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dalefu 's review for:
The Human Stain
by Philip Roth
There's a quote I heard once that always resonated with me:
"There's the person you think you are, there's the person they think you are, and then there's the person you actually are."
After reading this book, I find myself questioning the existence of the last of the three. Or, if it does exist, it exists as a dialogue between the previous two. There's who we present ourselves as, who we see ourselves reflected back to us as in others, and the truth exists somewhere in the struggle to reconcile the two.
This book, through its story of a man dying with a secret, is a fantastic contemplation on the meaning of identity. It makes one realize the we can never truly know another person, and that others can never truly know us. And this, in turn, implies that we are defined by our secrets. It presents identity as a performance, and privacy as truth.
A fantastic novel that conveys its deep suggestions subtly, through a well crafted, expertly told story of man's life, his decisions, his secrets, and his undoing.
"There's the person you think you are, there's the person they think you are, and then there's the person you actually are."
After reading this book, I find myself questioning the existence of the last of the three. Or, if it does exist, it exists as a dialogue between the previous two. There's who we present ourselves as, who we see ourselves reflected back to us as in others, and the truth exists somewhere in the struggle to reconcile the two.
This book, through its story of a man dying with a secret, is a fantastic contemplation on the meaning of identity. It makes one realize the we can never truly know another person, and that others can never truly know us. And this, in turn, implies that we are defined by our secrets. It presents identity as a performance, and privacy as truth.
A fantastic novel that conveys its deep suggestions subtly, through a well crafted, expertly told story of man's life, his decisions, his secrets, and his undoing.