The most modern book on the list we have come to thus far, written in 1983, is yet another tale of drunken bums! This one is set in the late 1930s. What is it with the Modern Library's penchant for tales of riffraff? I admit it: This is not my favorite genre, folks. Perhaps it's no coincidence that I read much of this book in the bathtub! If I were to compare The Ginger Man, The Postman Always Rings Twice, or even Under the Net—as those three all concern, more or less, shiftless and inebriated men—Ironweed does not hold up. Classic Bitch's opinion must not be so refined, since this book is also a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. And if we compare it to The Magnificent Ambersons—the other winner of the Pulitzer on the list thus far—the latter is far superior.
Yes Ironweed is well-written, yes it is poignant in places, but my apologies to everyone else out there who loves this book...it simply does not knock my socks off. (No, I have not seen the movie, but I find it interesting that Jack Nicholson stars in both The Postman Always Rings Twice and Ironweed!)
*Pulitzer Prize winner for the year 1984.