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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
A brave man will try to make the evil stop with him. He shall keep the blow. No man shall get it from him, and that is a sublime ambition.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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
While there are parts of this book that I enjoyed, the framing of the plot within the context of a white man visiting a rural African village is what makes it problematic. The way that the author describes the Africans. Particularly making it clear to describe their features in a way that is starkly different from their white counterparts. As well as offering compliments to their culture and intellect but being quick to interject descriptions of savagery and primitive religions. It takes away from the philosophical and existential conversations between the African king and the main character. Which makes it hard to rationalize it (maybe just as a sign of the times in which this text was published). I enjoyed the idea of going out to seek what you truly “want” in life and how finding someone that shares your interests can make the suffering we went through to find them somehow worth it. That in pursuit of that companionship we can overlook mistakes and compromise ourselves. All in the pursuit of not being alone. In the end, I feel it’s a story about being content with what you have. But the endless comparisons between white and black culture with obvious class undertones, how flippant the main character was with wealth he didn’t earn yet took full advantage of, and how the author chose to characterize black characters (especially his main companion as primarily his glorified servant) took away from the experience.
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Sections of this book absolutely crawled. However, he sticks the landing. The last 40 or so pages are wonderful and make up for a lot of the dragging middle.
“Maybe time was invented so that misery might have an end?”
Eugene Henderson could possibly be the most magnificent protagonist since Fitzgerald conjured up Jay Gatsby. Henderson is a hot mess. He’s rich, he’s strong, he’s bursting with testosterone, and yet he’s hopelessly well-intentioned and painfully lovable. This is every bit as good as Bellow’s Seize the Day, if not just a wee bit better!
Eugene Henderson could possibly be the most magnificent protagonist since Fitzgerald conjured up Jay Gatsby. Henderson is a hot mess. He’s rich, he’s strong, he’s bursting with testosterone, and yet he’s hopelessly well-intentioned and painfully lovable. This is every bit as good as Bellow’s Seize the Day, if not just a wee bit better!
kind of like having a malaria-induced hallucination the whole time you are reading it.
"I don't think the struggles of desire can ever be won. Ages of longing and willing, willing and longing, and how have they ended? In a draw, dust and dust."
Until the last three chapters, I was worried this would be the first so-so Bellow book I'd read. Not to worry. The long trek through the African bush with our boisterous protagonist is totally worth it. (And you're under no pressure to lift a large stone sculpture.) Bellow strikes a nice balance between humor and pathos, concluding the book with a few set pieces that are riveting, funny, ecstatic and sad. It's as if the last part of the book freed him to write the masterpieces that came soon after.
"If I don't get carried away, I don't accomplish anything." Amen, Henderson.
Until the last three chapters, I was worried this would be the first so-so Bellow book I'd read. Not to worry. The long trek through the African bush with our boisterous protagonist is totally worth it. (And you're under no pressure to lift a large stone sculpture.) Bellow strikes a nice balance between humor and pathos, concluding the book with a few set pieces that are riveting, funny, ecstatic and sad. It's as if the last part of the book freed him to write the masterpieces that came soon after.
"If I don't get carried away, I don't accomplish anything." Amen, Henderson.
Although I can't tell this is a bad book, at the same time I can't say it satisfied me completely. Maybe one point is the main character is so unpleasant that even in the best of itself, the book seemed to me lacking something. I did not expect there was some humour as well. I liked the descriptions made about Africa and anyway enjoyed some of the adventures, but to be true I wouldn't know who to recommend this book to...
Read my full thoughts on this book and hundreds more over at Read.Write.Repeat.
The book is a nice diversion from some of the more morose books on the list. This one, despite its serious content at times, still had an element of Henderson's care-free nature infused into the prose. Just as with Henderson, the depth and searching lurks beneath the surface and is there if you dig deep enough.
The book is a nice diversion from some of the more morose books on the list. This one, despite its serious content at times, still had an element of Henderson's care-free nature infused into the prose. Just as with Henderson, the depth and searching lurks beneath the surface and is there if you dig deep enough.
I understand the Counting Crows Song now.
It's about an existential and bipolar Donald Trump fucking off to Africa.
It's about an existential and bipolar Donald Trump fucking off to Africa.
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes