skittles12393 's review for:

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

3.5

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Book 88/100 

American Pastoral by Philip Roth is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that tells the story of Seymour "Swede" Levov and his departure from the American Dream despite being a high school football star that grows up to serve as a Marine during WWII, inherit his father's business, marry a former Miss New Jersey and raise a seemingly All-American daughter.  Things begin to fall apart for him after that teenaged daughter bombs their local general store as an act of protest against the Vietnam War. 

Like many of the books  on this list, I do recognize high quality writing, but unfortunately the story being told falls a bit flat for me. And even more unfortunately this novel holds yet another example of a grown man sexualizing a younger/teenage woman - this time, disturbingly enough, it is the man's own daughter. 

*I will share a qoute to demonstrate, please skip past the rest of this paragraph if you'd like to retain some faith in the male species. * "The cleft, as though an awl had made it - that beautifully beveled joining that will petal outward, evolving in the cycle of time into a woman's origami-folded cunt." 

Ick. 

Moving past that, the book does masterfully address several important themes such as family, american ideals and the irrationality of suffering, and I also found the structure of the book interesting - laid out in three parts (Paradise Remembered, The Fall and Paradise Lost) which echoes Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost and accurately represents the Swede's rise and fall.

If you're a fan of historical fiction, and you don't mind a hint of mysogyny along with an ending that basically says life is ultimately just meaningless suffering than this book might be right up your alley. 

In order to better consistently rate these books on more than just my own personal enjoyment, I decided to implement a rating system, and for ease I found an already existing one that seems to cover pretty much all the important aspects. So from now on I'll be using the CAWPILE method for my Ultimate 100 Books.

(if you want more information on this look up the OG creator's video https://youtu.be/iZhinxtTMFQ?si=PhwioHKMQKEXSqFZ) 

C - 8, A - 8, W - 7, P - 7, I - 5, L - 7, E - 5 = 6.71 or a star rating of 3.5/5

The next book is Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie