''The Dean's December'' is a 1982 novel by the American author
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only wr ...
.
Setting
The first novel Bellow published after winning the
Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
in 1976, it is set in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
.
Plot
The book's main character, Albert Corde, a meditative academic who faces a crisis, accompanies his
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n-born
astrophysicist wife to her
Communist-ruled native country, where they deal with the death of his mother-in-law. This sojourn allows Corde to observe the workings of a
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
regime in particular and the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
in general, a perspective which provides him with insight into the
human condition
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed fr ...
.
Reception
In the ''New York Times'' Book Review, critic Robert Towers concluded, “''The Dean's December'' confirms me in the opinion I have held since, nearly 30 years ago, I read ''The Adventures of Augie March'' (having, as an impecunious instructor, paid out hard cash for my hardcover copy just off the press): Sentence by sentence, page by page, Saul Bellow is simply the best writer that we have.”
[Robert Tower, “ A Novel of Politics, Wit and Sorrow,” The New York Times Book Review, January 10, 1982.]
References
External links
*
The New York Times Book Review on The Dean’s December
1982 American novels
Bucharest in fiction
Socialist Republic of Romania
Novels by Saul Bellow
Novels set in Chicago
Harper & Row books
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