The Great American Novel by Philip Roth REVIEW
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2017
- Fun for the whole family
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Read Portnoy's Complaint and Sabbath's Theatre! Absolute masterpieces!!!
thanks for the review, going to grab it some time in the future probably
Yes, agreed. It has so much in it. So witty, original and inventive. I still have 14 of his 29 novels to read! A short great read of Roth is Everyman where he focuses of the illnesses that occur in the life of a man.
Roth's production is immense and no matter how long you remain without reading him, there is always a time when you take one of his novels again and realize he writes utterly awesome. My next move will be Sabbath's theatre, it's been sitting on my shelf for ages and after watching this video I think it's about time. Great review btw!
Thanks man! All the works I've read of him are post 1990 (GAN excluded), so I think my next Roth may very well be Portnoy's Complaint - just to explore that other side of his oeuvre!
Oops! When I typed P.N. I meant P.C. for Portnoy's Complaint.
Fantastic review! I love this book on so many levels. The more educated & knowledgeable the reader is, the more it can be appreciated. Yet it's generally one of the more forgotten of his books, I rarely see it in bookshops. It was a real labor of love for Roth. I agree with all you said -- just to add, Roth is a historian of the 100+ years of baseball in America, & includes so many inside jokes relating to baseball (the great American game) lore & legend. Someday someone will have to do an annotated version of the GAN, just to show how much Roth packed in there. It would be fun to see a video of the great national novels of the European countries. I've gone on too long, truly enjoyed this review!
That video would be very interesting - also because the "Great Novel" concept does not exist in Europe, not exactly; among the countries I can talk about (not that I'm an expert) I struggle to find a Great Italian or Great German novel, and if we want to bring Britain into the discussion too, it's quite the same... I think the literary canon in its school-syllabus form is meant to include texts that, taken as a whole, give young people an idea of what a country and national identity are about, but the role is fulfilled more by the synergy between the many texts than by any single one. Which is weird because all of these countries, even multi-faceted ones like England or Germany, are arguably much more homogeneous than the US :)! Such a fascinating topic.
great review!
I've read this one at least three times, usually in the week before Baseball's opening day. Beside being beautifully written (like a MF), it is crisp and witty. I carry some of the vignettes around with me like treasured memories. I even like the prologue! The notion of a Word Smith alliterating himself into a coma is hysterical! Thanks for the fun review and for reminding me that I am a 70 year old adolescent.
Great review! I'll have to check this one out. By the way -- have you ever read any Patrick DeWitt? He's written three novels and they're each worth reading. My personal favorite is "Undermajordomo Minor," but his most awarded and widely-read book is "The Sisters Brothers," a "darkly comic neo-Western," which is also great. Always enjoy your reviews and videos -- keep it up!
I read The Sisters Brothers a few years ago and it was such a bliss, a total pleasure of a novel (also I'm a big Western buff). Will have to check out Undermajordomo too!
"Writes like a motherfucker" Best comment ever!
have you read The Names by Don Delillo?
Nope! I still have several of his early books to read - Running Dog is on my bookshelf at the moment!
Philip Roth is a master. Holy shit, I'm so glad you read him. You've gotta read American Pastoral.
I did read it a few years ago - have you watched the movie, the recent one? Is it any good?
If you have read the book, you can easily skip that one. I wasn't able to finish it.
I found The Human Stain to be incredibly dull for some reason, maybe you think otherwise.
It's definitely one of the most character-oriented among the books of his I read. I did like it, but it's true that his way of obsessing over certain scenes until they're thoroughly exhausted makes for tough reading.
More than halfway through he still hasn't mentioned a single thing about the novel.... other than how awesome it is.
Tapping out.
Try harder next time.