description:
Page Two - The SKYSCRAPER - April 5, 1968 Novelist turns Historian? Mailer wrestles with life on Steps by S. Eileen Jack The March issue of Harper's Magazine audaciously claims to present Norman Mailer's Best Work . . . The Steps of the Pentagon A documentary report about the famous Washington weekend during which thousands of Americans marched across the Potomac in the name of peace . . . . Harper's integrity notwithstanding, its cover statement has two basic inaccuracies. The Steps of the Pentagon, soon to be published by New Ameri can Library, is not Mailer's best work and it is not, strictly speaking, a documentary report of the October peace march. The Steps of the Pentagon cannot replace Mailer's first novel, The Naked and the Dead, as his finest work. Mailer's latest book - to - be lacks both the compelling force and sensitive character portrayal of his post - war novel. The Naked and the Dead drags the reader into the dirt and sweat and blood, the ambitions and fears and des peration, the lives and fighting and deaths of the men of an undermanned, battle - weary reconnaissance unit killing themselves in an ultimately senseless patrol against the al ready defeated enemy forces. In contrast to the usual post war propaganda films and novels inducing a state of pa triotic euphoria in the public, The Naked and the Dead push es the reader into the mud and degradation and slaughtei of one segment of World War II on a Pacific island until he can only cry out against the horror and futility of it. The power of The Naked and the Dead stems from Mailer's mastery of both his subject and his characters. In The Steps of the Pentagon, Mailer, for the most part, has control of neither. Thus, perhaps, the reason for the second inac curacy in Harper's publicity: The Naked and the Dead might well have been a docu mentary report; The Steps of the Pentagon is far from a factual, objective report. Mailer the Novelist attempts to become Mailer the Histori an, recording an intimate history of an ambiguous event whose essential value or absurdity may not be estab lished for ten or twenty years, or indeed ever. For his his tory. Mailer rejects the prin cipal figures of the March as too central to provide an un ambiguous analysis of the event. Instead, he chooses as his focus a fringe participant, a comic hero, a ludicrous figure with mock-heroic asso ciations himself. Yet the Historian confesses to an inability to analyze his historical event and further seems, the reader suspects, somewhat less than capable of objectively interpreting his hero as well as his support ing characters. The omnlscent analysis of one's characters is the perogative of the Novelist and is at least suspect In the Historian. But the objective Historian Mailer is too often overpow ered by the brooding Novelist Mailer. And the promising analysis of the significance of the peace demonstration by thousands of Americans be comes the justification of one man's personal actions during the four days surrounding that October march. In spite of this no, rather because of this personal his tory approach, Mailer the American Novelist Historian has written something that cannot easily be forgotten. The images he builds of a paradoxical army of peace fighters from all elements of society streaming down the mall from the Lincoln Memo rial, the ritualistic, pulsating exorcism of the Pentagon by hippies Invoking the gods of all people of all times, the night bus ride from one prison to another in Virginia, like all night bus rides that collec tive journey through the dark . . . when everything ambl- ; i o ii s, wild, overconceived, hopeless, garish, and suffocat ingly technical in American life . . . came together long enough to give the citizens a little peace. All these out weigh the pages of prima dona self-pity, of arrogant conceit; the obscene exhibition that Thursday night at the Ambas sador Theater pitifully ex cused by Mailer and quickly condemned by Time. The Steps of the Pentagon contains undoubtedly some of Mailer's best writing and prob ably some of his worst. At his worst, he ranges from obsceni ty for the sake of absolute delight, in obscenity and grov elling sympathy - seeking to verbose petty pomposity. At his best, Mailer achieves an effec- ZJhM gt;kijAcrafjsr Vol. XXXVni April 5 No. 16 The Skyscraper is published weakly, October to Mav inclusive except durina exam and vacation periods, by *ne students of Mundelein College. 6363 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, III. 60626. Opinions expressed are those of the Skyscraper staff. Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. Entered as second-class matter Nov. 30. 1932 at the U S. Post Office. Ch cago. III., under the act of March 3, 1897. Editor Kathleen Flynn News Editor* Janet Sass Feature Editor Mary Beth Mundt Business Manager Theresa Ebenhoe Photographer Marianne Fusillo Cartoonist Cathleen Harrington Editorial Board: Mary Kate Cooney. Kathleen Flynn, S. Eileen Jack, Jennifer Joyce, Mary Beth Mundt, Kathy Riley, Janet Sass. Staff, Kathy Cummins. Marv Cooney, Pat Devine, Aldine Favaro, Alice Johnson, Sheilo McCarthy, Mary McMorrow, Solly Notoi, Peagy Sieben. Reporters: Karen Appelt, Rosemary Beales, Zoe Hillenmeyer, Alex Jaiowka, Rosa McKiernan. Vera Milenkovich. Mory Nochtsheim. . Mary Ann' Novak. Sharon. Pelletier, Carol Ries. Linda Sullivan. . . tive insight into some of the ideas and ideals of contempo rary society in a forceful im- agistic style hard to equal. Of his history of the Penta gon, Mailer concludes: It in sisted on becoming a history of himself over four days . . . a simple of a hero and a mar vel of a fool, wiiD more than average gifts of objectivity . . . Yet in writing his per sonal history of those four days, he also delivered a dis covery to himself of what the March on the Pentagon had finally meant, and what had been won, and what had been lost in that quintessential - American and most contempo rary event the scheduled hap pening which begins with the given and ends on the road to that mystery where courage, death, and the dream of love give promise of sleep. The Steps of the Pentagon is worth the effort of following Mailer through to his conclusion. SKYSCRAPER photo by Kathleen Flynn SMILES ANTICIPATE the Irish Holiday fashion show as Irish Coutnriere NetlH Mulcahy discusses her fashions with Mrs. Richard J. Daley, wife of Chicago's mayor, Sister Ann Ida Gannon, presi dent, and Mrs. W. Lydon Wild, Women's Board president. Miss Mulcahy and Mrs. Daley were guests at a Women's Board luncheon and meeting March 14. The designer's fashions were shown March 16 at the Drake Hotel as a benefit for the Alumnae Association. In my opinion... EDITOR'S NOTE: (The au thor of this guest column is a senior home economics major who intends to go into dieties. She is president of Munde lein's Young Republicans club.) by Betty Wahrbein Not all change is progress. We live in a world of physical comfort, undreamed of by our ancestors a century or two ago. Yet from their way of life they drew values which have been lost to us. One par ticular quality which the pio neers valued was the hours they were compelled to spend alone. They had time to think. Above them was the depth of the sky and around them the silence of the wilderness. God was near and they felt His presence. Gone from our lives today are those periods of intellec tual and spiritual pause for reflection. Each day we are engulfed by the chaos and con fusion around us. We tend to guide our lives by intuitive re actions, which are often in duced by external forces we are dimly aware of. So seldom does our mad way of life offer us the opportunity to be alone with nothing but a chance to think, that there are those among us who have lost all capacity for formulating their own philosophy. Instead of seeking solitude for its own sake, they fear it and those convictions which they hold, are borrowed, read y-made from others. The real problem is not whether individualism is a sound principle upon which base the social organization of our country, but rather as citi zens are we doing all that we should to insure its preserva tion? We need to focus our at tention upon forces which threaten the perpetuation of this sacred creed and to de vote ourselves to counteract ing their influence. One of the forces that is threatening individualism is the increasing onimpotence of the federal government. We no longer have strong local gov ernment. More and more aid is received from Washington, especially funds for roads, ed ucation, and housing. With the influx of more and more fed eral money the local govern ment will weaken and individ uals will feel less important. State and local government must retain a control over local issues, such as, taxes, po lice force and legislature. The Supreme Court should be en couraged to uphold the consti tution by supporting the states' rights that were granted by that document. The states have already lost too much of their power and if the trend continues, the individuals of the country will seem more and more like single numbers in a mass of nothing. Let us not experiment. Let us believe, as our ancestors did, that the dignity of man is the ideal to which our entire endeavor as a nation is com mitted. Then let us be vigil ant. Let us detect promptly those forces among us that challenge this precious heri tage of individualism and move swiftly and effectively to resist them. Our entire way of life depends upon the pres ervation of this ideal. ABOVE IS PICASSO'S im pression of the man respon sible for bringing the Chica go Picasso to the city William Hartmann, architect, will con duct a lecture - discussion on The Chicago Picasso April 10, 4:00 p.m. in McCormick Lounge. Earle Ludgin, mem ber of the Board of Trustees, will introduce Hartmann.
title:
1968-04-05 (2)
publisher:
Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
creator:
Mundelein College
description:
Student newspaper for Mundelein College
subject:
Newspapers
subject:
Religious communities--Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
subject:
Students
subject:
Universities and colleges
subject:
Women's education
relation:
Mundelein College Records
type:
Text
language:
English
rights:
This image is issued by the Women and Leadership Archives. Use of the image requires written permission from the Director of the Women and Leadership Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with the Director. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please Credit: Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University Chicago. wlarchives@luc.edu
coverage:
Chicago, Illinois
coverage:
Mundelein College