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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A classic, funny novel that goes off the rails completely once Henderson goes to Africa, and not in a way I enjoyed.
I was able to endure its racism & exoticism enough to (painfully) get through it because it was published in the 1950s, but that doesn't make it good. And I was only able to read it by pretending this "Africa" is an entirely fictionalized place and not a reference to a real continent with one billion people, which of course, the way Bellow tells it, is basically the idea – it's a stage on which Henderson can play out his midlife crisis. It also prattles on philosophically in a way I found tedious – endless conversations between Henderson and King Dahfu on the meaning of life, which are either dull or went straight over my head.
But, as frustrated as I was by the majority of the book, I have to say that the first part - taking place on the East Coast - is one of the funniest things I've read.
I was able to endure its racism & exoticism enough to (painfully) get through it because it was published in the 1950s, but that doesn't make it good. And I was only able to read it by pretending this "Africa" is an entirely fictionalized place and not a reference to a real continent with one billion people, which of course, the way Bellow tells it, is basically the idea – it's a stage on which Henderson can play out his midlife crisis. It also prattles on philosophically in a way I found tedious – endless conversations between Henderson and King Dahfu on the meaning of life, which are either dull or went straight over my head.
But, as frustrated as I was by the majority of the book, I have to say that the first part - taking place on the East Coast - is one of the funniest things I've read.
This is bawdy, spontaneous, poetic writing.
Eugene Henderson, an overblown, twice-married, millionaire pig farmer and violin player is having an existential crisis.
Henderson the Rain King is a quest as complicated as any Haruki Murakami tale, but the protagonist is a bloated, bungling American—a man with “the Midas touch in reverse.” In Africa, his first stop is a village of people whose beloved cattle are dying of thirst because the water reserve is occupied by frogs. On one hand, Henderson wants to rescue everybody; on the other, he longs to be rescued:
There was so much I could relate to in this wonderful book: the obsession with truth and purpose; the hopelessly flawed character of Henderson whose face belied every twisted thought and emotion; his chronic craving; and finally his exhaustion at the “too-muchness” of living with remedies for his predicament stymied by equal parts laziness, impatience for expanded consciousness, and terror of it.
With so many references to mind-body medicine and scenes that will resonate for anybody who has practiced alternative therapies or body psychology, this feels like a modern book, although it was first published in 1959. I learned from the introduction that Bellow was practiced in (arguably the father of Western mind-body medicine) Wilhelm Reich’s body psychotherapies, and much of that work and characterology shows up in the book—a bonus for anybody with this knowledge.
The writing is weighty, sometimes digressing in a kind of ADHD spasm, and Bellow lacks the precision I so admire in, my hero and Bellow’s contemporary, John Cheever, and the meticulous cleanliness that makes Murakami’s books so easy to read. But so be it. What he offers is worth the sometimes-exhaustion of the reading effort: a full-blown spiritual quest, from despair to acceptance of our moving gross-body experience of life.
Eugene Henderson, an overblown, twice-married, millionaire pig farmer and violin player is having an existential crisis.
I want, I want, I want, I want, I want!This is the geshrei that drives fifty-five-year-old Henderson into and through a spiritual quest in Africa. He doesn’t know what he wants, just that “everybody is working, making, digging, bulldozing, trucking, loading, and so on . . .” until it is a form of madness. (I think he would be right at home in our time when value is quantified by how many “likes” we’ve accrued.)
Henderson the Rain King is a quest as complicated as any Haruki Murakami tale, but the protagonist is a bloated, bungling American—a man with “the Midas touch in reverse.” In Africa, his first stop is a village of people whose beloved cattle are dying of thirst because the water reserve is occupied by frogs. On one hand, Henderson wants to rescue everybody; on the other, he longs to be rescued:
This was a beautiful, strange, special place, and I was moved by it. I believed the queen could straighten me out if she wanted to; as if, any minute now, she might open her hand and show me the thing, the source, the germ—the cipher. The mystery, you know. I was absolutely convinced she must have it. The earth is a huge ball which nothing holds up in space except its own motion and magnetism, and we conscious things who occupy it believe we have to move too, in our own space. We can’t allow ourselves to lie down and not do our share and imitate the greater entity. You see, this is our attitude. But now look at Willatale, the Bittah [highly evolved] woman; she had given up such notions, there was no anxious care in her, and she was sustained. Why, nothing bad happened! On the contrary, it all seemed good! Look how happy she was, grinning with her flat nose and gap teeth, the mother-of-pearl eye and the good eye, and look at her white head! It comforted me just to see her, and I felt that I might learn to be sustained too if I followed her example. (74)
There was so much I could relate to in this wonderful book: the obsession with truth and purpose; the hopelessly flawed character of Henderson whose face belied every twisted thought and emotion; his chronic craving; and finally his exhaustion at the “too-muchness” of living with remedies for his predicament stymied by equal parts laziness, impatience for expanded consciousness, and terror of it.
With so many references to mind-body medicine and scenes that will resonate for anybody who has practiced alternative therapies or body psychology, this feels like a modern book, although it was first published in 1959. I learned from the introduction that Bellow was practiced in (arguably the father of Western mind-body medicine) Wilhelm Reich’s body psychotherapies, and much of that work and characterology shows up in the book—a bonus for anybody with this knowledge.
The writing is weighty, sometimes digressing in a kind of ADHD spasm, and Bellow lacks the precision I so admire in, my hero and Bellow’s contemporary, John Cheever, and the meticulous cleanliness that makes Murakami’s books so easy to read. But so be it. What he offers is worth the sometimes-exhaustion of the reading effort: a full-blown spiritual quest, from despair to acceptance of our moving gross-body experience of life.
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