Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift

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Humboldt’s Gift

(1975) represents a distinct change in tone and focus from

Mr. Sammler’s Planet

which preceded it. It is a comic novel that portrays the spiritual plight of Charlie Citrine, a Chicagoan with a taste for low pursuits, gangland excitement, pneumatic young women, and a poetic gift he has almost lost. This “Chicago condition”, which has destroyed his poet friend, Humboldt, engages Charlie in the same kind of dialectal contest fought by Joseph and

Tu As Raison Aussi

in

Dangling Man

; or, Tommy and Tamkin in

Seize the Day

, or Henderson and the lioness in

Henderson the Rain King

, and by Herzog and the modern philosophers in

Herzog

. On the surface it is a serious religious discussion couched in a deflecting comic idiom, while underneath it focuses on Bellow’s many…

603 words

Citation: Cronin, Gloria. "Humboldt's Gift". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 November 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4618, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4618 Humboldt's Gift 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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