Ironweed (novel)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox book Ironweed is a 1983 novel by American author William Kennedy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ironweed received the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and is the third book in Kennedy's Albany Cycle.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is included in the Western Canon of the critic Harold Bloom.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The novel was adapted into a 1987 film of the same name.

Plot summary

Set during the Great Depression, Ironweed tells the story of a bum named Francis Phelan. Phelan is a native of Albany, New York who left his family after accidentally killing his infant son. The novel focuses on Phelan's return (after being gone twenty-two years) to Albany over the triduum of All Hallows Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Moreover, a surreal element is added to the narrative, as Phelan sees and tries to interact with dead people from his troubled past. The novel features characters that are present in some of Kennedy's other Albany Cycle books.

Structure

The structure of the novel resembles the structure of Dante's Divine Comedy.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref> The novel's epigraph is a quotation from Purgatorio:

To course o’er better waters
now hoists sail the little bark of my wit,
leaving behind her a sea so cruel.<ref name="auto"/>

Critical response

Ironweed received positive reviews from The New York Times<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Washington Post.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It won Kennedy a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Adaptations

Kennedy wrote the screenplay for the 1987 film version of Ironweed, which was directed by Héctor Babenco and starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: The Best Actor in a Leading Role (for Nicholson) and the Best Actress in a Leading Role (for Streep).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• New York Times review
• Film page at IMDB

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