Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
I hate to have to tell you this, but unfortunately American Pastoral by Philip Roth is a masterpiece. That is unfortunate because it is also a deeply uncomfortable, unpleasant, and difficult book to read. It is dense, neurotic, emotionally fraught, and requires the reader to go far deeper into the psyche of ourselves, our families, our neighbors, and America itself than is remotely comfortable.
Events are not rational, people are not knowable, life is not coherent. These are some of the painful truths I have taken away from this incredibly well written, impeccably honest and clear seeing masterpiece of a novel. This book is a perfect encapsulation of post war America, but it goes so much deeper than most post mortems on the latter half of the 20th century because Roth is more insightful and articulate than most. And more willing to face the grim truth of reality, which is that it bends toward chaos to a far greater degree than anyone would like to think about very hard. The final scene, the dinner party which goes on for the last 100ish pages, is a masterclass in writing, and the final page was perfect in every way. 10/10 do not recommend.
Events are not rational, people are not knowable, life is not coherent. These are some of the painful truths I have taken away from this incredibly well written, impeccably honest and clear seeing masterpiece of a novel. This book is a perfect encapsulation of post war America, but it goes so much deeper than most post mortems on the latter half of the 20th century because Roth is more insightful and articulate than most. And more willing to face the grim truth of reality, which is that it bends toward chaos to a far greater degree than anyone would like to think about very hard. The final scene, the dinner party which goes on for the last 100ish pages, is a masterclass in writing, and the final page was perfect in every way. 10/10 do not recommend.
un pensiero delle 3 del mattino, reduce da una giornata svenuta sul divano
Not a fan of the font and not sure I really understand what's going on, I'm not reaching for it, so I'm DNFing it.
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNFed
Seymour Levov è un ricco imprenditore di successo, emblema del sogno americano. Ma il suo sogno di perfezione viene infranto dalla Storia (con la "s" maiuscola) che con la guerra del Vietnam e tutte le contraddizioni che essa si porta dietro, irrompe nella sua vita. A raccontare la sua vita, attraverso una serie di salti temporali tra ricordi e riflessioni, è Nathan Zuckerman (alter ego di Roth), che da sempre ammira Seymour.
È il primo romanzo di Roth che leggo, ma di certo non sarà l'ultimo. Pastorale americana, più che un romanzo, è una lunga riflessione su come la perfetta famiglia americana, a volte, sia solo un'illusione
È il primo romanzo di Roth che leggo, ma di certo non sarà l'ultimo. Pastorale americana, più che un romanzo, è una lunga riflessione su come la perfetta famiglia americana, a volte, sia solo un'illusione
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An infuriating style, stopping mid-conversation for several pages of reflection, no matter how urgent the moment. Still, generally beautifully written.
To me, American Pastoral isn't a novel. There's a plot which centers around Swede Levov and his daughter-turned terrorist, Merry. But instead of the protagonist driving the plot, the protagonist and the narrator both observe and introspect. Introspection ad nausea. It's a book asking why, why, why and yet rarely providing any answers. I get it that it's supposed to cause the reader to examine her own life or the direction of America or even her feelings toward Jews, but at the end of the day a novel is supposed to be about a character doing something and in this novel all the action takes place off stage and all the thinking, wandering mental gymnastics, and self-loathing happens front and center.
That's why I didn't like it. Not that I can't or won't examine the world around me and think through my own choices and the actions of others, but I don't want to read hundreds of pages of a whiny victim doing such. To have won the Pulitzer just shows the committees bias toward intellectualism without form.
That's why I didn't like it. Not that I can't or won't examine the world around me and think through my own choices and the actions of others, but I don't want to read hundreds of pages of a whiny victim doing such. To have won the Pulitzer just shows the committees bias toward intellectualism without form.