With a little bit of distance I can see that this is an accomplished novel, well written and stunningly relevant in places for all that it is seventy years old. The problem is that I just did not enjoy it! In fact, it left me feeling slightly uncomfortable and more than a little unclean. I appreciate it for its clever story telling but would struggle to recommend or to re-read.
Plot in a Nutshell
Less plot and more a study of a group of characters as told by Tod Hackett, a relatively recent arrival to Depression era Hollywood. Through his interactions with the would be stars, in reality minor extras with limited opportunity, we see a darkness and harshness underneath the promise of the American dream.
Thoughts
On paper the Golden Age of Hollywood is in full swing and the Depression sweeping the rest of America is less impactful here in Tinseltown. However, hiding not very far below the surface is a Hollywood where dreams don’t stand up to scrutiny and dreamers come to die. So far so depressing right? It gets worse…
West compellingly paints a picture of cynical, self serving characters. At first take they all seem slightly overdone and almost caricatured versions of our current worst thoughts about Hollywood. It took me a little while to remind myself that this was not a modern day take on Hollywood but rather an ‘of the age’ satirical take on the Hollywood of the period.
The more we get to know the characters however we see zero ability for any of them to emotionally connect with each other. Each interaction is underpinned by a strong sense of ‘what’s in it for me’. If West wanted to paint a soulless environment with shallow relationships he succeeded. And that’s before was addressing the fact that main character is open to discussing his fantasies of raping the woman he is infatuated with.
On the subject of strong female characters; Faye is a real disappointment. The lust the male characters have for her permeates the book and should have the reader feeling much more sympathetic. She is after all still a teenager predominantly spending time with much older men. She is however decidedly unsympathetic and her manipulations of her would be suitors meant I could not connect with her at all. As a metaphor for Hollywood itself she was well written, as a character I wanted to empathise with, less so.
All I ask is a chance. I’ve been buying lots of clothes lately to make myself one.
What becomes clearer as the novel moves on is that this emotional vacancy is not a flaw in the writing but rather the point West is making, or at least the point I think he was making. West paints a broader view of a society drawn to the illusion of Hollywood, yet frustrated that it doesn’t deliver. In that sense, the novel feels modern. The obsession with proximity to fame, and the sense that identity is about presentation over substance maps uncomfortably well onto contemporary celebrity culture and social media.
The final scenes is a culmination of everything I disliked about the book. It’s ugly and offers no respite or hope.
I couldn’t help but compare this unfavourably to https://www.fernweh.uk/the-artificial-silk-girl-by-irmgard-keun/ . They tackle similar themes, with similarly aged protagonists but one manages to do so with more heart and empathy.
