It's been some time since I was so pulled into an article that I literally forgot my surroundings. This morning, as I read the New Yorker piece Like Men Betrayed, which recalls the life of writer Richard Yates and his heart-wrenching masterpiece Revolutionary Road, I was inside the story. I read Revolutionary Road in 1999 or so, and like some of the most impactful novels I've ever read, much of the story sat with me for months, if not years. There's an honesty and horror to this story that isn't easily forgotten. And when you've come from a family with its fair share of trials and tribulations, though the happenings are very different, there's something familiar. This novel is as disturbing in its writing as Requiem for a Dream is in its visuals and feel. Yet both were and remain groundbreaking works. They challenge us to look directly at the atrocities and open wounds that happen in everyday life.
Revolutionary Road is headed for the screen, and will star Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett. As much as I respect both actors, this book left such a lasting impression and opened my mind to understanding and the ability to withhold judgement, that I may have to pass on the film version. The printed words left that imprint that just can't be carried into another format.
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