wolfe book Look Homeward, Angel
Source: Look Homeward, Angel (1929), p. 3
Context: A stone, a leaf, an unfound door; of a stone, a leaf, a door. And of all the forgotten faces. Naked and alone we came into exile. In her dark womb we did not know our mother's face; from the prison of her flesh we come into the unspeakable and incommunicable prison of this earth. Which of us has known his brother? Which of us has looked into his father's heart? Which of us has not remained forever prison-pent? Which of us is not forever a stranger and alone? O waste of loss, in the hot mazes, lost, among bright stars on this most weary unbright cinder, lost! Remembering speechlessly we seek the great forgotten language, the lost lane-end into heaven, a stone, a leaf, an unfound door. Where? When? O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again.
Thomas Wolfe book Look Homeward, Angel
Eugene Gant contemplating entering the service in World War I
Source: Look Homeward, Angel (1929), p. 434
“Most of the time we think we're sick, it's all in the mind.”
Thomas Wolfe book Look Homeward, Angel
Source: Look Homeward, Angel (1929), p. 10
“The exquisite smell of the south, clean but funky, like a big woman.”
Thomas Wolfe book Look Homeward, Angel
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Look Homeward, Angel (1929)
