American Pastoral
by Philip Roth | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0099771810 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0099771810 Global Overview for this book
2 journalers for this copy...
In his latest novel, Roth shows his age. Not that his writing is any less vigorous and supple. But in this autumnal tome, he is definitely in a reflective mood, looking backward. As the book opens, Roth's alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, recalls an innocent time when golden boy Seymour "the Swede" Levov was the pride of his Jewish neighborhood. Then, in precise, painful, perfectly rendered detail, he shows how the Swede's life did not turn out as gloriously as expected?how it was, in fact, devastated by a child's violent act. When Merry Levov blew up her quaint little town's post office to protest the Viet Nam war, she didn't just kill passing physician Fred Conlon, she shattered the ties that bound her to her worshipful father. Merry disappears, then eventually reappears as a stick-thin Jain living in sacred povery in Newark, having killed three more people for the cause. Roth doesn't tell the whole story blow by blow but gives us the essentials in luminous, overlapping bits. In the end, the book positively resonates with the anguish of a father who has utterly lost his daughter. Highly recommended. (amazon.com)
Journal Entry 2 by hexenberg73 at OBCZ Labyrinth, Pontstraße 156-158 in Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany on Friday, November 20, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (11/21/2009 UTC) at OBCZ Labyrinth, Pontstraße 156-158 in Aachen, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Das Buch tritt seine Reise an und geht mit zum Meeting :o)
Das Buch tritt seine Reise an und geht mit zum Meeting :o)
Journal Entry 3 by SanneX from Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant / Brabant Flamant Belgium on Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Found it on the BC-shelf in Labyrinth, Aachen, when visiting a friend who lives there.