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A review by ericfheiman
Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow
4.0
"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.