tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post7206753911105727470..comments2024-01-06T10:36:04.084-05:00Comments on A Commonplace Blog: The greatest debutsD. G. Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-20788468467824589522014-03-07T15:53:56.408-05:002014-03-07T15:53:56.408-05:00Why did you eliminate James Joyce's Dubliners?...Why did you eliminate James Joyce's Dubliners? Because he had already published two small books of poetry? But you made an exception for Golding -- who is far less important that Joyce. Dubliners or Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man (his first novel) must be on the list!bibliobillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17602299460265989150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-78705657044884731812014-03-04T19:35:23.736-05:002014-03-04T19:35:23.736-05:00David, here is the link -
http://beyondeastrod.blo...David, here is the link -<br />http://beyondeastrod.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-prayerful-tip-of-hat-to-professor.htmlR.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-83944000151456347422014-03-04T11:07:57.140-05:002014-03-04T11:07:57.140-05:00A tip of the hat to you appears at my blog. And be...A tip of the hat to you appears at my blog. And best wishes are included here as well.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-45156679966368423992014-02-27T18:37:00.074-05:002014-02-27T18:37:00.074-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-32537236372439956292014-02-20T03:34:36.717-05:002014-02-20T03:34:36.717-05:00Three debut novels that grew out of their authors&...Three debut novels that grew out of their authors' experiences in World War II were critical and popular successes at the time of publication: Mailer's "The Naked and the Dead", James Jones's "From Here to Eternity" and John Horne Burns's "The Gallery". None are widely read now, another symptom of our national amnesia regarding the human costs of war.Jeff Mauvaisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-77337109515262114722014-02-14T17:35:53.860-05:002014-02-14T17:35:53.860-05:00The most recent printing of My Head My Head is 61 ...The most recent printing of My Head My Head is 61 pages (See the 2006 Carcanet edition King Jesus ; and, My head! My head! by Robert Graves; edited by Robert A. Davis) which is rather short for a novel, and it reads more like a chapter from The White Goddess rather than a novel.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933573331370222730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-50143323623548149722014-02-14T17:13:09.387-05:002014-02-14T17:13:09.387-05:00All American and British for shame. What about Can...All American and British for shame. What about Canadian fiction like Alice Munro's "Dance of the Happy Shades," W.P Kinsella's "Shoeless Joe," Rohinton Mistry's "Such a Long Journey," or Rawi Hage's "De Niro's Game."B. Glen Rotchinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05815057617780242871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-10643317441967080992014-02-14T13:42:57.162-05:002014-02-14T13:42:57.162-05:00@Michael Connors—
Robert Graves’s first novel was...@Michael Connors—<br /><br />Robert Graves’s first novel was something called <i>My Head! My Head!</i>, published in 1925. By the time he had already published several volumes of poetry.<br />D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-22222244258711665132014-02-14T07:42:11.278-05:002014-02-14T07:42:11.278-05:00Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Flann O'Bri...Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Flann O'Brien's At-Swim-Two-Birds were the first novels of these authors, and made your March 6, 2009 list of the Greatest Novels Ever.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933573331370222730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-59298460047024363172014-02-13T08:43:53.969-05:002014-02-13T08:43:53.969-05:00David Lamson was on San Quentin's death row wh...David Lamson was on San Quentin's death row when chapters of his book "We Who Are About to Die," appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. That was in 1935. Lamson's third and fourth trials ended in mistrials, and on April 3, 1936 California dropped charges against him, and he was free man. Lamson worked at RKO briefly, published a novel, and then wrote stories for The Saturday Evening Post until the midfifties. Lamson wrote himself off death row and into The Saturday Evening Post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933573331370222730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-65179076028328920542014-02-13T06:20:47.489-05:002014-02-13T06:20:47.489-05:00@Amateur Reader (Tom)
I did try to restrict mysel...@Amateur Reader (Tom)<br /><br />I did try to restrict myself to a writer’s literary debut. That’s why James Dickey’s <i>Deliverance</i>, for example, is not listed, or Jarrell’s <i>Pictures from an Institution</i>.<br /><br />The only (partial) exception above is William Golding, who had published one small obscure collection of poems before making a splash with <i>Lord of the Flies</i>.<br />D. G. Myershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10659136455045567825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-2144578043896851522014-02-12T22:01:47.182-05:002014-02-12T22:01:47.182-05:00I suppose Scott's Waverley belongs on the list...I suppose Scott's <i>Waverley</i> belongs on the list for the similar reasons to <i>Pamela</i>, although it is odd to think of it as a debut for this veteran, popular writer. But it was his debut prose fiction and it certainly made a splash. The novel has never quite dried itself out.<br /><br />Was <i>Zuleika Dobson</i> Beerbohm's first book that was not essays? I think it was. So that is not a bad candidate, although I doubt it should knock anyone out of the top 25.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-5646699600021970432014-02-12T18:27:49.970-05:002014-02-12T18:27:49.970-05:00I must be missing something because I don't un...I must be missing something because I don't understand why Wuthering Heights is not listed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-21573701955017838582014-02-12T18:16:32.334-05:002014-02-12T18:16:32.334-05:00Nordhoff and Hall's first joint novel was Muti...Nordhoff and Hall's first joint novel was Mutiny on the Bounty. <br /><br />I could make a case for "Gitanjali (Song offerings); a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali" by Rabindranath Tagore, for it was the author's first book published in the West, and he won the Nobel Prize because of it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933573331370222730noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-68800831285729558922014-02-12T15:33:22.766-05:002014-02-12T15:33:22.766-05:00I've long thought that Steven Millhauser's...I've long thought that Steven Millhauser's <i>Edwin Mullhouse</i> was damned impressive for a first novel. Also, <i>A Fan's Notes,</i> although that didn't presage a literary career of any consequence. Bruce Duffy debut, <i>The World As I Found It</i>, was dazzling, but for some reason I did not thereafter follow his career.Rand Careagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04993454654652802173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3458341.post-54337436392811759612014-02-12T14:37:28.466-05:002014-02-12T14:37:28.466-05:00David, I am so glad you have included Flannery O&#...David, I am so glad you have included Flannery O'Connor's debut novel. And I am more glad to read another of your informative and thought-provoking postings at ACB. <br /><br />I hope you do not mind that I have somewhat borrowed your blog title, and I have revised it for my own blog: a commonplace from eastrod. As you would expect, I focus for the most part on Flannery O'Connor, but I allow time and space for other matters as well. Do stop by if you can. And do forgive me for being a bit of a blog-title-plagiarist.R.T.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13220814349193561823noreply@blogger.com