Reviews

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

Only show reviews with written explanations

mjfay's review against another edition

3.0

Philip Roth is obviously a talented writer and can be found on many lists of white guys you must read. Some book titles are subtle or nuanced references to over-arching themes or defining moments within the story line. Not this one. This book is basically a running stream of thought from the narrator (Alexander Portnoy) to his physiologist as he whines about his childhood, parents, girlfriends, being Jewish, non-Jews and his sexual appetite. That said, it's funny and still a good read.

flaneussy's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I struggled with this one. On one hand, it was extraordinarily clever and highly readable. I kind of lost myself in Roth's storytelling. On the other hand, I was uncomfortable with how gleefully misogynistic PC was. I was also a bit nauseated (but mostly impressed) by the novel's most controversial chapter. I oscillates between loving it and hating it. However, it also seems that Roth is a bit of a one-trick pony; he covered a lot of the same themes in Goodbye, Columbus, as well as the five accompanying short stories. But that's less of a complaint and more of an observation (and water is wet. Next.) I was also frustrated by the fact that Portnoy was the only fully developed character; all others were reduced to shallow and offensive stereotypes (though I guess that was kind of the point--I certainly hope that Portnoy wasn't intended to be likable.) Nonetheless, it was pretty fun. I suppose I learned a thing or two, as well. I'll never look at liver the same way again. 3.75/5?

elenamolinariiiii's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

"complaint" is a word that applies really well to this

zoemqb's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

couperin's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This reads like a typical Woody Allen film - which I happen to love and, despite being a gentile, resonate with on a deep level - and I laughed out loud every third or fourth page...hysterically at times. There are some truly uncomfortable aspects of 'growing up' that Roth renders 'harmless' with his transparent 'confession' (that gimmick with the Freudian couch analysis got a bit stale fairly early to be frank).

Unfortunately, Roth judged by time and current world-view, comes across as more than a bit of a misogynist and racist. His women are objects, mere empty-headed shells strewn about to alternately entertain or torture him; in one scene he contemplates the outright rape of one, which he attempts to justify on the grounds that she is somehow oppressing him etc.

Roth throws both the n-word and the Jewish version (Schvartze) around with wild abandon, while seemingly maintaining a straight face, insisting he is a good upstanding liberal who cares deeply for the plight of these 'people' (quotes intentional as he is openly ambivalent about how he feels about them and his formal convictions). Again, I'm judging this work from my perch-on-high in 2022 - I DO understand that the n-word was tossed about by whites commonly and surprisingly out in the open at the time this was written (late 60's); just watch, for example, The Bad News Bears from the late 70's - bang! 15 minutes or so into the film and a white teen spits the thing out and, apparently, white audiences at the time didn't so much as cringe but actually laughed unabashedly.

I don't want to go into whether our current environment and political milieu is necessarily as progressed as we like to think it is etc., but the bottom-line is that this laugh-out-loud adolescent tale of 'why and how me?' is tainted in no small way by the very truth that Roth so gleefully exposes and, ultimately, the experience is a very mixed bag. I'm certain that a large chunk of the population is going to chuck this tome into the nearest body of water fairly early given the number of potential triggers.