The Centaur (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Updike
- First Published: 1963
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Mythological literature, Magical Realism
- Subjects: Teaching or teachers, Family or family life, United States or Americans, Adolescence, 1940’s, High schools or high school students, Sacrifice
- Locales: Pennsylvania
The Centaur draws heavily upon Updike's experiences growing up in Shillington, Pennsylvania, and pays homage to his father. In many ways, the novel is Updike's most complex work, involving an interweaving of the myth of Chiron the centaur with the story of an adolescent boy and his father in the winter of 1947. The novel is part Bildungsroman, a novel of moral education, and part Künstlerroman, a novel of an artist seeking his identity in conflict with society or with his past. The nine chapters of the novel emerge as a collage, a narrative appropriate for the...
[The entire page is 813 words long]
See Also:
John Updike (Cyclopedia of World Authors)John Updike (Poetry)John Updike (Short Fiction)John Updike (Long Fiction)John Updike (Identities and Issues)John Updike (Sixties in America)Centaur, The (American Fiction)Centaur, The (Character Profiles)Centaur, The (Identities and Issues)Centaur, The (Magill Book Reviews)
See Also:
- - The Centaur summary and study guide in the eNotes.
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