Elia Kazan [Paperback]

But hey, I’ve now read the book, and I know the real story and the real Elia Kazan. The book is an 800+ page epic. And an epic in every sense of the word. Kazan’s autobiography is a long, brooding, and fascinating recall of his eventful life. He has, as he acknowledges in the later pages, lived a variegated and full life, he has no regrets about any of it, and he realises that he has been fortunate to have led such an interesting life. And ‘interesting’ it certainly is. The book, though, is no glamorous odyssey of a life lived in Broadway and Hollywood; neither is it a chronicle of the great and the good of America’s creative talent. Yes, there are valuable insights and vivid portraits of people like Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and John Steinbeck. You will also meet some of Hollywood’s movie moguls, particularly Darryl Zanuck at Fox. Yes, those stories are told, but all in the context of the main enterprise: the laying down for posterity of the intimate detail of the life of one of America’s most celebrated creative talents of the middle of the twentieth century. Kazan unashamedly reveals his inner thoughts, his recollections, reasons, reminiscences and experiences—whether they show him in a good, bad or indifferent light. The book is brutally frank and you can only admire the author’s unstinting honesty—possibly a cathartic aspect to the work aided Kazan along the way.

Remarkable for a book of this size, there is never a hint of unevenness or flagging. It’s an enthralling, engrossing book from start to finish. Much of life’s rich tapestry, to use the euphemistic cliché, is explored here. Kazan is clearly an astute and perceptive observer of life. Life essentially means human beings, of course, and this brings us to the essence of the book, human nature, particularly the behaviour between man and woman. Manipulation, expediency, lust, deceit, hurt, love, the passion and the platonic: it’s all here in a very stark black and white. Yet still the book continually sparkles, even when the reader faces some genuinely sad and pitiful moments, particularly relating to Kazan’s fiercely supportive and loyal first wife, Molly. There is no cherry-picking of ‘the good times’ in this book: highs and lows, triumph and disaster, they all co-exist side by side. Kazan doesn’t shirk from revealing his overwhelming determination at the time to have his cake and eat it ie. a loving wife at home and a passionate mistress outside.

Apart from the inherent problems that male/female relationships spawn, if you forgive the pun, Kazan also talks extensively about his rather frustrating and unfulfilling time at college; his less-than-perfect relationship with his father; reflections on the life of a Greek immigrant family trying to make their way in the ‘new world’, in this case, New York; more reflections on Greeks, this time those living in another ‘foreign’ country, Turkey (where Kazan’s parents had emigrated from), and the altered behaviour necessary to survive amongst ‘the enemy’; and, of course, he describes the whys and wherefores of his ‘friendly’ HUAC testimony, and the subsequent vitriol directed against him as a consequence from many quarters, including so-called ‘friends’; we learn of the unsavoury modus operandi of both the Communist Party in America and the HUAC authorities in the late forties and early fifties; and Kazan’s single-mindedness and determination as, post-HUAC, he persevered and produced his best work as a film director; also, an interesting account of how Kazan’s second wife, Barbara, and her confused but brave struggle against cancer; and so on.

The book is a courageous and brutally honest self-expose, if you like, of a man who has remained largely silent over the years. He doesn’t gloss over his extra-marital activities, and the hard-heartedness and guile required on his part to maintain his passionate love for his mistress and, at the same time, his more platonic love for his first wife. This reflects the ‘insoluble’ (Kazan’s word) nature of man’s relationship with the opposite sex.

The book is beautifully-written—quality throughout--and the prose intimate, inviting and lucid. The honesty and intimacy of Kazan’s words, as he describes his thoughts, feelings and rationale at the time, ensure that you live his life with him, and by the end of the book, you also feel you’ve been through one hell of a life.

Over a year ago, I read an excellent book called A Child Of The Century, Ben Hecht’s autobiography, published in the fifties. I never thought I’d read another autobiography to match or surpass it. I have, and it’s called A Life, by Elia Kazan. Waste no more time and buy this book. Alternatively borrow it, but whatever you do, read it!!