Released on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 at about 9:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Post Office in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey USA.

RELEASE NOTES:

Another relay trade. Enjoy!

Received today - looking forward to reading it. Thank you!

Well, this turned out to not be my cup of tea at all - too graphic for my delicate sensibilities!
I'm sending it to djfil to continue a bookring that was stalled.
mailed 1/12/05

Cool! Received today- Thank you very much! I just happened to finish my last read this morning, so I can start on this one tonight. I'll update as I continue reading.

Bugandbean was kind enough to replace my lost copy to continue the now ray. Thanks so very much!

The order is:
djfil--Georgia, U.S.A--book is here
Secotyne--switzerland
Bookmaniac70--Bulgaria
EDDI--Australia (Australia only)
jubby--Australia

Thanks again for making it possible!

Just a quick update-
Really enjoying this. Lots of suspense building now, I can't imagine what's going to happen! The character development is amazing. I'm on page 200. Should have it finished in the next few days...

If the saying goes- god is in the details- then the characters in this novel must be considered god-like. Expertly crafted, multi-dimensional and lifelike.
Roth shuns foreshadowing in the places you'd expect it to be, in favor of softly revealing the action followed by details to connect the dots- except for the end, where the masterful foreshadowing leads the reader to draw their own conclusion.
I loved this novel. Thanks for sending my way. The wait was worth it.
I have Secotyne's address and plan to send this week.

Off to Switzerland....

The book landed near Geneva's lake this week-end. Thanks.

The book is already in Sofia.Hard to believe but I don`t have other bookrings with me right now,so I hope I shall be as quick as possible.Thanks for sending!

A quick note to let you know that I`m reading the book and am already through the half of it.I shall journal my thoughts these days.

I read a half and a bit more from the book but had to confess that I wasn`t interested enough in the story to finish it. The first problem for me was the style. I found it quite difficult and boring to read. The absence of new paragraphs made the story seem an endless rain of words.Everything was enclosed in the narrative,almost without any dialogue. The racism issue could not engage me,or interest me in the way it was presented. I can imagine that it is a story for a good movie and maybe I shall see the actual movie...but I just couldn`t get into the book....

The ray is continuing to Australia!

I was very busy this weel and couldn`t get to the post. I shall PM EDDI but will not be able to mail the book until 16th because tomorrow I`m leaving the city for a couple of days.I`m sorry for this delay!

I`m back,and I have the EDDI`s address,so I`m going to mail it these days.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Australia.

Received in the mail from Bulgaria! This is a well-travelled book indeed. Will get to it as soon as I can.

OMG!!! This bookring book arrived in the post today (along with another bookring - The heart is a lonely hunter). It looks incredible and I am really excited about receiving it.

Thank you.

I plan to read and post on in the next two weeks.

Yay - I have finally done it. Yes, I was finally able to finish reading this one. It's not really a handbag, I've got a couple of minutes to spare kind of book.

Did I enjoy it? Of course I did.
It is quite strange, but I was speaking to someone about it (brimming with enthusiam), to be told that the story was 'implausable'.

Is it?
No, I don't think it is. Admittedly, a little of it's shine has been lost by that conversation, but I feel that Philip Roth has an incredible understanding of human emotions, reasoning (even when writing female characters - see Delphine) and the power of history and place.

I did find that Faunia was a difficult character to grasp, and I did keep picturing Nicole Kidman (not that I have seen the film).

No, I think that Coleman Silk was a plausible, feliable and histronic character.

I also enjoyed the style of story telling, who Nathan Zuckerman would drop huge hints as to how the story was to unfold. It was a style I found riverting.
Once I was able to really get into the story, I didn't want to put it down.

I was a little unhappy about the ending (when I first read it), but I guess that 'is how it is' in many cases I guess. There are many loose ends, speculations and unknown motives, actions and behaviours.
So, in hindsight (two days later), yes, it is a fitting ending.

Amusedbythis has informed me that the book is mine to do with as I will (yay! - thank you lovely), so i think I will try and push this one off on to one of my friends.

Don't hold your breath about journal entry being made. I've passed a couple of books onto her in the past. But she is an avid reader, and she will send this book on to others...so there may be more entries in the not to distant future.

Thank you for sharing this great book with me. I'd not read a Philip Roth book before, and now I think I will read others (I googled his name, and read on his publisher's website, that this is the third book in a trilogy, so might try to read the other two).

RELEASE NOTES:

Plan to release at Northside Markets on Saturday.