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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
There is a thriving trade in self-help books which have always baffled me. I could never relate to another person telling me Look, these are the steps you need to take to better your life & if you don't take them you are done for ! Well, no book will be so absolute in saying so but underlying all the sugarcoating there is this message loud & clear in most books of this genre. Then however comes the matter of literature where a clever author without even giving you the faintest clue ties a blindfold around your eyes and walks you along telling you the story of a character & a quest. At some point (s)he pulls the blindfold off you & cries There, you see where our character is right now ? Then and only then do you realize the importance of the word self-discovery. Precisely what Saul Bellow does in this book !
There is no patronizing in the words, no hollow advise on quick fixes you need to follow to discover the meaning of life. There is however a series of nerve wracking ordeals through which the guinea pig of a character named Eugene Henderson has to go through. Eugene is the oddball scion of an illustrious American family which counts State Secretaries, Scientists, Scholars & Lunatics among wealth and a solid ancestry. Eugene however is a totally different beast altogether, he is from rind to core a mass of confusion.When confronted with situations or emotions that threaten to get the better of him, he reacts in the only way best known to him : violence. He tries to find an inner meaning & solace in a lot of totally unconnected areas : Music, Sex, Soldiering, Alcohol, Farming but each tend to be a bigger disaster than the one preceding it. Eugene to me was very much akin to what a gorilla would have been in a glass factory. Leaving behind such a trail of shattered things, he escapes to Africa. It is among two of the most isolated of tribes : The Arnewi & The Wariri that the rest of his life story is penned.
One amusing character I found in the tale was of King Dahfu of the Wariri. Eugene's interactions with the King give way to some of the most mind boggling & quote worthy prose in the book. The eccentric intelligence of the King rubs off on Eugene and the first tentative roots of transformation take hold in his character. Of significant presence for the principal protagonist is also the prophecy of Daniel on Nebuchadnezzar for at all phases in life, Eugene is closely linked to the lives of animals around him.
The prose is extremly powerful and moving. While retaining the touch of a master wordsmith, Bellow creates extremely witty monologues especially in the earlier half of the book. This is easily a favorite for me !
There is no patronizing in the words, no hollow advise on quick fixes you need to follow to discover the meaning of life. There is however a series of nerve wracking ordeals through which the guinea pig of a character named Eugene Henderson has to go through. Eugene is the oddball scion of an illustrious American family which counts State Secretaries, Scientists, Scholars & Lunatics among wealth and a solid ancestry. Eugene however is a totally different beast altogether, he is from rind to core a mass of confusion.When confronted with situations or emotions that threaten to get the better of him, he reacts in the only way best known to him : violence. He tries to find an inner meaning & solace in a lot of totally unconnected areas : Music, Sex, Soldiering, Alcohol, Farming but each tend to be a bigger disaster than the one preceding it. Eugene to me was very much akin to what a gorilla would have been in a glass factory. Leaving behind such a trail of shattered things, he escapes to Africa. It is among two of the most isolated of tribes : The Arnewi & The Wariri that the rest of his life story is penned.
One amusing character I found in the tale was of King Dahfu of the Wariri. Eugene's interactions with the King give way to some of the most mind boggling & quote worthy prose in the book. The eccentric intelligence of the King rubs off on Eugene and the first tentative roots of transformation take hold in his character. Of significant presence for the principal protagonist is also the prophecy of Daniel on Nebuchadnezzar for at all phases in life, Eugene is closely linked to the lives of animals around him.
The prose is extremly powerful and moving. While retaining the touch of a master wordsmith, Bellow creates extremely witty monologues especially in the earlier half of the book. This is easily a favorite for me !
Sometimes, I read a book and marvel that an author could take such an unlikable character and make him so human, so universal, that the reader is carried along by his tide of thoughts.
This book is full of revelations. The yearning to be better is palpable. The acknowledgment that the main character BY the main character that he is a drunk, a womanizer, and a bum helps, as does his goal of fixing it.
My favorite part of the book was when he admits that the reason the bride hates him has little to do with his original assertion that he "didn't kiss her", and then he goes on to list the absolutely disgusting things he did at the reception, and you realize that most of what he has been saying has been held back and cleaned up. The fiction IS a fiction. We all live reality a little differently. Beautiful.
This book feels raw and scratchy. It has a texture and weight, and deserves a slow, uncomfortable read.
This book is full of revelations. The yearning to be better is palpable. The acknowledgment that the main character BY the main character that he is a drunk, a womanizer, and a bum helps, as does his goal of fixing it.
My favorite part of the book was when he admits that the reason the bride hates him has little to do with his original assertion that he "didn't kiss her", and then he goes on to list the absolutely disgusting things he did at the reception, and you realize that most of what he has been saying has been held back and cleaned up. The fiction IS a fiction. We all live reality a little differently. Beautiful.
This book feels raw and scratchy. It has a texture and weight, and deserves a slow, uncomfortable read.
This book is the story of Henderson's journey from a detached, self-loathing, trust-fund semi-retiree to an involved human being. His journey into the heart of Africa is extremely entertaining, and moving.
Henderson would seem a poor protagonist, entirely unsympathetic. I think he is a specimen of the modern, upper-middle class. He voices the emotion of most men in that station: the quest for career satisfaction, self-doubt about capabilities, an over-eagerness to engage superior forces, and the yearning for something more. Or maybe I just self-diagnosed. Anyway, what made Henderson a great character for me was that Bellow didn't convert him to a superstar. Henderson emerges with his personality intact, but with a better outlook on life.
Bellow's skill as a writer goes beyond great characters. He is brimming with insights, comical asides, and great prose.
Henderson would seem a poor protagonist, entirely unsympathetic. I think he is a specimen of the modern, upper-middle class. He voices the emotion of most men in that station: the quest for career satisfaction, self-doubt about capabilities, an over-eagerness to engage superior forces, and the yearning for something more. Or maybe I just self-diagnosed. Anyway, what made Henderson a great character for me was that Bellow didn't convert him to a superstar. Henderson emerges with his personality intact, but with a better outlook on life.
Bellow's skill as a writer goes beyond great characters. He is brimming with insights, comical asides, and great prose.
3.5
This is in incredibly enjoyable light read with undertones of a deeper and darker philosophy that adds a bit of a punch.
Low marks for setting (description) and dated racial attitudes, but Bellow's anti-hero steals the show with his cringe-worthy antisocial behavior and his bounding, blaring, 'grun-tu-molani'. A character who is both hilarious and sympathetic, repulsive and endearing.
This is in incredibly enjoyable light read with undertones of a deeper and darker philosophy that adds a bit of a punch.
Low marks for setting (description) and dated racial attitudes, but Bellow's anti-hero steals the show with his cringe-worthy antisocial behavior and his bounding, blaring, 'grun-tu-molani'. A character who is both hilarious and sympathetic, repulsive and endearing.
challenging
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book inspired Joni Mitchel to write From Both Sides Now and I think there are two ways to look this, one as triumph along the way to a Noble Prize and the other as a total failure of a privileged white American man trying to have some sort of anthropological or life journey, so that's why I gave three stars.
I have to get the failure part out of the way. This is written in the first person by a blustering millionaire who inherited his money, which isn't a sin but his discourse is. Reading him for 330 pages is exhausting. Many of the other characters talk in pidgin English, its really bad. Faulkner and O'Connor have conveyed southern and country dialects in the writing without going all vaudeville blackface. Bellow never visited Africa, so the whole part about Africa is just his imagination, which wasn't PC in 1959 and isn't now. Finally there is a lot philosophical discourse about reality and being versus becoming. But the discourse is all this bad dialogue, telling instead of showing.
The fact that this a mythic Africa invites Joseph Campbell and Robert Graves into the discussion. The African tribe puts the King in a position where he must continually prove his manliness or die. Our narrator is unwittingly tricked into this succession of kings when he moves a statute and becomes the rain king, heir to the throne. He undergoes a true hero journey. There is a wonderful metaphor of lions and man's relationship with them. He brings back the grail to his home. The last 40 pages are a tour de force, I loved the last page.
But the prose and the condescending privilege of the author's avatar are just too much. Bellow doesn't try at all to distance himself from this buffoon.
I have to get the failure part out of the way. This is written in the first person by a blustering millionaire who inherited his money, which isn't a sin but his discourse is. Reading him for 330 pages is exhausting. Many of the other characters talk in pidgin English, its really bad. Faulkner and O'Connor have conveyed southern and country dialects in the writing without going all vaudeville blackface. Bellow never visited Africa, so the whole part about Africa is just his imagination, which wasn't PC in 1959 and isn't now. Finally there is a lot philosophical discourse about reality and being versus becoming. But the discourse is all this bad dialogue, telling instead of showing.
The fact that this a mythic Africa invites Joseph Campbell and Robert Graves into the discussion. The African tribe puts the King in a position where he must continually prove his manliness or die. Our narrator is unwittingly tricked into this succession of kings when he moves a statute and becomes the rain king, heir to the throne. He undergoes a true hero journey. There is a wonderful metaphor of lions and man's relationship with them. He brings back the grail to his home. The last 40 pages are a tour de force, I loved the last page.
But the prose and the condescending privilege of the author's avatar are just too much. Bellow doesn't try at all to distance himself from this buffoon.
Henderson is a great character. An emotional bull in a china shop. Impulsive. Impetuous. Never satisfied. Wanting to please everybody, but doing a horrible job at it. However, he is aware of these things and he sets out on an African adventure to discover himself, and hopefully change. I enjoyed the story and the characters, and I liked where the revealing journey took Henderson, which might not be anywhere at all.