Malcolm

Author: James Purdy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: Malcolm is a major novel that brought James Purdy fame in the literary world. It is somewhat similar to a grotesque picaresque novel. The story depicts a fifteen-year-old boy named Malcolm, abandoned by his father in a grand hotel, who always sits on a golden bench at the hotel entrance waiting for his father's return, in vain. Later, he is guided by an astrologer into society and learns about the human world, receiving a series of addresses that lead him to meet a variety of characters: the owner of a funeral home, a dwarf discriminated against, a thief who has been in prison, a jazz musician, a tattoo artist, a female painter whose talent has been exhausted, a tycoon couple who made a president, a young modern man indulging in alcohol and lust, and a rock star addicted to drugs. They either fail to communicate with him or seek to control him for their own bizarre purposes. However, "send him to the army, but he's too young; continue studying, so he can become a scientist in the future, but he lacks any foundation; do ordinary jobs, but he lacks training—what's left for him to do is only to get married." Malcolm then becomes the third husband of a rock star and ultimately becomes a victim of alcohol and debauchery. Works centered around the theme of "waiting" already existed, such as Clifford Odets' Waiting for Lefty (also translated as Waiting for Old Left) and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. In Malcolm, the young and naive protagonist waits for death. The author undoubtedly uses this to satirize the pursuit of the American Dream, which is in fact a nightmare.