Yates was one of the most underrated prose stylists in twentieth century American literature. Like the way he could conjure images in my head was nearly cinematic. When he describes the light coming in through the window and making Mr. Givings's earlobe look translucent I was bowled the fuck over. That whole chapter where April prepares to have her self-induced abortion and flashes back to her childhood talking with her dad after he comes home from yet another business trip destroyed me. The part at the beginning when Frank & April walk through the school after the Petrified Forest performance and it triggers this Proustian reverie about embarrassing adolescent memories and its like yeah I've felt that way where you're in a place you usually don't have to go to anymore and it reminds you of weird shit from years ago. I'm gonna shut up now bc none of my stupid ramblings will ever match even a sentence of Yates's prose. Fuck suburbia
How did he do it
demiurgelovato
Jul 09, 20247 comments
yarb1 year ago
I think Yates is rated very highly these days but he was so good, I agree he's still underrated. This is arguably THE novel of midcentury suburbia. Just reading this review and the highlights you picked out makes me want to read it again.
demiurgelovato1 year ago
I agree that he's far more highly rated than he was in the past within literary circles (there was a point where essentially all his books -- including iirc this one -- were out of print) but even with the film adaption (slick and well-acted but shallow imo) I don't think Revolutionary Road or Yates's work in general have yet managed to penetrate the public/influence "the Discourse" as much as other midcentury titans like Updike, Roth, Kerouac, etc. You're right though, it really gets at the agony of midcentury suburbia in a subtly horrifying way. Frank actually likes being a gray flannel suit conformist as much as he tells himself he doesn't, and he's just a cog in the machine which imo is more realistic than the slick, headstrong Don Draper types you see in pop culture (although he still has the long martini bar lunches and girlfriend in the city -- again, sans the flashy TV glamor) Hope you reread it and enjoy it even more
yarb1 year ago
Who else writes about the same milieu? I mean midcentury suburban anomie, martini lunches etc. Other than Cheever (who's every bit as good as Yates) I'm struggling.
demiurgelovato1 year ago
Yeah I'd say it's basically those two alongside Updike to an extent. Interestingly I feel like you don't hear much about Cheever anymore either aside from the Seinfeld Cheever Letter ep. I name dropped Mad Men bc it kinda feels like a pop version of that sensibility albeit severely simplified which is why I'm surprised there hasn't been as much of a Yates/Cheever revival among the public. Perhaps that fifties suburban dream seems too unattainable to zoomers/millennials and so they prefer the fantasy of it to the reality? I dunno
yarb1 year ago
I haven’t seen Mad Men but obviously familiar with the premise. Yeah that’s the day side of what Yates and Cheever write about which is the fetid underbelly. I’ve decided I’m going to at least reread The Swimmer and rewatch the movie before this summer is out.
Finally picked this up thanks to your review. About 80% through and I’m hooked. What else would you recommend by Yates?
This is actually the only work by him that I've read lol, I feel like such a poseur. Apologies for the lack of recommendations but I'm glad you're hooked. It certainly is the kind of book you can barrel through