"As he sat there with his felt-tip pens and paper, one of these books sat on the desk beside his right hand--Set This House on Fire, by William Styron."
Set This House on Fire is a 1960 novel by William Styron. I have never read this book, but lately, I like to trace literary references made in books that I am reading. I'm very glad I did it this time! I've never seen this mentioned anywhere else.
From the Wikipedia entry on Set This House on Fire, I present this startling summary. My words in brackets.:
"The novel's title refers to a line from one of John Donne's epigraphs:
This epigraph describes the basic theme of the novel: a troubled soul, the alcoholic Cass, is badly shaken by the "fire" of an encounter with evil, in the form of the aristocratic Mason Flagg. Ultimately, Cass' experiences with Flagg provide Cass with the inspiration he needs to redeem himself."
(At one point in the story, one of the characters says this
"What this country needs... what this great land of ours needs is something to happen to it. Something ferocious and tragic, like what happened to Jericho or the cities of the plain - something terrible I mean, son, so that when the people have been through hellfire and the crucible, and have suffered agony enough and grief, they’ll be people again, human beings, not a bunch of smug contented cows rooting at the trough."
(Never just think an author's mention of a book title is throw-away color. They're probably trying to tell you something!)
Set This House on Fire is a 1960 novel by William Styron. I have never read this book, but lately, I like to trace literary references made in books that I am reading. I'm very glad I did it this time! I've never seen this mentioned anywhere else.
From the Wikipedia entry on Set This House on Fire, I present this startling summary. My words in brackets.:
"The novel's title refers to a line from one of John Donne's epigraphs:
This epigraph describes the basic theme of the novel: a troubled soul, the alcoholic Cass, is badly shaken by the "fire" of an encounter with evil, in the form of the aristocratic Mason Flagg. Ultimately, Cass' experiences with Flagg provide Cass with the inspiration he needs to redeem himself."
(At one point in the story, one of the characters says this
"What this country needs... what this great land of ours needs is something to happen to it. Something ferocious and tragic, like what happened to Jericho or the cities of the plain - something terrible I mean, son, so that when the people have been through hellfire and the crucible, and have suffered agony enough and grief, they’ll be people again, human beings, not a bunch of smug contented cows rooting at the trough."
(Never just think an author's mention of a book title is throw-away color. They're probably trying to tell you something!)