Wolf - The Story of a Novel

Summary of Thomas Wolfe “The Story of a Novel”

“The Story of a Novel” is Tomas Wolfe’s essay describing his experiences while writing several books.  Wolf writes the driving forces behind his work were the sense of homelessness shaping the structure of his book, his ability to evoke intense sensory memories, and a drive to write that he could not keep in check (192).

While in Paris Wolf visualizes an iron railing from America (193).   He understands the type of railing could not be found in Europe and that idea gave the railing meaning (193).  Wolf attempted to give his vision language but was unable to do so (193).  Although he considers the inability to find language a failure, he writes that he understands the nature of his failure (193).  The notion of errors, waste and failure become thematic throughout the essay.  The notion begins to solidify the idea that failure is part of the stuff of life and brings out the human experience.

Wolf writes his creative process started as a whirling vortex and creative chaos (194).  His process slowly moved forward with confusion, toil and error (194).  In the end, Wolf writes he does not necessarily think he wrote the book as much as the book wrote itself (194).   An important insight is that his central theme remained the same throughout the years of difficulty and despair (194).  The theme was, “The deepest search for life … “ (194). 

Wolf refers to his epiphany in Paris as the discovery of America in Paris (196).  The creative importance of this notion is Wolf’s belief that people see things, even as fleeting glances, that contain the “joy and sorrow of the human destiny“ (196).  Wolf develops this notion with a significant distinction.  He writes that the breadth of experiences, for an artist, are not as powerful as the depth and intensity of things the artist experiences” (197).   It is more valuable to understand the nature of a few people than superficial conversations with many (197).  Wolf is directly relating the notion of understanding the nature of a thing, or person, as the fundamental event for creativity.  You have to know to what you speak.

At this juncture Wolf describes his thoughts on wasted effort and experiences.  His view is simple; there are no wasted efforts or events (197).  In fact, Wolf describes these events as the stuff of life and most valuable for bringing him closer with his talents and allowing people to grow (197).  This section ends with Wolf writing that he does not think he has found what he is looking for, but he does sense he has found a doorway to get there (197).

Wolf recounts three elements of time (198).  There is actual present time that is considered the element of the universe that moves us forward (198).  There is past time that reflects the history and behaviors of the characters (198).  Finally, there is immutable time that is representative of eternal and unchanging time (198).  Wolf uses the example of rivers, mountains and oceans as representations of immutable time and that the brevity of man’s life becomes apparent when we project man against these forces (198).

Wolf describes when he was forced to produce in conjunction with realizing the enormity of his work (198-199).  It was during this time that he was writing furiously (199).  However, he recounts that a level of despair pushed him forward, his memory was at its sharpest, his creativity at its height, and that his powers of feeling and reflecting where at their highest levels (199).  It was during this time that he felt he was truly living through the “suffering of his labor” (199-200).

One day his editor advised him he was done with his book (200).  A summary describes Wolf finding a skeleton framework for his work and then discovering his editor published the works without approval (201-204).   The editor thought that Wolf’s continual need for more time could not justify the improvement of the work, and that wolf needed to stop obsessing and put the book behind him (204).  Through this experience, Wolf learned that not everything had to be told, not everything had to be described and not everything had to be used (204).  Though not specifically stated, they were notions that he would classify these ideas of the stuff of life.

Wolf’s writing suggests an individual that was passionate about his work, absorbed in the details, and someone searching for deeper levels of personal and human understanding.  His notions on failure as the stuff of life are a central theme to his essay.  Wolf’s essay is unique in the open discourse of his editor usurping creative control.  Wolf is open to the editor’s opinion, reflects on them and shares what he has learned with the reader.

Wolfe, Thomas. “The Story of a Novel.”  The Creative Process: A Symposium. Ed. Brewster Ghislen.  Berkeley: University of California Press. 1985. 192-205. Print.