Reviews for The Ebb-Tide

The average rating for The Ebb-Tide based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-26 00:00:00 Maurizio Scaramelli Edited update 5/8/18 I am so glad I finally read the classic Chicago novel by once famous Chicago realist writer Algren, who once was touted by fellow Chicago writer Ernest Hemingway as one of the two best Chicago writers ever. This is technically (as I learned, not from my own reading) his second novel, the first being a book influenced by his connections with John Reed, Marxist ideology, and Communism, and the book (I am told) reads like a diatribe, filled with quasi-Marxist slams on capitalism. That critique is still implicitly here, but better informed by literary rather than merely ideological influences. It's not a political diatribe, it's novel, in other words. Never Come Morning is set in the "Triangle" area of Chicago during the Depression, and chiefly focuses on a group of very poor folks struggling to survive terrible conditions. And without a safety net. The main character is Bruno (Lefty, Lefthander, Bunny) Bicek (also Biceps), a former baseball pitcher, now boxer, girlfriend Steffi. I won't spoil the plot for you, but two or three horrific things happen that land Bruno in Cook County Jail for awhile. There's a colorful gang of characters, including a barber who owns a House of Prostitution run by Mama T. It's not the romanticized view of rags to riches prostitution featured in the 2018 Chicago production of Pretty Woman, let's just say. This book seems less about plot than characters in desperate and convincing peril. And it's also an exercise in atmosphere, tone, and unsentimental descriptions of Chicago poverty, centering on Bicek's jail time and the House of Prostitution. And then at the end it is again about action, a fight, and the resolution of a contract between the barber, Bicek and Steffi. Algren is not sappy, and he's not necessarily an apologist for the poor; at times his is not a very sympathetic view of the poor, who in one chapter heading, are ultimately responsible for much of what befalls them. Language, colloquial language, the language of immigrants, racist and sexist language, is important to the book and Algren's reputation. Tough and poetic prose. Poetic descriptions of the Chicago landscape and soundscape abound; some theme-pointing happens, but in my opinion he's largely letting the story proceed without political commentary. This according to reputation is maybe his fourth best book, an early effort, but I wanted to read it for my clas because it is about young people, principally Steffi and Bruno/Bunny, and what happens to them in their teen, growing up, years. I had a hard time getting into it at first and was disappointed sometimes by the loss of plot in the center of the book, but I really did like it a lot, finally. Years later, it stays with you.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-10-05 00:00:00 Nicholas Serrano A gritty look at the underside of mid-2oth century Chicago. Algren was a talented writer.