Critical Children: The Use of Childhood in Ten Great Novels

The title is meant to be taken in several ways exemplifying the multifaceted approach Locke takes in this crackling tour of 10 iconic Anglo-American fictions. All feature children caught in challenging or ambiguous circumstances, among them Oliver Twist, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Peter Pan, Holden Caulfield, Dolores Haze (aka Lolita), and Alexander Portnoy. Through these children, their creators tackle the hypocritical elements of their respective times, from the 1830s to the 1960s, and these characters, says Locke, are intended as a moral compass. Locke succeeds in giving a fresh mythic quality to the prismlike insights of Dickens, Twain, James, Barrie, Salinger, Nabokov, and Roth (with a nod to the other Roth, Henry). For the most part, the chapters flow into one another. Though a hint of the academic-survey element is detected, thankfully Locke does not feel compelled to subtract from his mission by overjustifying his slim selection of young characters caught in violent situations. His chapters on Dickens and Barrie are outstanding; and Locke may be the first to detect the effect of 17th-century scholar Sir Thomas Browne on Holden Caulfield. (Sept.)