"Enoch Soames: A Memory of the Eighteen-Nineties" by Max Beerbohm is a humorous story set in the late 1800s that mixes made-up events with thoughts about literature, tackling dreams of being a famous artist and the battles one faces on the road to literary recognition. The story tells of Enoch Soames, a made-up poet whose hunger for popularity pushes him to make a deal with the devil. Another character thinks back on the life and goals of Soames, who comes across as a sad character, a writer desiring recognition and grappling with his failure. Even though he puts out a book, it goes mostly unnoticed, and he is forgotten by the literary world. The story gets juicier when Soames meets a devilish person who proposes that he travels to the future to learn how he is remembered. When he goes through with the deal, he finds that, even though someone mentions him later on in a book, it’s only to make fun of him, which emphasizes the grim facts of literary fame and how artistic success does not last. The story is a moving take on the vanity and pointlessness that can come with chasing artistic greatness.
Enoch Soames: A Memory of the Eighteen-Nineties
By Max Beerbohm
A struggling poet makes a dangerous deal to discover if his work will ever be recognized, only to confront a devastating truth about his legacy.
Summary
About the AuthorSir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the Saturday Review from 1898 until 1910, when he relocated to Rapallo, Italy. In his later years he was popular for his occasional radio broadcasts. Among his best-known works is his only novel, Zuleika Dobson, published in 1911. His caricatures, drawn usually in pen or pencil with muted watercolour tinting, are in many public collections.
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the Saturday Review from 1898 until 1910, when he relocated to Rapallo, Italy. In his later years he was popular for his occasional radio broadcasts. Among his best-known works is his only novel, Zuleika Dobson, published in 1911. His caricatures, drawn usually in pen or pencil with muted watercolour tinting, are in many public collections.
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