book data
221 ratings,
3.78
average rating, 18 reviews
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published
April 30th 2007
by Galaxia Gutenberg
(first published 1987)
details
Hardcover, 480 pages
isbn
8481096555
(isbn13: 9788481096552)
description
Kenneth Trachtenberg, narrator of Nobel Prize-winner Saul Bellow's tenth novel, is a witty, eccentric Russian-literature nut who leaves his native Par…more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 410)
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5 stars (50)
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4 stars (94)
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3 stars (59)
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2 stars (14)
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1 star (4)
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avg 3.78
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in March, 2009
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
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Read in April, 2005
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!
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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/die-h...
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/die-h...
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Dennis by:
no one but myself to blamerecommends it for: anyone into 19th Century French and Russian lit and mental masturbation
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 pedes...more
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Read in June, 2009
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 o...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 o...more
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Read in December, 2009
recommended to Kent by:
found it at a garage salerecommends it for: insomniacs
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.
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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.
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Read in March, 2009
Beautiful book... More on it soon. Just finised reading it and so I need time to process it.
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Read in October, 2007
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...more
My favorite part about the book was his detailed discription of the "domineering diminutive" he was enamored with. I have to wonder...more
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i'm probably too poor, and not enough of a snob, to enjoy this book---but i do
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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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I bought this book for one reason only: it's title (which is - suprisingly enough - even better in its German translation "Mehr noch sterben an gebrochenem Herzen") Whether it will live up to it's title remains to be seen..
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This is aother classic Beellow novel of high minded screw ups who can discuss anything from plant physiology to Hegel, but can't manage relationships on a daily basis without causing person chaos.
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Read in December, 2005
recommends it for:
people who like to be put to sleep by their books
What's with all the five stars for this book? I thought it was a snoozefest, and I only kept going because I hate it when a book wins.
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Read in October, 2007
Another good one from Bellow. It's full of ideas, as his books usually are, and once the plot gets going, it's surprisingly absorbing.
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Read in January, 1998
I liked the book but didn't see what the big deal was about Saul Bellow. I'm sure a different book would help.
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Jo by:
Frank
Wonderful book. Wonderful characters. Funny, fun, clever, a must re-read.
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