When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literature, Philosophy, and Mythology
W.H. Hudson, The Purple Land (2.3)
Horatio Alger (2.3)
H.L. Mencken (6.2, 12.39)
A.E.W. Mason (12.31)
Circe, character in Greek mythology (13.52)
Ivan Turgenieff, a.k.a. Turgenev, Sportsman’s Sketches (14.1, 14.7)
Historical References
Most importantly, the specter of World War I is always lurking beneath the surface of this novel— references are made to it throughout.
Marshal Michel Ney (4.10)
Voluntary Aid Detachment, WWI (5.8)
William Jennings Bryan (12.36)