8.4 /10 1 Votes8.4
4.3/5 Barnes & Noble Publication date February 4, 1943 Publisher Harcourt | 4/5 Goodreads Originally published 4 February 1943 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Novel, Fiction, Children's literature Similar Works by William Saroyan, Novels, Classical Studies books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Human Comedy is a novel by William Saroyan.
Contents
Themes and setting
The story of The Human Comedy, and the characters Homer and Ulysses in particular, is based on Saroyan's life, living fatherless with his siblings and his mother. Ithaca, California is based on the real town of Fresno, Saroyan's home-town.
The book also has several references to Homer's Odyssey. Homer is both the name of the author of the Odyssey and the main character in this novel. Homer's young brother's name, Ulysses, is the Roman form of the name Odysseus, the Odyssey's protagonist. The theme of both of the books is going home. Ithaca is both Homer's and Ulysses' home-town in the novel and Odysseus' home-island in the Odyssey. Helen Eliot, referring to Helen of Troy, is used as the girl that Homer is in love with. It takes place during World War II.
Film
The original film was released in 1943. A second version, entitled Ithaca, was directed by Meg Ryan. Filming began in Richmond, Virginia and Petersburg, Virginia in July 2014.
Television
The book was adapted by S. Lee Pogostin for television in 1959 with narration by Burgess Meredith. The television adaption starred Michael J. Pollard.
Revised Edition
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.