The Book of Daniel
by E.L. DoctorowSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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I loved the prose style, and the subject matter was heavy and riviting, but this book suffered from having an utterly unlikeable narrator and from that irritating brand of misogyny that one so often sees in the writing of progressives in that era. Every woman in this book, including the narrator's mother and sister, is described in terms of her fuckability. And let's not forget the sexual violence!
I suppose this is supposed to make the narrator levels of complexity, a tortured aspect, a cou...more
I suppose this is supposed to make the narrator levels of complexity, a tortured aspect, a cou...more
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Brilliant. One of the best books written about the "event" that was the Rosenbergs (read with Kushner's "Angels in America" and [for a heaping of sardonic satire:] Coover's _The Public Burning_). Doctorow draws us into questions of self, nation, and other that feel particularly relevant during this time of "patriot acts." A must-read for anyone interested in postwar American lit.
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Read in November, 2005
recommends it for:
Everyone, especially those who enjoy political novels
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I've read it at least four times and have enjoyed it more with every read. This book causes one to question what it is to be American--what are our principles and how do we stand by them or abandon them during times of international uncertainty. In Doctorow's fictionalized version of the Rosenberg case, he clearly takes the liberal side of things and implies that the Rosebergs (here, Isaacsons) weren't actually guilty of anything, but instead used as sc...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
any history/political junkie... or anyone else
"Obviously there are political implications."
A stray, but emblematic sentence, from this fascinating chronicle of America as seen through the tributaries of its most prestigious and threatening institutions.
This novel tells the tale of the infamous Rosenberg trial/execution(s), through the lens of their son, Daniel, who is dealt with the hardest hand of trying to “make sense” of and understand not only the death of his parents, but the country in which he lives. Daniel...more
A stray, but emblematic sentence, from this fascinating chronicle of America as seen through the tributaries of its most prestigious and threatening institutions.
This novel tells the tale of the infamous Rosenberg trial/execution(s), through the lens of their son, Daniel, who is dealt with the hardest hand of trying to “make sense” of and understand not only the death of his parents, but the country in which he lives. Daniel...more
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Read in March, 2001
Ficitional account of the events surrounding Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Although this book was written much later, it was assigned as part of my "Law and Literature" class in law school to represent the period of the 1950s and it could not have been a better choice.
So many people think of the 1950s in America with such fondness as a simpler time wherre things were great for everyone. Well, not really. It certainly wasn't so great if you were black and it certainly was not so gr...more
So many people think of the 1950s in America with such fondness as a simpler time wherre things were great for everyone. Well, not really. It certainly wasn't so great if you were black and it certainly was not so gr...more
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Read in October, 2008
This book is really good if you're interested in leftist politics in the US and social activism. The ties to real events in US history are fascinating, largely b/c they're so troubling (the Rosenberg trial/execution). The writing's great, though, at times, hard to read. This b/c the book's narrated by a very self-centered, abusive man-- I hated him-- and is, in many parts, a rant. A very informed, intelligent rant, but still, it's at times exhausting to read.
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Read in October, 2006
recommends it for:
those who question the motives of our country.
More than a book about the fictional son of a couple based on the Rosenbergs, it is a book that uses the framework of that story to ask meaningful questions about the motives of our country. The crtique on Disneyland, its ties to the American war machine and its function to provide literature to the illiterate was one of the most scathing parts of the book. Daniel is a complex character and the reader slowly gets a full aspect of his thought processes as he traces the day that his parents were a...more
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Read in November, 2007
City of God, another one of the ELD's works was one of, if not, the worst books I've read in the last five years. Perhaps it was just because the bar was low, but I was genuinely surprised this book was comparatively better. ELD has the tendency to add layers rather than substance. For example in the Book of Daniel, there is the story of the parents, the history/symbolic asides, and then the metafiction (Daniel writing the book as his dissertation). I'm not against metafiction or post...more
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Read in December, 2006
I loved this book. I've never read about this time period before so that was very interesting. I thought the book very well written. I'd previously read a short story by Doctorow and I liked his writing style so I was ready to love this book. When I first started it I found it hard to follow because the narration changes frequently and without warning, sometimes within the same sentence. Daniel was not the least bit likable and actually quite crazy. But I finally got used to the writing and was ...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommended to Monica by:
mr. kelso
!!!!!!!!!
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This book is INCREDIBLE, the best book I've ever read. The writing style is difficult and the subject matter extensive, there is intended deep meaning on every page. Highly referential, it's great for history and/or political buffs- especially of 1950s America. I was lucky to read this book with others and really wade through the nuts and bolts, otherwise iI may not have "gotten it". Beautiful, gutsy and resinating; it's the good read high I'm now chasing.
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Solid fictional meditation on on the effects of McCarthyism on public life and individual pysychological development. Told from the perspective of the orphaned son of fictional Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. I like Doctorow a lot, but I wonder if his penchant to write cruelty into his narrators' actions is examined, or a way of working out his own nasty peccadilloes. Not knowing makes me a little uneasy reading some of his work, this book included.
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Call it the predictable loves of the white liberal male, but his allegories of American evil and American goodness work for me, and I like fucked up characters in books as much as I like fucked up characters in life. So I enjoyed this book muchly, although I read it more than a decade ago. I rememember mentally underlining certain sentences because they were so architectonically perfect. Mad props.
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Read in July, 2003
recommends it for:
people
Good writing draws you into Daniel's investigation of his past and how it fits (or doesn't fit) into a particular time in U.S history. In the end, the question of his parents innocence is unimportant. If you like this, try Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Totally different subject matter, same feeling of being lured deeper and deeper into a story.
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Read in October, 2007
The Book of Daniel is a thoughtful, pointed critique of the dark inner workings behind McCarthy-era America's atmosphere of fear and intimidation. E.L. Doctorow shifts from third-person to first-person and employs several characters as narrators, giving the literary equivalent of a cubist rendering of a family based on the Rosenbergs.
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