Henry Roth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Henry Roth
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| Born | February 8, 1906 Tysmenitz, Galicia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | October 13, 1995 (aged 89) Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Fiction, fictional prose |
Henry Roth (born February 8, 1906 – died October 13, 1995) was an American writer. He wrote novels and short stories. He became famous later in his life when his 1934 novel Call It Sleep was printed again in 1964.
Contents
About Henry Roth
Henry Roth was born in Tysmenitz, a place in what was then Austria-Hungary. Today, it is called Tysmenytsia in Ukraine. He and his mother likely came to the United States in 1908 through Ellis Island. They started their new life in New York City.
His family first lived in Brooklyn and then in the Lower East Side. This poor area is where his famous novel Call It Sleep takes place. In 1914, they moved to Harlem. Roth lived there until 1927. While he was a student at City College of New York, he moved to Greenwich Village. He lived with Eda Lou Walton, a poet and teacher who supported his writing.
Writing Call It Sleep
Roth began writing Call It Sleep around 1930. He finished the book in 1934, and it was published in December of that year. Most people gave it good reviews. However, it did not sell well at first because it showed a tough picture of New York's Lower East Side.
Even after it stopped being printed, critics kept praising the book. They asked for it to be printed again. In 1960, it was re-released in hardback. Then, in 1964, it came out in paperback. Over a million copies were sold, and it became a bestseller. People called Call It Sleep a forgotten masterpiece from the Great Depression era. Today, it is seen as a very important book in Jewish American literature.
Later Life and New Books
After Call It Sleep was published, Roth started a second novel. But he faced a big challenge: he couldn't write for a long time. This "writer's block" lasted until 1979. That's when he began writing Mercy of a Rude Stream.
In 1938, Roth met Muriel Parker, a musician. He married Muriel in 1939. During World War II, he worked making tools. The couple moved to Boston and then to Maine in 1946. In Maine, Roth had many different jobs. He worked as a woodsman, a teacher, and a farmer.
A man named Harold U. Ribalow helped bring Roth's work back into public view. He found Roth in Maine and convinced him to allow a new edition of Call It Sleep to be published in 1960.
At first, Roth did not like the success of his book's reprint in 1964. He preferred his privacy. But slowly, his writer's block began to fade. In 1968, Roth and Muriel moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, Roth worked with his friend Mario Materassi to create a collection of essays called Shifting Landscape. This book was published in 1987.
After Muriel died in 1990, Roth moved into a new home. He spent his time working on the last parts of his big work, Mercy of a Rude Stream. Roth passed away in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1995. He often said his long writer's block was due to personal struggles and changing beliefs.
Henry Roth's Books
Call It Sleep
Published in 1934, Call It Sleep tells the story of a young boy named David Schearl. It shows his difficult experiences growing up in a Jewish immigrant neighborhood. This was in New York's Lower East Side in the early 1900s.
Mercy of a Rude Stream
Mercy of a Rude Stream is a very long story told in four books. It follows the main character, Ira Stigman. It starts when his family arrives in Harlem in 1914. It ends in 1927, when Ira decides to leave home. Many people see this work as a major achievement in American literature.
The first book, A Star Shines over Mt. Morris Park, came out in 1994. The second, A Diving Rock on the Hudson, was published in 1995. The last two books, From Bondage (1996) and Requiem for Harlem (1998), were published after Roth's death. Roth was able to review these last two books with help before he died.
Roth had actually written six books for this series. But his editor and assistants decided it would be best to publish them as four books. This was because the first four books had a similar style and theme.
An American Type
Roth's last novel, An American Type, was created from his later writings. It starts in 1938. The story brings back Ira Stigman from the Mercy series. Ira is 32 years old and trying to fit into American life. He is still affected by his poor past as an immigrant.
Ira travels to Yaddo, an artists' colony. There, he meets M, a calm and elegant musician. This meeting causes a big change in his life. He leaves his old life in New York City. He travels west, hoping for a new start in America. But he feels like a failure in Los Angeles. So, Ira begins a long journey back home. He hitches rides and rides trains with homeless people. He knows he must return to M, the woman he truly loves.
Some parts of this book describe Roth's move to Maine. He worried his past connections might cause problems. He bought a small farm. He learned to live in the countryside, dealing with hard soil and cold winters. This part of the book shows his life in rural America.
Main Ideas in Henry Roth's Books
Henry Roth's writing often focuses on the experience of immigrants. He especially wrote about the Jewish-American experience during the Great Depression in America. He is also known for describing life in New York City.
Roth's work often explores the difficulties people and society face. He looked at how people felt lost or disconnected. He also explored questions about faith throughout his life.
Even though Roth's books can be sad, his later works offer hope. They suggest that there can be a chance for good things to happen, even in a tough world. This idea is very clear in An American Type. In that book, the love between Ira and M helps them overcome challenges.
Awards and Honors
Henry Roth received two special doctorates from universities. He won the International Nonino Prize in Italy in 1987. After he died, he was given the Hadassah Harold Ribalow Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995.
The Museum of the City of New York also honored him. On February 29, 1996, New York City named it "Henry Roth Day." His book From Bondage was a finalist for the Fiction Prize in 1997. In the same year, he won the first Isaac Bashevis Singer Prize in Literature for From Bondage.
In 2005, a book about his life was published. It was called Redemption: The Life of Henry Roth. In 2006, to mark 100 years since his birth, the New York Public Library held a special event to celebrate his work.
Literature
- Leonard Michaels, "The Long Comeback of Henry Roth: Call it Miraculous," New York Times Book Review, August 15, 1993
- Steven G. Kellman, Redemption: The Life of Henry Roth (W.W. Norton, 2005).
- Lyons, Bonnie (1976). Henry Roth, the man and his work. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. pp. 182. ISBN 0-8154-0516-2. LCCN 76029874. OCLC 2464583.
- Gibbs, Alan, Henry Roth's Semi-Autobiographical Tetralogy, Mercy of a Rude Stream: The Second Career of an American Novelist (Mellen Press, 2008).
- New Yorker Magazine, August, 2005
- New Yorker Magazine, May 29, 2006
- Weil, Robert. "Editor's Afterword." Requiem for Harlem. (St. Martin's, 1998): 273–282
- Holder, Douglas S. "Food as a symbol of the conflict of assimilation and alienation in the fiction of Henry Roth" / Harvard University Archives/ Harvard Depository HU 88.25.1997. 24 May 1997.
- Roth, Henry (2011). "First Years in Maine." Fiction (57): 35–99.
- Mirsky, Mark Jay (2011). "Introduction to Henry Roth." Fiction (57): 29–34.
See also
In Spanish: Henry Roth para niños
