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A review by habeasopus
Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
5.0
Perhaps you must be of a certain age and a certain sensitivity for this book to hit with full force. For whatever reason, Humboldt was a direct haymaker to the head.
The juxtaposition of musings on (im)mortality with the scenes illustrating the absurdity and banality of life. The direct narrative from an internationally recognized author who struggles to think of himself as a success.
Humboldt hovers over it all like the ghost he is and gets the name recognition but Cantabile, ah Cantabile steals every scene he’s in. Social climber and would-be intellectual gangster, he’s going to stick with me for a long time.
Finally this book is going into my short list of those with perfect titles. Humboldt’s Gift…obviously there’s the physical package he leaves behind for the narrator, but there’s also his formidable literary talent, his mentorship, and maybe most importantly his life lived absolutely without compromise, the life the narrator seems to hate himself for not having the courage to pursue.
The juxtaposition of musings on (im)mortality with the scenes illustrating the absurdity and banality of life. The direct narrative from an internationally recognized author who struggles to think of himself as a success.
Humboldt hovers over it all like the ghost he is and gets the name recognition but Cantabile, ah Cantabile steals every scene he’s in. Social climber and would-be intellectual gangster, he’s going to stick with me for a long time.
Finally this book is going into my short list of those with perfect titles. Humboldt’s Gift…obviously there’s the physical package he leaves behind for the narrator, but there’s also his formidable literary talent, his mentorship, and maybe most importantly his life lived absolutely without compromise, the life the narrator seems to hate himself for not having the courage to pursue.