I Await The Devil's Coming by Mary MacLane: Discussion

Selected by the sponsor because of its historical importance not its readability:  published in 1902,  it is a memoir of a sensual, bisexual 19-year old who rejected conventional morality and gender roles. What is the context that not only allowed it to be published but resulted in one hundred thousand copies being sold within the first few months of its publication?   What were the young women who purchased the book longing for? What were their elders feeling toward them?

Not an easy to read book, the sponsor had to reread it a second time to appreciate it. She wasn't the only one.  Why?  Not so much a difficult read as a read that tests your ability to tolerate a narcissist.    As a 19 year old, Mary MacLane is a self-absorbed  adolescent with manic highs and suicidal lows. Unable to love or be loved by her family--she states that her mother likes her in much the way a hen cares for its egg--she grandiosely and repeatedly--calls herself a genius.  

Turns out that MacLane wrote a second memoir published in 1917.  And it turns out that one book grouper read it.  Well we wondered what was it like.   B.B.reported that Mary MacLane grew as a writer, but seemed to be as unable to form relationships as ever.  Sadly, and clearly, MacLane turned off people as much as she was turned off by them.  And if you are impatient or intolerant of her grandiosity,  she turns off the reader.

What are the positives?  Mixed in the tedium are  touches of humor and interesting portraits of Montana characters.  And of course an honest portrait of a young woman  at the turn of the 19th century. And some really good imagery and writing.  And a glimpse into the beginning of a literary genre.  And too, material for a good discussion.

Themes:  Willa Cather vs. MacLane--similar backdrops for their youth--yet the former writer created novels.  If MacLane had used her writerly skills to develop her character studies into novels would she have had longer lasting fame and success? Alice Munro may have been impacted by similar upbringing and she deals with the theme of isolation. Again; whatever stunted MacLane as a human being, stunted her ability to deal with themes that would have made her genius more accessible to others.  And this idea:  MacLane was born before her time: if she had lived today her writing style and her self-absorption  would have made her a good--well--BLOGGER.  Yikes!  Gotta take up knitting.