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A review by ronanmcd
Herzog by Saul Bellow
Takes some getting used to. The narrative is rambling and often incoherent, time and setting fluid and changes fluidly. But ultimately who cares?
When you've got the flow, it becomes a rich character study. Herzog is a proto Woody Allen falling through personal crisis, calamity and crush like an older, Jewish Holden Caulfield.
Herzog is a mess, he makes poor decisions when life doesn't make the decisions for him already, he surrounds himself with unsuitable types and kicks back by writing unsent letters, internalising his negativity and pessimism. By the end he is a brilliant creation.
Or is he? Often the voice changes, even mid paragraph from third to first. Just how much Bellow is in Herzog?
When you've got the flow, it becomes a rich character study. Herzog is a proto Woody Allen falling through personal crisis, calamity and crush like an older, Jewish Holden Caulfield.
Herzog is a mess, he makes poor decisions when life doesn't make the decisions for him already, he surrounds himself with unsuitable types and kicks back by writing unsent letters, internalising his negativity and pessimism. By the end he is a brilliant creation.
Or is he? Often the voice changes, even mid paragraph from third to first. Just how much Bellow is in Herzog?