Editing The Human Comedy (novel)

{{Short description|1943 novel by William Saroyan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{About|the novel by William Saroyan|the 1943 film|The Human Comedy (film)|the 1983 musical|The Human Comedy (musical)|the 2016 film based on the novel|Ithaca (film)}}{{infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name          = The Human Comedy
| title_orig    = 
| translator    = 
| image         = William Saroyan - The Human Comedy (novel).jpg
| caption       = First edition cover
| author        = [[William Saroyan]]
| illustrator   = [[Don Freeman]] 
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| series        = 
| genre         = 
| publisher     = [[Harcourt Trade Publishers|Harcourt]]
| release_date  = February 4, 1943
| media_type    = Print (hardback and paperback)
| pages         = 
| isbn          =
| preceded_by   = 
| followed_by   = 
}}

'''''The Human Comedy''''' is a 1943 novel by [[William Saroyan]]. It originated as a 240-page film script written for [[MGM]]. Saroyan was planning to produce and direct the film, but he was dropped from the project either because the script was too long or because a short film he directed as a test was not considered acceptable{{snd}}or both.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The Human Comedy (1943) - Notes - TCM.com|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/218/the-human-comedy#notes|access-date=2020-06-03|website=Turner Classic Movies|language=en}}</ref> He walked off the lot, went home, and swiftly created a novelization, which was published just before the film came out. It was the March 1943 [[Book of the Month|Book-of-the-Month Club]] selection, and became a best-seller a week after its release. Saroyan won the [[Academy Award for Best Story]] for the film, ''[[The Human Comedy (film)|The Human Comedy]]''.

==Plot==
Homer Macauley is a 14-year-old boy growing up fatherless in the [[San Joaquin Valley]] of California during [[World War II]]. His oldest brother, Marcus, is off fighting the war, and Homer feels he needs to be the man of the family. To make money, he takes an evening job as a telegraph boy, meaning sometimes he has to deliver the news to a family that a son has died in the war. Yet Homer keeps up his normal life, going to school, to church, and to the movies. He is encouraged by his home environment and his loving family, including a very young brother and a mother who plays the harp. His roots and an almost instinctive sense of right and wrong keep him honest and hopeful. The novel's optimistic tone came, at least in part, from starting as a screen-treatment for MGM's [[Louis B. Mayer]].<ref>Dickran Kouymjian, "Saroyan Shoots a Film" in Leon Hamalian, ed., ''William Saroyan: The Man and Writer Remembered'' (Madison NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 1987), 77–83. {{ISBN|9780838633083}}.</ref>

==Characters==
* Homer Macauley – Protagonist, 14-year-old telegraph messenger living in fictional town of Ithaca, California
* Katie Macauley – Homer's mother, who plays the harp
* Bess Macauley – Homer's elder sister, who plays the piano
* Mary Arena – Neighbor, girlfriend of Homer's brother Marcus, friend of sister Bess
* Ulysses Macauley – Homer's four-year-old brother
* Mr. Grogan – Owner and old-time telegraph operator of Ithaca's telegraph station
* Mr. Spangler – Manager of telegraph station

* Miss Hicks – Homer's history teacher, who moralizes during Homer's detention
* Hubert Ackley III – Homer's rival
* Auggie Gottlieb – Newspaper boy and leader of a neighborhood gang of young boys
* Matthew Macauley – Homer's deceased father
* Marcus Macauley – Homer's elder brother, enrolled in the Army
* Mr. Ara – Town grocer
* Diana Steed – Mr. Spangler's girlfriend
* "Girl on the corner"

==Themes and setting==
The story of ''The Human Comedy'', including the characters Homer and Ulysses in particular, is based on Saroyan's life, living fatherless with his siblings and his mother. The town in the novel, Ithaca, California, is based on the real town of [[Fresno, California]], Saroyan's hometown.

The book contains several references to [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'', including the use of Homer as the name of the main character in this novel. Homer's young brother's name, Ulysses, is the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] form of the name [[Odysseus]], the protagonist of Homer's ''Odyssey''. The books share the theme of returning home. [[Homer's Ithaca|Ithaca]] is both Homer's and Ulysses' hometown in the novel and Odysseus' home island in the ''Odyssey''. The name Helen Eliot (a nod to Homer's [[Helen of Troy]]) is used as the name of the girl that Homer loves. 

The story occurs during [[World War II]].

==Revision==
Dell Paperbacks released a revised edition of the novel in 1966. The revised edition is credited to William Saroyan, with several substantial edits that reduce the story to 192 pages.<ref>[http://www.beyond-black-friday.com/William_Saroyan_The_Human_Comedy_changes.htm Changes to "The Human Comedy" by William Saroyan – 1943 and 1966 editions]</ref>

==Adaptations==
The film based on Saroyan's script, ''[[The Human Comedy (film)|The Human Comedy]]'', was released in 1943.  

In 1943, Nick Hoffer drew a newspaper comic strip, ''La Comédie Humaine'', based on ''The Human Comedy''. It ran in ''Le Petit Journal'', a [[Quebec|Québec]] newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nick Hoffer|url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hoffer_nick.htm|access-date=2020-06-04|website=lambiek.net|language=en}}</ref>  

An adaption by S. Lee Pogostin aired on television on the ''[[DuPont Show of the Month]]'' in March 1959. Pogostin's adaptation was highly praised by the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]''. This production starred [[Michael J. Pollard]] and featured narration by [[Burgess Meredith]].<ref>{{Cite news|title='The Human Comedy'| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/03/30/80767805.html?pageNumber=51|access-date=2020-06-03|language=en}}</ref>

A [[The Human Comedy (musical)|musical adaptation for the stage]], which ''The New York Times'' described as a "pop folk opera",<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bennetts|first=Leslie|date=January 2, 1984|title=Holiday Party Inspired 'Human Comedy' Opera|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/02/theater/holiday-party-inspired-human-comedy-opera.html|access-date=2020-06-04|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> opened at [[The Public Theater|Joseph Papp's Public Theatre]] on December 28, 1983, and eventually transferred to Broadway, where it closed after 19 previews and 13 performances.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Freedman|first=Samuel G.|date=April 5, 1984|title='Human Comedy' Moves to Broadway|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/05/theater/human-comedy-moves-to-broadway.html|access-date=2020-06-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=April 16, 1984|title='Human Comedy' Closes|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/16/theater/human-comedy-closes.html|access-date=2020-06-03|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1992, Richard Klautsch directed an adaptation for the stage by [[Phil Atlakson]] at [[Boise State University]] that featured [[Randy Davison]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1992 |title=The Human Comedy A new play Based on the Novel by William Saroyan |url=https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1157&context=theatre_programs |journal=[[Boise State University]]}}</ref>  

A second film version, ''[[Ithaca (film)|Ithaca]]'' (2015), was directed by [[Meg Ryan]]. Filming began in [[Richmond, Virginia]] and [[Petersburg, Virginia]] in July 2014.<ref>{{cite news|last=Heil|first=Emily|date=June 23, 2014|title=When Sally met Terry: Meg Ryan's directorial debut to film in Va.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/wp/2014/06/23/when-sally-met-terry-meg-ryans-directorial-debut-to-film-in-va/|access-date=November 6, 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Comedy, The}}
[[Category:1943 American novels]]
[[Category:Novels by William Saroyan]]
[[Category:Novels set in California]]
[[Category:Novels set during World War II]]
[[Category:San Joaquin Valley]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into comics]]