The House of Breath
Encyclopedia
The House of Breath is a novel
written by the American author William Goyen
. It was his first book, published in 1950. It is not a novel in the usual sense in that it lacks traditional plot and character development. Upon its publication, reviewers noted the book for its unusual literary technique and style. Goyen called it a series of “arias”. Some critics have called it not a novel at all but a work to be read as poetry, over and over. The book touches on themes of family (kinship), human sexuality, place, time, and memory. It received critical acclaim upon its publication, not commercial success, but it did lead the way for support of the author’s further work through fellowships.
, when he served on the aircraft carrier USS Casablanca
. After the war he and Navy friend Walter Berns
moved to Taos, New Mexico
, where they lived near benefactor Frieda Lawrence (widow of D.H. Lawrence) to pursue writing. Publications of several short stories followed, and Goyen was awarded the Southwest Review
Literary Fellowship in 1949, which supported his continuing work on the book. It is an autobiographical work, but not in the sense that people might usually think of autobiography. Goyen once remarked, “Everything is auto-biography for me.”
at the time:
Alternate titles Goyen considered were Cries Down a Well, Six Elegies, and Six American Portraits.
s open the book. The first is from a character in the book, Aunt Malley Ganchion: “What kin are we all to each other, anyway?” The second is the famous quote from French poet Rimbaud: “JE est un autre.” Literally translated, it means “I is another.” Goyen scholar Reginald Gibbons
noted this “has the effect of alerting the reader in advance to the multiplicity of selves who narrate the book, all of them also in some sense the author-narrator “Goyen.”” Davis interprets both thus:
The book is narrated by several people, most notably a man returning after a long absence to his abandoned family home in Charity, Texas; other characters in the man’s family narrate their own sections, as do inanimate objects (a river, the wind, the woods). The text does not adhere to the usual structure of a novel: there is no “plot” to develop, and characters and events are explored deeply as moments of life are recalled. The book is thus composed of linked accounts of people who lived in the town, loosely connected by the first-person narrator. “The focus of the novel is the leaving and returning of the self-exiled “children” of Charity—the interrelatedness of people and place.”
), time
, memory
, sexuality
, place
and the identity it brings, and the Christ figure. The book is noted for being “a meditation on the nature of identity and origins, memory, and time’s annihilation of life.” Some later scholars have focused on the book’s treatment of male homosexuality.
were troubled by what appeared to be the book’s disturbing autobiographical look at a “fictional” family in a “fictional” East Texas town.
In her New York Times
review, writer Katherine Anne Porter
(best known for her novel Ship of Fools
) wrote: “The House of Breath is not a well-made novel, indeed it is not a novel at all but a sustained evocation of the past….” But she concludes her review: “the writing as a whole is disciplined on a high plane, and there are long passages of the best writing, the fullest and richest and most expressive, that I have read in a very long time—complex in form, and beautifully organized…”
A review in Harper’s Magazine noted:
Well-known literary critic Northrop Frye
wrote at the time that it was “a remarkable book.” Another reviewer called the book “absorbing” and “moving.”
The publication of the book brought some literary fame to Goyen, both in New York and in Texas. He would later recall that he felt that “everyone he met in the literary world wanted a piece of him, wanted to admire him as the moment’s fashion, and yet at the same time he felt that others were angry at him for his moment of public recognition.” He would also recall later that he was “just about disinherited” by his family after the book’s publication, and “fell out of favor with many people” in his home town.
Later critics have addressed the book’s exploration and presentation of male homosexuality.
stated that the work “pondered the problem of how to think about the past, about the life of feeling that one had had in the past…”
Of the form his book takes, Goyen stated in an interview:
Goyen recalled afterwards that the book was “like a series of related ‘’arias’’…” Gibbons said that, with The House of Breath, “Goyen invented a new form of the novel.”
(who also translated T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
) and Elizabeth Schnack and in France by Maurice Edgar Coindreau (William Faulkner
's translator). Goyen’s work enjoyed more success in Europe than in America, and the book never went out of print there.
In 1975 in the U.S., the book was reprinted as a Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, with a brief introductory note from the author, and “with changes that downplayed the novel’s erotic charge.” In 2000, TriQuarterly Books (Northwestern University Press) printed the original version, as a Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, with an afterword by Reginald Gibbons
, former editor of TriQuarterly magazine and Goyen scholar.
for Fiction. An excerpt from the book, “Her Breath on the Windowpane,” was selected for publication in The Best American Short Stories 1950. In 1952, when the French translation was published, it won the French Halperin-Kaminsky Prize.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by the American author William Goyen
William Goyen
Charles William Goyen was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, editor, and teacher. Born in a small town in East Texas, these roots would influence his work for his entire life....
. It was his first book, published in 1950. It is not a novel in the usual sense in that it lacks traditional plot and character development. Upon its publication, reviewers noted the book for its unusual literary technique and style. Goyen called it a series of “arias”. Some critics have called it not a novel at all but a work to be read as poetry, over and over. The book touches on themes of family (kinship), human sexuality, place, time, and memory. It received critical acclaim upon its publication, not commercial success, but it did lead the way for support of the author’s further work through fellowships.
Background
Goyen began to sketch parts of the novel during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when he served on the aircraft carrier USS Casablanca
USS Casablanca (CVE-55)
The USS Casablanca was a United States Navy escort aircraft carrier, lead ship of her class, named after the city of Casablanca, Morocco.Casablanca has borne three names and three type designators...
. After the war he and Navy friend Walter Berns
Walter Berns
Walter Berns is an American constitutional law and political philosophy professor. He is currently a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor emeritus at Georgetown University.- Early life and career :...
moved to Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
, where they lived near benefactor Frieda Lawrence (widow of D.H. Lawrence) to pursue writing. Publications of several short stories followed, and Goyen was awarded the Southwest Review
Southwest Review
The Southwest Review is a literary journal published quarterly, based on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas. It is the third oldest literary quarterly in the United States of America . The current editor-in-chief is Willard Spiegelman.The journal was formerly known as the...
Literary Fellowship in 1949, which supported his continuing work on the book. It is an autobiographical work, but not in the sense that people might usually think of autobiography. Goyen once remarked, “Everything is auto-biography for me.”
Origin of book title
In an interview with The Paris Review in 1976 (on the occasion of the publication of the book’s Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition), Goyen relates how he happened upon the title. He was serving on an aircraft carrier during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at the time:
Alternate titles Goyen considered were Cries Down a Well, Six Elegies, and Six American Portraits.
Book summary
Two epigraphEpigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
s open the book. The first is from a character in the book, Aunt Malley Ganchion: “What kin are we all to each other, anyway?” The second is the famous quote from French poet Rimbaud: “JE est un autre.” Literally translated, it means “I is another.” Goyen scholar Reginald Gibbons
Reginald Gibbons
Reginald Gibbons is an American poet, fiction writer, translator, literary critic, artist, and Professor of English, Classics, and Spanish and Portuguese at Northwestern University...
noted this “has the effect of alerting the reader in advance to the multiplicity of selves who narrate the book, all of them also in some sense the author-narrator “Goyen.”” Davis interprets both thus:
The book is narrated by several people, most notably a man returning after a long absence to his abandoned family home in Charity, Texas; other characters in the man’s family narrate their own sections, as do inanimate objects (a river, the wind, the woods). The text does not adhere to the usual structure of a novel: there is no “plot” to develop, and characters and events are explored deeply as moments of life are recalled. The book is thus composed of linked accounts of people who lived in the town, loosely connected by the first-person narrator. “The focus of the novel is the leaving and returning of the self-exiled “children” of Charity—the interrelatedness of people and place.”
Main characters
- The main narrator of the book can be read as being both Boy Ganchion (nephew of Follie and Christy Ganchion) and Ben Berryben.
- Granny Ganchion is the family matriarch.
- Folner ‘Follie’ Ganchion, a son of Granny Ganchion, runs away from home with a trapeze artist after experiencing a "sensual revelation". He is openly effeminate.
- Christy Ganchion, older brother of Follie, was born from a one-night stand with a traveling circus performer.
Main Themes
Primary themes of the book include family (kinshipKinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
), time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
, place
Sense of place
The term sense of place has been defined and used in many different ways by many different people. To some, it is a characteristic that some geographic places have and some do not, while to others it is a feeling or perception held by people...
and the identity it brings, and the Christ figure. The book is noted for being “a meditation on the nature of identity and origins, memory, and time’s annihilation of life.” Some later scholars have focused on the book’s treatment of male homosexuality.
Critical response and reception
The House of Breath was received with critical success and puzzlement. Critics appreciated Goyen’s lyric and evocative prose but at the same time did not think it always worked in the author’s favor. Goyen’s family and the people in Trinity, TexasTrinity, Texas
Trinity is a city in Trinity County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,721 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Trinity is located at ....
were troubled by what appeared to be the book’s disturbing autobiographical look at a “fictional” family in a “fictional” East Texas town.
In her New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review, writer Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter
Katherine Anne Porter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, and political activist. Her 1962 novel Ship of Fools was the best-selling novel in America that year, but her short stories received much more critical acclaim...
(best known for her novel Ship of Fools
Ship of Fools
The ship of fools is an allegory that has long been a fixture in Western literature and art. The allegory depicts a vessel populated by human inhabitants who are deranged, frivolous, or oblivious, passengers aboard a ship without a pilot, and seemingly ignorant of their own direction...
) wrote: “The House of Breath is not a well-made novel, indeed it is not a novel at all but a sustained evocation of the past….” But she concludes her review: “the writing as a whole is disciplined on a high plane, and there are long passages of the best writing, the fullest and richest and most expressive, that I have read in a very long time—complex in form, and beautifully organized…”
A review in Harper’s Magazine noted:
Well-known literary critic Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
wrote at the time that it was “a remarkable book.” Another reviewer called the book “absorbing” and “moving.”
The publication of the book brought some literary fame to Goyen, both in New York and in Texas. He would later recall that he felt that “everyone he met in the literary world wanted a piece of him, wanted to admire him as the moment’s fashion, and yet at the same time he felt that others were angry at him for his moment of public recognition.” He would also recall later that he was “just about disinherited” by his family after the book’s publication, and “fell out of favor with many people” in his home town.
Later critics have addressed the book’s exploration and presentation of male homosexuality.
Literary technique and style
Various critics and reviewers have called the style that the book is written in as abstract, psychological, lyrical, poetic, surreal, experimental, mythic, and fantastic. Goyen scholar Reginald GibbonsReginald Gibbons
Reginald Gibbons is an American poet, fiction writer, translator, literary critic, artist, and Professor of English, Classics, and Spanish and Portuguese at Northwestern University...
stated that the work “pondered the problem of how to think about the past, about the life of feeling that one had had in the past…”
Of the form his book takes, Goyen stated in an interview:
Goyen recalled afterwards that the book was “like a series of related ‘’arias’’…” Gibbons said that, with The House of Breath, “Goyen invented a new form of the novel.”
Publication history
Most of the final text was published in magazines before the entire novel was first published in 1950. It was a critical but not commercial success, and soon fell out of print. However, in 1952 the book was translated in Germany by Ernst Robert CurtiusErnst Robert Curtius
Ernst Robert Curtius was a German literary scholar, a philologist and Romance language literary critic....
(who also translated T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land
The Waste Land
The Waste Land[A] is a 434-line[B] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot published in 1922. It has been called "one of the most important poems of the 20th century." Despite the poem's obscurity—its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its...
) and Elizabeth Schnack and in France by Maurice Edgar Coindreau (William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
's translator). Goyen’s work enjoyed more success in Europe than in America, and the book never went out of print there.
In 1975 in the U.S., the book was reprinted as a Twenty-fifth Anniversary Edition, with a brief introductory note from the author, and “with changes that downplayed the novel’s erotic charge.” In 2000, TriQuarterly Books (Northwestern University Press) printed the original version, as a Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, with an afterword by Reginald Gibbons
Reginald Gibbons
Reginald Gibbons is an American poet, fiction writer, translator, literary critic, artist, and Professor of English, Classics, and Spanish and Portuguese at Northwestern University...
, former editor of TriQuarterly magazine and Goyen scholar.
Adaptation
Goyen adapted the book into a play of the same name, published in 1956. In 1971 he adapted the book into a play titled House of Breath Black/White. Trinity Square Repertory Company (Providence, Rhode Island) staged this adaptation, in which three characters were duplicated by black and white actors.Honors
In the year of its first edition, The House of Breath won the MacMurray Award for best first novel by a Texan. The book was also nominated for the first National Book AwardNational Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for Fiction. An excerpt from the book, “Her Breath on the Windowpane,” was selected for publication in The Best American Short Stories 1950. In 1952, when the French translation was published, it won the French Halperin-Kaminsky Prize.