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sleeping_while_awake's review against another edition
3.0
Dangling Man is about a man named Joseph who is waiting to be drafted into the military during WWII. During this time, his anticipation manifests into anger and dissatisfaction, and he takes it upon himself and others around him. His relationship with his wife, family, and friends is poor, and Joseph doesn't really appear to truly care about rectifying them. He is intensely resentful and acts on the spur of the moment without thinking of consequences.
Joseph was not a likable character. Although there are multiple times in the book where it is said that Joseph's behaviors and attitudes were out of character for him, there doesn't seem to be any references to times when he was a better person nor is there enough support for the reader to believe he was different, but that the waiting, or dangling, had changed him.
He is so bitter that it is hard to empathize with him. It seems like he is destroying his life, piece by piece, but as a reader, we don't get to know any of the outcomes. I was surprised by how everything was unresolved at the end, though Joseph did get what he wanted. I don't think that after the war anything would return to normal for him. I think he fundamentally changed. He became cynical and lost in his philosophical thoughts for meaning in life that his actual life around him was meaningless. Bellow touched upon some heavy questions, but didn't delve beyond the surface. The ending left the book weaker. There were some sections with beautiful prose, especially the scenes with Joseph walking around the city.
Joseph was not a likable character. Although there are multiple times in the book where it is said that Joseph's behaviors and attitudes were out of character for him, there doesn't seem to be any references to times when he was a better person nor is there enough support for the reader to believe he was different, but that the waiting, or dangling, had changed him.
He is so bitter that it is hard to empathize with him. It seems like he is destroying his life, piece by piece, but as a reader, we don't get to know any of the outcomes. I was surprised by how everything was unresolved at the end, though Joseph did get what he wanted. I don't think that after the war anything would return to normal for him. I think he fundamentally changed. He became cynical and lost in his philosophical thoughts for meaning in life that his actual life around him was meaningless. Bellow touched upon some heavy questions, but didn't delve beyond the surface. The ending left the book weaker. There were some sections with beautiful prose, especially the scenes with Joseph walking around the city.
jaythree's review against another edition
reflective
tense
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
2.5
levijs's review against another edition
4.0
If ever there were a time for Levi to read Dangling Man...
Dangling Man suffers, albeit scarcely, from the typical symptoms of an author’s first novel. It also happens (simultaneously) to transcend a lot of the characteristics of a typical first novel, thanks to Bellow’s honesty and acute philosophical sensibilities (among many other things).
Bellow offers fantastic advice to the modern-day Superfluous Man: at the end of the day, meaning is made, not malaise... And in Joseph’s world, not unlike ours today, “hardboiled-dom” is overcome ultimately through discipline and action (despite some people’s (my hand has certainly shot up) predilections toward solitude, reflection and criticism — what a comfortable trio...).
If this is Bellow at his worst, I can’t wait for Bellow at his best.
Dangling Man suffers, albeit scarcely, from the typical symptoms of an author’s first novel. It also happens (simultaneously) to transcend a lot of the characteristics of a typical first novel, thanks to Bellow’s honesty and acute philosophical sensibilities (among many other things).
Bellow offers fantastic advice to the modern-day Superfluous Man: at the end of the day, meaning is made, not malaise... And in Joseph’s world, not unlike ours today, “hardboiled-dom” is overcome ultimately through discipline and action (despite some people’s (my hand has certainly shot up) predilections toward solitude, reflection and criticism — what a comfortable trio...).
If this is Bellow at his worst, I can’t wait for Bellow at his best.
bucket's review against another edition
3.0
Saul Bellow wrote Dangling Man when he was about my age and as I read, I recognized some of the thoughts and realizations that Joseph is having. For example, Joseph sees a clear difference between his current self and his younger (college-age) self. There is also the struggle with society's sense that professional progress is the end-all be-all for 20-somethings and that being stalled or focusing on other things means you're "dangling."
I liked this very much about the book because it felt very honest and authentic, both things that are absolutely necessary given that the novel's format is a personal journal. Apart from the very lengthy entires that got into actual story-telling and scene-setting (complete with characterization and dialogue) I really felt I was reading the sometimes inane, sometimes insightful musings, of a man in his late 20s, and I appreciate that perspective. 20 years from now, I might find this book simplistic or sophomoric, who knows?
In one early entry, Joseph writes:
"Trouble, like physical pain, makes us actively aware that we are living, and when there is little in the life we lead to hold and draw and stir us, we seek and cherish it, preferring embarrassment or pain to indifference."
While I haven't quite experienced this (I was never one to get in too much trouble) it resonates with me because it makes me muse a bit on adolescent rebellion - where it comes from and why it happens. Biologically speaking, we're all grown up at 14-16, but we still live a non-adult existence (in the US, anyway) until about 22 and often longer. The world is still closed to us at that age in a lot of ways and when we aren't part of life, we need some other way to feel alive.
There's a later moment when Joseph is conducting a mental conversation with "the spirit of alternatives" and the spirit notes that part of Joseph's problem is that he forgets that "everyone is dangling." This struck me too - I've often had the thought that life entails a lot of waiting -- "dangling".
I feel as though we're socialized as kids to see our childhood and adolescence as preparation for life in 'the real world.' We study hard and do activities and pick up good habits to prepare for 'life.' Then in adulthood, our first job sets us up for the next as we climb the career ladder, and our relationships flow from dating to marriage to having babies. It's unclear when the waiting stops and life begins, so we're all 'dangling' somehow.
Continuing down this rabbit hole (and away from Dangling Man), it strikes me that the problem is the all-encompassing linearity (linear-ness?) of our thinking. Life's blossoming is messy and free-flowing - why do we pretend it's a linear process and that the time we spend between rungs of the ladder is just preparing or waiting?
Themes: idleness, spiritual health, change of character, self-esteem, 1940s, Chicago, friendship, war, journal
I liked this very much about the book because it felt very honest and authentic, both things that are absolutely necessary given that the novel's format is a personal journal. Apart from the very lengthy entires that got into actual story-telling and scene-setting (complete with characterization and dialogue) I really felt I was reading the sometimes inane, sometimes insightful musings, of a man in his late 20s, and I appreciate that perspective. 20 years from now, I might find this book simplistic or sophomoric, who knows?
In one early entry, Joseph writes:
"Trouble, like physical pain, makes us actively aware that we are living, and when there is little in the life we lead to hold and draw and stir us, we seek and cherish it, preferring embarrassment or pain to indifference."
While I haven't quite experienced this (I was never one to get in too much trouble) it resonates with me because it makes me muse a bit on adolescent rebellion - where it comes from and why it happens. Biologically speaking, we're all grown up at 14-16, but we still live a non-adult existence (in the US, anyway) until about 22 and often longer. The world is still closed to us at that age in a lot of ways and when we aren't part of life, we need some other way to feel alive.
There's a later moment when Joseph is conducting a mental conversation with "the spirit of alternatives" and the spirit notes that part of Joseph's problem is that he forgets that "everyone is dangling." This struck me too - I've often had the thought that life entails a lot of waiting -- "dangling".
I feel as though we're socialized as kids to see our childhood and adolescence as preparation for life in 'the real world.' We study hard and do activities and pick up good habits to prepare for 'life.' Then in adulthood, our first job sets us up for the next as we climb the career ladder, and our relationships flow from dating to marriage to having babies. It's unclear when the waiting stops and life begins, so we're all 'dangling' somehow.
Continuing down this rabbit hole (and away from Dangling Man), it strikes me that the problem is the all-encompassing linearity (linear-ness?) of our thinking. Life's blossoming is messy and free-flowing - why do we pretend it's a linear process and that the time we spend between rungs of the ladder is just preparing or waiting?
Themes: idleness, spiritual health, change of character, self-esteem, 1940s, Chicago, friendship, war, journal
avitalgadcykman's review against another edition
4.0
I read most of Saul Bellow's books so long ago i hardly remember them. But I read his first book, Dangling Man, last year, and had an oppotunity to enjoy him again. A friend suggested it's influenced by Kafka's Trial. maybe so, but it stands very well on its own feet.
theliteraryapothecary's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, I kept reading this book to see if there was something I was missing. This was the first Saul Bellow book that I read and it just fell so flat for me. I kept waiting for something to happen but nothing really happened except days went on and he waited to hear from the Army. The characters were fine in themselves - they would've been great characters had something actually happened. As it is they were just good. I don't always need there to be a big plot for me to like a book if the characters are written well enough where I only care about them but I felt like maybe I didn't care enough about these characters. It just fell flat for me.
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