Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible

Princeton University Press, February 2010. Hardcover. New. Chatter about the prevalence of the Bible in American culture in recent times seems seems to ebb and flow, often appearing as an instrument in political discourse but seldom infused with any sort of literary depth. At first glance, Robert Alter's study looks interesting enough. It starts with an historical overview of America as a scriptural culture-from the names dotting its geographical landscape to 'the anchorage of Hebrew Scripture in ideas of family, nationhood, land, and politics.' What Alter's title doesn't entirely convey is his particular focus, namely how the language of the Old Testament (represented by its 1611 English version) has suffused American fiction-he calls it 'an ineluctable framework for verbal culture in this country'-even as America's earnest faith in Scripture as revelation has faded. A professor of Hebrew and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, Alter points out that 'style is not merely a constellation of aesthetic properties but is the vehicle of a particular vision of reality.' The writers he concentrates on-Melville, Faulkner, Hemingway, Bellow, and in more recent days, Marilynne Robinson and Cormac McCarthy-express, in their work, a certain texture of writing and strength of prose that would not exist apart from the language of the King James Version. Alter's work aims to apprehend how their prose 'serves as the vehicle for certain distinctively American constructions of reality.' His discussions of cadence, rhythm and syntax constitute a fine argument for style as an artful, inventive and often startlingly original component of meaning rather than a mere window dressing for the ideas therein.