Humboldt's Gift: A Collection of Sol and Bellow (Hardcover)

Author: (American) Saul Bellow (Bellow, S.) wrote, translated by Pu Long
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The Gift of the Magi is one of Bellow's most important representative works. Through the depiction of the fates of two generations of writers, it exposes the oppression and destruction of spiritual civilization by the material world and the spiritual crisis of contemporary society. The middle-aged writer Charlie Seitelman, who has won the Pulitzer Prize twice and been awarded the French Knight Order, is on a downward slope. His ex-wife wants to drain his property, thugs smash his Mercedes-Benz, and his current mistress is a money-grabber. Most importantly, he cannot create anything creative. He feels guilty about the former poet and mentor, as well as his close friend Humboldt, who died in poverty. Humboldt once taught him the power of art and urged him to remain loyal to his creative spirit, but he did not extend a helping hand when Humboldt was impoverished and ill. Later, facing both material and spiritual bankruptcy, Seitelman finally overcomes his material crisis with a script outline left by Humboldt, while also deeply experiencing Humboldt's spiritual suffering at the time.