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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, War
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. Agreed, there are some things about reading Philip Roth that are really irritating: his sometimes excessive wordiness, his fixation on elder men who are obsessed with sex (whether or not prostate-related), his storylines that are regularly interrupted by the introduction of new characters with extensive biographical backgrounds, etc. But - after having read 4 works of Roth - I have to confess I'm really getting under his spell. I'm especially impressed by how deep Roth can plunge into the soul of a character, and how he illustrates the human inability to really know how things are, or how it is impossible to really know another, even very close person. And what always returns: his main characters again and again deceive themselves, more than they do others; they all build their lives on deliberate or unconscious lies or faulty obsessions. Roth is a real late-twentieth-century Balzac, put in a very typical eastern-coast, jewish context.
In 'The Human Stain' all these typical ingredients are included, both the annoying and the impressive ones. I'm not going to start a synopsis, because then I have to give away the plot. Let me merely state that the main character is a man, Coleman Silk, who breaks with his past and completely builds his own identity based on a big secret, but he also goes down because of that secret. This sounds like a Greek tragedy, and that is no coincidence: the protagonist is a professor of classical languages.
Along the way Roth gives ample examples of his stylistic and psychological mastership. Just one take (page 335): "The man who decides to forge a distinct historical destiny, who sets out to spring the historical lock, and who does so, brilliantly succeeds at altering his personal lot, only to be ensnared by the history he hadn’t quite counted on: the history that isn’t yet history, the history that the clock is now ticking off, the history proliferating as I write, accruing a minute at a time and grasped better by the future than it will ever be by us. The we that is inescapable: the present moment, the common lot, the current mood, the mind of one’s country, the stranglehold of history that is one’s own time. Blindsided by the terrifyingly provisional nature of everything." Now, can anyone grasp reality better than this?
Furthermore, in this book there are a few really enticing female characters (Steena, Faunia) that markedly adjust Roth's reputation as a portraitist of stubborn elder men. And I do agree, the story sometimes falters; master works like [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650._SY75_.jpg|598119] and the unruly [b:Sabbath's Theater|11654|Sabbath's Theater|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327935642l/11654._SY75_.jpg|588] were much more homogeneous than this one. But despite all the critical remarks one can make, I think I'm finally going to rank Roth among my favorite authors.
In 'The Human Stain' all these typical ingredients are included, both the annoying and the impressive ones. I'm not going to start a synopsis, because then I have to give away the plot. Let me merely state that the main character is a man, Coleman Silk, who breaks with his past and completely builds his own identity based on a big secret, but he also goes down because of that secret. This sounds like a Greek tragedy, and that is no coincidence: the protagonist is a professor of classical languages.
Along the way Roth gives ample examples of his stylistic and psychological mastership. Just one take (page 335): "The man who decides to forge a distinct historical destiny, who sets out to spring the historical lock, and who does so, brilliantly succeeds at altering his personal lot, only to be ensnared by the history he hadn’t quite counted on: the history that isn’t yet history, the history that the clock is now ticking off, the history proliferating as I write, accruing a minute at a time and grasped better by the future than it will ever be by us. The we that is inescapable: the present moment, the common lot, the current mood, the mind of one’s country, the stranglehold of history that is one’s own time. Blindsided by the terrifyingly provisional nature of everything." Now, can anyone grasp reality better than this?
Furthermore, in this book there are a few really enticing female characters (Steena, Faunia) that markedly adjust Roth's reputation as a portraitist of stubborn elder men. And I do agree, the story sometimes falters; master works like [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650._SY75_.jpg|598119] and the unruly [b:Sabbath's Theater|11654|Sabbath's Theater|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327935642l/11654._SY75_.jpg|588] were much more homogeneous than this one. But despite all the critical remarks one can make, I think I'm finally going to rank Roth among my favorite authors.
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[read for american lit post-1865] philip roth really did that... thank god he was here to write about ugly old misogynists getting laid by sexy illiterate abused women and how much he hates the darn youth with their pc culture and their desire to not get treated like shit! truly an underrepresented struggle :’(
seriously, the treatment of women in this is disgusting. petition for an english lit culture where if men can’t write women well we just consider them bad writers!
seriously, the treatment of women in this is disgusting. petition for an english lit culture where if men can’t write women well we just consider them bad writers!
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes