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yolandatomas2912 's review for:
The Human Stain
by Philip Roth
Roth’s The Human Stain is a novel of identity that revolves around the liaison of two
people who could not be more antipodal.
Coleman Silk was a classics professor at Athena College before an unfair accusation of
racial discrimination brought his career to an early end. He is innocent but he decides to
resign from his job. His wife suffers a stroke while supporting him during the
investigation, leading to her death, that Coleman blames to the unbearable situation they
are living. The professor goes mad with grief, determined to set the record straight. He
wants a book to be written about his whole story and asks his neighbour, Nathan
Zuckerman, to do it for him.
However, two years later, when the first draft is finished, Coleman no longer has the
anger to continue. He has begun an affair with a thirty-four year old woman -a woman
more than half his age. This woman, Faunia Farley, is a janitor at the college who has
suffered terrible abuse both at the hands of her stepfather and her ex-husband.
Faunia's ex-husband, Lester Farley, is a Vietnam Vet who suffers from post-traumatic
stress disorder. Now he is stalking Faunia and Coleman, going so far as to approach
them on Coleman's property.
Lester decides he must kill Coleman in order to fix what went wrong between him and
his comrade in Vietnam. Lester drives in the wrong lane on a river road to force
Coleman's car into the river, unaware that Faunia is in the car with Coleman, killing
them both.
After the funeral, Nathan meets Coleman's sister, who invites him to her home. He has
decided to write Coleman's book and sees this trip as research into Coleman's past.
On his way to East Orange, Nathan passes by Lester's truck on the side of the road. He
is ice fishing on a small lake in the middle of nowhere. Nathan talks to him about
fishing, asking him leading questions as he hopes Lester will confess to have killed
Coleman and Faunia. Instead, Lester makes veiled threats and leaves Nathan with the
feeling that when he is done writing his book, he will have to get out of town to avoid
reprisal.
Background
The book mentions two important periods, namely Bill Clinton’s impeachment after the
Lewinsky’s affair in 1998 and Coleman’s youth when coloured people were bitterly
discriminated.
Language
Roth shows his language mastery throughout the novel. Very elaborated descriptions
with countless adjectives which make you have the exact picture the author wants to
show.
We can find numerous repetitions when the characters are in rage or feel unease or
when the author wants to express many feelings at a time, to give a sense of rapidity:
“But how Coleman had enrolled at Howard because that was his father’s plan. How
their father dropped dead while serving dinner on the train one night and how Coleman
had immediately quit Howard to join the navy, and to join as a white man. How after
the navy he moved to Greenwich Village to go to NYU. How he brought that white girl
home one Sunday, the pretty girl from Minnesota. How the biscuits burned that they
(...)”. “She’s like the Greeks, like Coleman’s Greeks. Like their gods. They’re petty.
They quarrel. They fight. They hate. They murder. They fuck”.
Coleman is a professor of Ancient Greek and Roman Literature and the novel abounds
in classical references (i.e. the name of the college, Athena).
The mix of archaisms (ranneth –third person singular present of run, hath –third person
singular present of have, thee –you, thrice –three times, hark –listen attentively...),
gallicisms (divorcée, recherché, dépaysée, faute de mieux, métier, sans langage ...),
formal and informal register and slang words makes the book a real lexical explosion.
Opinion/Evaluation
The Human Stain is by no means the easiest book I’ve ever read. The tangled pot,
complex characters and elaborated descriptions make it a real reading challenge. The
aforementioned features are the adroit writing tools of a writer who created a thrilling
masterpiece are a real wonder for the reader.
Conclusion
Highly recommended magmum opus. Every English student – and every person hooked
on English language, should read Roth at least once in their lives.
people who could not be more antipodal.
Coleman Silk was a classics professor at Athena College before an unfair accusation of
racial discrimination brought his career to an early end. He is innocent but he decides to
resign from his job. His wife suffers a stroke while supporting him during the
investigation, leading to her death, that Coleman blames to the unbearable situation they
are living. The professor goes mad with grief, determined to set the record straight. He
wants a book to be written about his whole story and asks his neighbour, Nathan
Zuckerman, to do it for him.
However, two years later, when the first draft is finished, Coleman no longer has the
anger to continue. He has begun an affair with a thirty-four year old woman -a woman
more than half his age. This woman, Faunia Farley, is a janitor at the college who has
suffered terrible abuse both at the hands of her stepfather and her ex-husband.
Faunia's ex-husband, Lester Farley, is a Vietnam Vet who suffers from post-traumatic
stress disorder. Now he is stalking Faunia and Coleman, going so far as to approach
them on Coleman's property.
Lester decides he must kill Coleman in order to fix what went wrong between him and
his comrade in Vietnam. Lester drives in the wrong lane on a river road to force
Coleman's car into the river, unaware that Faunia is in the car with Coleman, killing
them both.
After the funeral, Nathan meets Coleman's sister, who invites him to her home. He has
decided to write Coleman's book and sees this trip as research into Coleman's past.
On his way to East Orange, Nathan passes by Lester's truck on the side of the road. He
is ice fishing on a small lake in the middle of nowhere. Nathan talks to him about
fishing, asking him leading questions as he hopes Lester will confess to have killed
Coleman and Faunia. Instead, Lester makes veiled threats and leaves Nathan with the
feeling that when he is done writing his book, he will have to get out of town to avoid
reprisal.
Background
The book mentions two important periods, namely Bill Clinton’s impeachment after the
Lewinsky’s affair in 1998 and Coleman’s youth when coloured people were bitterly
discriminated.
Language
Roth shows his language mastery throughout the novel. Very elaborated descriptions
with countless adjectives which make you have the exact picture the author wants to
show.
We can find numerous repetitions when the characters are in rage or feel unease or
when the author wants to express many feelings at a time, to give a sense of rapidity:
“But how Coleman had enrolled at Howard because that was his father’s plan. How
their father dropped dead while serving dinner on the train one night and how Coleman
had immediately quit Howard to join the navy, and to join as a white man. How after
the navy he moved to Greenwich Village to go to NYU. How he brought that white girl
home one Sunday, the pretty girl from Minnesota. How the biscuits burned that they
(...)”. “She’s like the Greeks, like Coleman’s Greeks. Like their gods. They’re petty.
They quarrel. They fight. They hate. They murder. They fuck”.
Coleman is a professor of Ancient Greek and Roman Literature and the novel abounds
in classical references (i.e. the name of the college, Athena).
The mix of archaisms (ranneth –third person singular present of run, hath –third person
singular present of have, thee –you, thrice –three times, hark –listen attentively...),
gallicisms (divorcée, recherché, dépaysée, faute de mieux, métier, sans langage ...),
formal and informal register and slang words makes the book a real lexical explosion.
Opinion/Evaluation
The Human Stain is by no means the easiest book I’ve ever read. The tangled pot,
complex characters and elaborated descriptions make it a real reading challenge. The
aforementioned features are the adroit writing tools of a writer who created a thrilling
masterpiece are a real wonder for the reader.
Conclusion
Highly recommended magmum opus. Every English student – and every person hooked
on English language, should read Roth at least once in their lives.