The Late George Apley

John P. Marquand won the Pulitzer Prize in 1938 for his brilliant work of social satire, *The Late George Apley*. Through the life of its title character, George Apley, the book provides a complex and frequently humorous look into the inflexible world of Boston Brahmin society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The novel's unique narrative structure is one of its most notable features. After George Apley passed away, a rather haughty and well-meaning family friend named Horatio Willing put together what is presented as a fictional biography. Using a variety of letters, diaries, and other private records, it seeks to paint a respectable and admiring picture of Apley. Willing's well-meaning but frequently misguided remarks are show more masterfully used by Marquand to subtly expose a more nuanced and occasionally tragic reality beneath the surface. The very limitations and setbacks of Apley's life are frequently brought to light by Willing's attempts to cleanse or justify Apley's early defiances or moments of true emotion. This semi-epistolary approach allows for layers of irony and subtle critique.

Marquand's genius lies in his ability to be both gently satirical and deeply sympathetic towards his characters. While he pokes fun at the pretensions and absurdities of Boston's elite, he also allows the reader to feel a profound sense of understanding and even pity for George Apley. Apley is not a villain but rather a man trapped by the very circumstances of his birth and the rigid expectations he inherited.

The Late George Apley is a witty, incisive, and ultimately poignant character study. It offers a fascinating glimpse into a specific time and place while also exploring universal themes of identity, legacy, and the complex interplay between individual desires and societal pressures. It remains a relevant and highly regarded work of American literature for its sharp observations and its blend of humor and pathos. show less

An acquaintance of mine has been telling me since I moved to Boston (almost three years ago now) that if I want to understand this city, I must read John P. Marquand's The Late George Apley. I have, at long last, done so, and as I find is so often the case, I regretted deeply having waited so long. Marquand's book, subtitled "A Novel in the Form of a Memoir," was first published in 1937 (and won the Pulitzer Prize a year later), but I found its charms utterly timeless.

Told through letters and other documents interspersed with the personal reminiscences of the compiler/narrator (a college chum of the aforementioned late George Apley), the novel is the story of a Brahmin's life. Tracking George Apley from his birth at the tail end of the show more Civil War until his death in the early years of the 1930s, Marquand offers up a brilliantly delicate satire of the upper-crust culture of Boston as the city grew and changed around a cast of characters who tried their best to come to grips with the times of which they (sometimes unwillingly) found themselves a part.

Apley's life follows a trajectory seemingly predetermined: the proper upbringing (winters on Beacon Hill, summers at the family estate in Milton), education (Harvard, naturally), a bit of travel (Europe with an aunt and uncle), and marriage (but only to a suitable girl of the right sort), followed by gentle involvement in the family business and constant involvement in various civic and social clubs and organizations. It is a life of privilege and duty which Apley takes up almost unquestioningly (with a notable exception or two), but is also a life from which happiness and personal pleasure are almost entirely absent. As he ages and begins to educate his own children, it is almost painful to watch the cycle begin anew - and I doubt I'm alone in thinking that the realization of that caused George Apley no small amount of pain as well.

As I was reading I couldn't help but imagine how this remarkably insightful book must have received in its own time, when Marquand was writing without any of the benefit of hindsight we readers of today unthinkingly bring to our own experience with the book. Above all, The Late George Apley is a powerful and trenchant examination of Boston life, then and perhaps indeed even now: Marquand's comparison of Boston and New York (which reads in part "Of course, no one from my cautious part of the world is entirely at home in New York") made me laugh; at least in my case, I've always found that comment quite true.

Portraying a world which is, for most of us at least, utterly alien (where the potential removal of some rosebushes is enough to prompt an entire series of letters, or the unintentional burial of a distant aunt in the wrong portion of the family plot sufficient to spark a deep and abiding family feud), Marquand's wry style, pointed wit and incredible talent of perception make the pages of his book absolutely dance with vitality and emotion. We are privy to the innermost (or near-innermost, anyway) workings of George Apley's mind, a mind never at ease, never comfortable with the "to the manor born" life, but never quite ready to take that great leap into the unknown.

Highly recommended; one of the best books I've read so far this year.

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I cannot believe that I have lived in Boston for almost half my life and not read this dellightful book. It is a wonderfully nuanced satire on the Boston Brahmin culture. What is sad is that George Apley, having resisted his father's attempts to immerse him in this culture of privilege, noblesse oblige, and prejudice against the Irish, nonetheless, imposes exactly these same strictures on his own son, all in the name of family and community responsibility as well as one's duty to one's ancestors. Like his own father,George Apley resists change, despairs of the wildness of the youth, and lives a life of privilege and conformity: clubs (mostly of the dry, intellectual sort), summer camps (on distant islands),, family dinners, and numerous show more board meetings. Saddest of all is his sense that he has accomplished nothing in his lifetime and the fact that he had stifled the one impulse that might have led to genuine happiness--falling in love with a girl from a lower socioeconomic class while in college. His one friend who seems to have found happiness left Boston and married a showgirl but is regarded as a pariah to all but George Apley. One learns of his life through letters, his own and those of his parents to him as well as those of his to his son. These letters and reminiscences have been collected by one of his most pompous and conservative friends who comments on them, always missing the point. The narrator is both unable and unwilling to see either George Apley or his son's restiveness and minor rebellions, but it is this voice that creates the satire of the novel. I was reminded while reading the novel of my beloved Bostonian father-in-law who was a gentler version of George Apley as well as my own Virginian father who epitomized WASP culture, though not the Boston Brahmin variety. As a result, I kept up a running dialogue with the novel, one of the first to so affect me. show less

The structure of the book, a series of letters interspersed with comments by a fictional editor is certainly unique. The picture of George Apley is painted with a brush partially filled with various colors of paint, giving an imperfect image. One has the sense that much is not known about George Apley as he tried rebelling against what was expected of him and how he was pulled around to "do the right" thing in late 1800's Boston.

In a large part, I found the work boring. I kept waiting for some kind of surprise. For Apley to stand up and be counted in a strongly meaningful way. But there is never a strong appearance. The one shot at doing it is suddenly washed away in a bath of apology and acceptance. Plus with all of it being reported show more in letters, everything is when all is said and done, except for the occasional intercessions by the "editor".

I think if I had a strong knowledge of the history and politics of Boston and her Great Families of this time, I would have enjoyed the book more. But one tires quickly of the "editor" saying he does not need to explain the broader situation and what happened in Boston. I cannot say that this book is, for the most part, timeless. It has already outlived its timelessness, if it ever had any. show less

I've never been a huge fan of biographies. So it was to my extreme dismay (!) that I discovered The Late George Apley, winner of the 1938 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, was a fictionalized biography. Not to worry though, I ended up loving it!

The 'writer' (i.e. narrator) of this book is a man who was close friends with the late George Apley. When George dies, his children realize that they have never known him well, beyond the way they have known him as a father. They asked the writer to prepare a biography, which was based on his own knowledge of Mr. Apley as well as interviews with his friends and family, and correspondence to and from Mr. Apley.

The resulting story was actually pretty interesting. Apley grew up as the son of a powerful show more New England family who were very concerned with convention and maintaining their place in society. In his teens and throughout the first few years of his 20s, Apley rebelled against his family's desires for him. However, in the end, he married the woman he was supposed to, and not the one he loved.

As time went on, Apley had children of his own and attempted to raise them the same way he was raised, apparently forgetting that he'd realized the class system was bullshit. Only in his later years did he begin to question his actions, and inactions, and to remember that he'd once felt the rules of his class to be dull, pointless, and no way to live your life.

Of course, his children also rebelled against his archaic ways and thought him to be a bit silly. And of course, his own son eventually embraced his responsibilities to his family and gave up on his own dreams.

I enjoyed the use of letters and news clippings and found this story to be told in a fairly unique and compelling way. I would have liked to know something more about the narrator though. There were hints throughout that made me think there would be some great unveiling at the end and we'd discover that it was actually his worst enemy writing it, or something equally interesting. In the end though, all we know is that a close friend to his family narrated the story of George Apley. show less

John Marquand was a successful magazine fiction writer when we wrote The Late George Apley in 1936. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for it and it is generally thought to be his best work.

The novel is written in the form of a memoir supposedly by a friend of the main character, George Apley, and based on letters written to and by Mr. Apley throughout his life (1866-1933). It is described as a satire on upperclass Boston life in those years but I think also provides an interesting description of that era and the changes that took place. I will also admit that I'm not particularly good at identifying satire except when I'm very familiar with the subject, so I'm sure I missed a lot in this book. Here is a sample I found amusing, however. It show more takes place a few years after George marries when he is bemoaning the arrival of the newly rich in Boston society.

"There is consolation that something of the old life still remains. Not all these newcomers, seeking to gain social prestige by the weight of new-found wealth, have always been immediately received. There are many out-of-town families who no one knows, although they have purchased neighboring estates and have lived on them each summer for over twenty years. In this connection there is an amusing, though significant story, connected with a Cleveland family which came to Mulberry Beach with the idea, presumably, of gaining some indirect social distinction by being members of this community. At the end of the summer, the head of the house was heard to remark that he had met everyone. Although he had heard much of Boston manners and cultivation, he asserted that he might as well have spent the summer in Cleveland, or some place worse. On being questioned further, it appeared that he and his family had made their acquaintances on the beach every afternoon! Coming from an inland city, they had not realized that beaches in the afternoon are customarily left open to the servants." show less

A story told with no dialog but with narratives and letters instead which I found unique and effective. George Apley is a victim of his own "goodness" - some may see his world and what he represents as the stuffy, pretentious and meaningless culture of at the end of the Victorian era; however, he represents a quainter and gentler bygone era that emphasized conviction, duty, community and charity - themes that struck a chord at least with me.