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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
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
There's misery even in privilege, and there isn't privilege like privilege, or misery like misery, and then there's a bomb, but it's true regardless, and they're all a little wrong, a little right, and there isn't a reason even if you want there to be, unless you find it, then hold onto it because it'll be gone tomorrow.
Great richness and descriptive depth.
Great richness and descriptive depth.
'He had learned the worst lesson that life can teach - that it makes no sense. And when that happens the happiness is never spontaneous again. It is artificial and, even then, bought at the price of an obstinate estrangement from oneself and one's history.'
This monumental account of the erosion of hard work and American-made industry and the descent into 'fast fashion' and violent radicalism in the name of pacifism would, perhaps, resonate with many Americans in 2019. To call it plainly nostalgia would be an injustice to Roth's immersiveness; the the reader encounters the deep knowledge of glove-making and the retail business, no theory but the craftsman's sort of know-how that is inseparable from respect and love of the work of one's hands, like an art. He gets close to the heart, to skill that is at last shaped like instinct because this is how deeply it has been embedded in the man who practices it. And through that minute dedication to detail in all things, he gets to the heart of man. It is page after page of earth-shattering beauty in every occasional meander, whether it is about sport, or leatherwork. Roth is the close cousin of William Carlos Williams (quoted) or Seamus Heaney, returning the pin-pricks of pain and yet dignity to the small, reviving the complex threads of regret and guilt.
'American Pastoral' conjures up two things. One, the centralisation of place; this is a story that is unique and responds to America; it is rooted in that particular time and space, formed out of that political and economic climate, and its trajectory (from bliss and innocence that once shattered turns only to horrible clarity) obtains perfect coherence only in that particular people. Two, the pastoral as symbolic both of a lost and recreated, beautiful past, but also of its illusion, something recreated seeking to be perfect based on something that may have never existed. The pastoral exists in a mist of idealism and yearning but also ironically, a place to plant oneself and one's ideals. The pastoral brings to mind also the Fall, from grace, from glory, into an uncertain, treacherous, permanently broken present.
This monumental account of the erosion of hard work and American-made industry and the descent into 'fast fashion' and violent radicalism in the name of pacifism would, perhaps, resonate with many Americans in 2019. To call it plainly nostalgia would be an injustice to Roth's immersiveness; the the reader encounters the deep knowledge of glove-making and the retail business, no theory but the craftsman's sort of know-how that is inseparable from respect and love of the work of one's hands, like an art. He gets close to the heart, to skill that is at last shaped like instinct because this is how deeply it has been embedded in the man who practices it. And through that minute dedication to detail in all things, he gets to the heart of man. It is page after page of earth-shattering beauty in every occasional meander, whether it is about sport, or leatherwork. Roth is the close cousin of William Carlos Williams (quoted) or Seamus Heaney, returning the pin-pricks of pain and yet dignity to the small, reviving the complex threads of regret and guilt.
'American Pastoral' conjures up two things. One, the centralisation of place; this is a story that is unique and responds to America; it is rooted in that particular time and space, formed out of that political and economic climate, and its trajectory (from bliss and innocence that once shattered turns only to horrible clarity) obtains perfect coherence only in that particular people. Two, the pastoral as symbolic both of a lost and recreated, beautiful past, but also of its illusion, something recreated seeking to be perfect based on something that may have never existed. The pastoral exists in a mist of idealism and yearning but also ironically, a place to plant oneself and one's ideals. The pastoral brings to mind also the Fall, from grace, from glory, into an uncertain, treacherous, permanently broken present.
I don't know how to rate this book. Roth's style was interesting, the framing of a story within a story made the book feel like it was starting late. Sometimes it was difficult to read - the relationships between parents and children hit some chords, but that's what makes good literature, right? I don't know that I enjoyed the story itself, but the novel was thought-provoking and well-written. I liked the progression between the outer-story and the "actual" story and the development of the characters.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
I enjoyed reading this book, except it took me forever. It wasn't a "page turner" for me. I often found myself putting the book down to do other things like...laundry. I like books that help me procrastinate. I started reading it because it was on all TIMES top 100. Phillip Roth is a very detailed writer. I did like the book though, it was worth the time it took me to get it finished.
This quote from the book sums it up pretty well "He had learned the worst lesson that life can teach- that it makes no sense."
Wait one more...
"What was astonishing to him was how people seemed to run out of their own being, run out of whatever the stuff was that made them who they were and, drained of themselves, turn into the sort of people they would once have felt sorry for. It was as though while their lives were rich and full they were secretly sick of themselves and couldn't wait to dispose of their sanity and their health and all sense of proportion so as to get down to that other self, the true self, who was a wholly deluded fuck up."
This quote from the book sums it up pretty well "He had learned the worst lesson that life can teach- that it makes no sense."
Wait one more...
"What was astonishing to him was how people seemed to run out of their own being, run out of whatever the stuff was that made them who they were and, drained of themselves, turn into the sort of people they would once have felt sorry for. It was as though while their lives were rich and full they were secretly sick of themselves and couldn't wait to dispose of their sanity and their health and all sense of proportion so as to get down to that other self, the true self, who was a wholly deluded fuck up."
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well worth the read. A bit slow at the start - I wasn't sure where it was going. But once you understood the family, it was a compulsive read.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-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
Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging.