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241st out of 370 books
—
264 voters
More Die of Heartbreak
by
Saul Bellow
In this acclaimed novel from one of America's literary legends, two unforgettable characters take a lively romp through the baffling and often hilarious connection between the body and the mind. An eccentric Russian literature professor leaves his native Paris to be near his uncle--a world-class genius in botany but a total bungler when it comes to women--in the Midwest.
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
September 8th 1997
by Delta
(first published June 1st 1987)
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Reading this book was like going through the first three decades of my life again. I had been meaning to read some of Saul Bellow's work for years - what with him being a Nobel laureate and all. Someone gave me this book years ago. I would pick it up and put it down without ever getting past the first 30 pages or so. I began to think this was a sign - that I did not like the book. However, in a brave move, I chose it for our book club. I have lost a few friends but gained great pleasure from rea...more
This is a hard novel to get into. There is the usual Bellovian intellectual overload to be got through, and the eccentricities of the characters are something of a barrier. And then there's the feeling that maybe we've seen Bellow explore the male incomprehension of women once too often. But once you're into it, and have worked out the various relationships and conflicts, it's a rewarding novel not least because it is often very funny.
It's a novel about a man and his uncle. I don't recall havin...more
It's a novel about a man and his uncle. I don't recall havin...more
Nov 11, 2012
Laurent Szklarz
added it
i am still waiting to read the books that made him a nobel prize laureate. this is not one of them. the jacket tells of a best seller. really? i am curious to know how many of the people who read it managed to go beyond page 50. the jacket spoke of a funny book. no kidding. it's everything but funny. or maybe it's like the whole book: too clever for its own good.
the idea of the book is a good one, but there are so many reflections on so many subjects that it's very hard to stay focus or interest...more
the idea of the book is a good one, but there are so many reflections on so many subjects that it's very hard to stay focus or interest...more
This is another book that is hard to get into at first. I think that the beginning of this book is filled with a lot of academic philosophy in the guise of horticulture that it is hard to read the underlying message to love and humanity, but in the end Bellow ties all of it together in one fell swoop!
This book started out very slow, but ended up wonderful. It's really the story of two men, an uncle and his nephew, who have a wonderful relationship where they both understand each other and respect each other and communicate on every level (intellectual, social, emotional, etc.). The plot, which doesn't emerge until about halfway through the book, has to do with the two women they've become entwined with, the uncle with a rich, younger wife, whose family is using him in a get rich (get richer,...more
Like most of Bellow's works, More Die of Heartbreak is grounded in the development of character than in the growth of action. Themes are the difficulties of reconciling one's ideals with "the actual" and the difficulties of relating to parents and to mortality. Kenneth Trachtenberg, is an intellectually gifted and philosophically tortured man attempting to work out his fate. Describing his complex relationship with his maternal uncle, Benn, Trachtenberg then discusses the distinctions between hi...more
I feel like this late-period Saul Bellow novel probably wasn't the best place in his career for me to start, but after about 100 pages I really warmed up to it. Our narrator is on a quest to make his life a turning point, and his botany-genius uncle is at the center of his quest until the man goes and marries a materialistic and beautiful woman. It is sometimes claustrophobic to be caught in this man's philosophies, but there is a lot of humor in the book and the plot eventually relaxes into its...more
Mar 14, 2010
J.T. Oldfield
added it
From my review:
The story is told by Kenneth, an intellectual who moved back to the Midwest after living in Paris, but it is really about his Uncle Benn, a PhD in microbiology and his penchant for serial monogamy. There conversations are witty, as these are both seriously smart dudes, but Bellow is a master at revealing character through them, and the narrator’s thoughts.
Read the rest of my review here: http://bibliofreakblog.com/fiction/di...
The story is told by Kenneth, an intellectual who moved back to the Midwest after living in Paris, but it is really about his Uncle Benn, a PhD in microbiology and his penchant for serial monogamy. There conversations are witty, as these are both seriously smart dudes, but Bellow is a master at revealing character through them, and the narrator’s thoughts.
Read the rest of my review here: http://bibliofreakblog.com/fiction/di...
Jun 10, 2008
Dennis
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone into 19th Century French and Russian lit and mental masturbation
Recommended to Dennis by:
no one but myself to blame
When Saul Bellow wrote this, he was nearing the end of his life and writing career so like many old men, he became boring and repetitive - hence this book. It's not that this book has nothing good about it but that it has nothing particularly interesting to say most of the time and when it does, it repeats itself, it's redundant, it says the same thing over and over... All of the misogynist whining by the primary character aside - clearly, the problem is that women fail to live up to the pedesta...more
I've got to update this site more! I'm going through a stack of books
I got at a garage sale before I left CO. I got all of Saul Bellow's books for 75cents. This is one of his later books.
The man can write a sentence, which is why I didn't give it 2 stars. But, the characters left me wanting. While you've got to love a man who writes a book about sexual politics at 72, I couldn't help but feel like the female characters were just too easy. Desperate or cold. Young and manipulative or middle-age...more
I got at a garage sale before I left CO. I got all of Saul Bellow's books for 75cents. This is one of his later books.
The man can write a sentence, which is why I didn't give it 2 stars. But, the characters left me wanting. While you've got to love a man who writes a book about sexual politics at 72, I couldn't help but feel like the female characters were just too easy. Desperate or cold. Young and manipulative or middle-age...more
Mildly entertaining. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it reminds me of Woody Allen movies, the bad thing is that it's not remotely as funny. My first introduction to Bellow, can't say it inspires me to read more.
Perhaps I wasn't in the correct frame of mind to concentrate on this book enough, but it dragged on for me in an endless array of random sexual references, philosophies, and idealisms. There was a storyline buried beneath it all but I found it hard to concentrate on much more than the random and awkward conversations about sex between the overly-educated Kenneth and his botanist uncle Benn. Both men are involved with women who don't suit them (or who flat-out don't want them) and there's a wrink...more
A great book. It is when I finish marvelous books like this that I miss my father and mother most. I would so like to share my reading experience with them. After all, they opened my eyes to the wonderful world of reading.
Feb 18, 2011
Mara
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
narrativa,
angloamericana
Arguto, profondo, scritto bene, ma io ho fatto molta fatica a finirlo. Troppo di tutto : la profusione di sapienza ed arguzia e la quantità di messaggi sono tali e tanti che diventa un peso leggere alla fine.
Dec 04, 2009
Kent
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
insomniacs
Recommended to Kent by:
found it at a garage sale
I read this book but I really didnt want to invest the time to finish it, because the characters was not uninteresting as much as I didnt care one bit about them.
Bellow's style is beautiful, but without some drama, some tension, some level of suspense, it is very difficult to enjoy.
This was like Charleton Heston reading the phone book. Well delivered, but boring boring tale.
Bellow's style is beautiful, but without some drama, some tension, some level of suspense, it is very difficult to enjoy.
This was like Charleton Heston reading the phone book. Well delivered, but boring boring tale.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11502891
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11502891
I can only get through 1/3 of this meandering plotless book. Taken for the individual messages and the language that it has, it is absolutely wonderful Bellow; however, there is no story and no one unifying message. Unlike Proust, this type of meandering is not a pleasure to read
I had a lot of fun reading this, though it didn't flow as well for me as others have. Saul Bellows is so subtly funny, and the characters are likable.
I remember enjoying this but quiiiite as much as I was hoping to given the fantastic premise and title. Still solid Bellow.
I was having a bit of a hard time at the beginning of this book, a little slow but ultimately setting the scene for the tone of the book, worth sticking with.
This book follows Kenneth and his uncle through their introspection on relationships and the difficulty of the educated in finding and keeping love.
This book follows Kenneth and his uncle through their introspection on relationships and the difficulty of the educated in finding and keeping love.
Beautiful book... More on it soon. Just finised reading it and so I need time to process it.
First Bellow I read, and I was much taken by the theme. Subsequent Bellows seemed pretty similar.
It's a sad story mixed with intelligent dialogue and storytelling.
Another of my very favorite books.
I think this book took me longer to finish than any other book I've ever read. Let me start by saying that is a fraction of the size of some other novels I've devoured. I made myself finish it because I wanted it to come together at the end and also because I've so loved everything else I've read of his. It was good, but it was no Seize the Day.
My favorite part about the book was his detailed discription of the "domineering diminutive" he was enamored with. I have to wonder if this is how some h...more
My favorite part about the book was his detailed discription of the "domineering diminutive" he was enamored with. I have to wonder if this is how some h...more
Elizabeth
i'm probably too poor, and not enough of a snob, to enjoy this book---but i do
bellow, again, a super sentence crafter. but i found it difficult to relate to these characters. 4stars in the bellow catalogue.
This is probably my favorite Saul Bellow novel. It is about a lonely successful scientist. Unlike most Bellow work, this is a gentle story.
In all fairness to the book and author, I didn't quite finish this book. I made one good attempt and a couple half-hearted attempts, and I just couldn't get into it. Reminded me a lot of trying to read Philip Roth: painful, lumbering, esoteric, where is he going with all this rambling on and on? Who really cares that these men can't find or sustain long-term, meaningful relationships?
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Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago, received his Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology, did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, and served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.
Mr. Bellow's first novel, Dangling Man, was pu...more
More about Saul Bellow...
Mr. Bellow's first novel, Dangling Man, was pu...more
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“Towards the end of your life you have something like a pain schedule to fill out—a long schedule like a federal document, only it's your pain schedule. Endless categories. First, physical causes—like arthritis, gallstones, menstrual cramps. New category, injured vanity, betrayal, swindle, injustice. But the hardest items of all have to do with love. The question then is: So why does everybody persist? If love cuts them up so much....”
—
2 people liked it
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Sincerely,
Gal who got snagged on page 19.
14 déc. 00:11