Scan barcode
A review by levijs
Dangling Man by Saul Bellow
4.0
If ever there were a time for Levi to read Dangling Man...
Dangling Man suffers, albeit scarcely, from the typical symptoms of an author’s first novel. It also happens (simultaneously) to transcend a lot of the characteristics of a typical first novel, thanks to Bellow’s honesty and acute philosophical sensibilities (among many other things).
Bellow offers fantastic advice to the modern-day Superfluous Man: at the end of the day, meaning is made, not malaise... And in Joseph’s world, not unlike ours today, “hardboiled-dom” is overcome ultimately through discipline and action (despite some people’s (my hand has certainly shot up) predilections toward solitude, reflection and criticism — what a comfortable trio...).
If this is Bellow at his worst, I can’t wait for Bellow at his best.
Dangling Man suffers, albeit scarcely, from the typical symptoms of an author’s first novel. It also happens (simultaneously) to transcend a lot of the characteristics of a typical first novel, thanks to Bellow’s honesty and acute philosophical sensibilities (among many other things).
Bellow offers fantastic advice to the modern-day Superfluous Man: at the end of the day, meaning is made, not malaise... And in Joseph’s world, not unlike ours today, “hardboiled-dom” is overcome ultimately through discipline and action (despite some people’s (my hand has certainly shot up) predilections toward solitude, reflection and criticism — what a comfortable trio...).
If this is Bellow at his worst, I can’t wait for Bellow at his best.