The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean HowellsMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Interesting title given the book covers more of the fall of Mr. Lapham. But that title puts a different filter on that decline. Nicely done. Well written for its time, this one reminded me of another recent read, Frank Norris’ “McTeague”. But where McTeague (and other Norris characters) decline through greed, Lapham seems to owe stubbornness for his downfall. Makes me wonder if greed is a Western American trait, as Norris’ books are about the West, while perhaps stubbornness is a New England trait. I’ll have to read more to validate that. This also offers an interesting (to me, maybe only to me) description of the early American paint industry. I had not understood the background, and now wonder how true-to-history this is. Looking forward to reading another Howells book, but hoping he changes the story, as this one got a bit depressing in its slide.
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