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The Ghost Writer (Zuckerman Bound #1)

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 3,790 ratings · 273 reviews

The Ghost Writer introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s; a budding writer infatuated with the Great Books, discovering the contradictory claims of literature and experience while an overnight guest in the secluded New England farmhouse of his literary idol, E. I. Lonoff.

At Lonoff's, Zuckerman meets Amy Bellette, a haunting young woman of indeterminate foreign background...more

Paperback, 179 pages

Published 2005 by Vintage (first published 1979)

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Dec 12, 2008 Ryan Chapman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I forgot how thrilling Roth can be. His books contain such a subtle, building power that hits about two-thirds the way through. (In particular I remember the eureka! moment with The Human Stain when its ideological weight revealed itself.)

I don't want to get too much into the story, as the less a reader knows going in the better. Let's just say it's about young Nathan Zuckerman making a pilgrimage to the farmhouse of his idol, a man names Lonoff. The novel is really about what must be sacrifice...more

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Jan 04, 2008 Daniel rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

I wasn't sure where this book was going to go when I started it, and now that I'm done, I'm quite certain that I don't know where it's been.

Who is the "ghost writer"? Is it the young man, Nathan Zuckerman, who's own work is still so new that it hasn't it's own body? Is it the old author, E.I. Lonoff, who isn't the embodiment of the writer that Zuckerman was expecting; who freely admits that all he does is "turn sentences around." Is it the girl, who Nathan imagines to be Anne Frank, living her l...more

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Oct 27, 2007 Sarah Sammis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: released

"The Ghost Writer" when stripped bare is the same type of story as "The Lesson of the Master" where a young brilliant writer meets the older established "master" who inspired him to write in the first place. In the process of being disillusioned with his role model, he grows as a person and finds love.

What makes "The Ghost Writer" different is Philip Roth's unique mixture of autobiography and alternative history. This novella introduces Roth's alter ego: Nathan Zuckerman, a character who returns...more

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May 06, 2012 Paul Dinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 27, 2011 Lori Crossley added it · review of another edition

This novella of Roth's gets off to a rather bland and slow start-unexpected as it is quite short and you would think Roth would want to get the story in motion before it ends. However, Roth takes his time to lay out Zuckerman and his Jewish angst and guilt fairly well so that quick connections can be made as the plot picks up speed. Roth tells the story of Zuckerman, a young, promising writer raised in New Jersey yet not necessarily raised Jewish in New Jersey who must now confront a communitie'...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Vegantrav rated it 4 of 5 stars

A few weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast, Slate's Culture Gabfest, and The Ghost Writer was discussed and highly praised, with one of the hosts acclaiming it as Roth's best work, so I decided to read it to see if it really were all that great.

Well, it wasn't the greatest work of fiction I've ever read, but I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Roth spins several subplots, and each is as intriguing, if not more so, than the main plot, or perhaps that is what makes the entire story...more

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May 30, 2011 Fred Bubbers rated it 5 of 5 stars

Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer was first published in two parts in The New Yorker in 1979. Later that year it was published in book form by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It was the first book of his Zuckerman Bound Trilogy, which he completed in 1985. The Ghost Writer first introduced us to Roth’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, as a twenty-three year old writer at the start of his career. Nathan has had four short stories published and has been profiled in a magazine as an up-and-coming writer. He...more Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer was first published in two parts in The New Yorker in 1979. Later that year it was published in book form by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It was the first book of his Zuckerman Bound Trilogy, which he completed in 1985. The Ghost Writer first introduced us to Roth’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, as a twenty-three year old writer at the start of his career. Nathan has had four short stories published and has been profiled in a magazine as an up-and-coming writer. He claims to be embarrassed by the profile and the accompanying picture of him with his ex-girlfriend’s cat, but his claim seems to be based on what he thinks is expected of him.

Nathan’s autobiographical short stories have upset his family, particularly his father, who believes they show American-Jewish family life in a bad light and confirm the worst stereotypes of Jews. It is 1956 and Nathan is writing in the shadow of the Holocaust. His family is offended by his telling of their internal feuds, portraying them as “conniving Jews,” confirming the worst stereotypes held by Gentiles. They enlist a respected member of their community, a judge no less, for his opinion. Nathan receives a letter from the judge asking him, among other things, “If you had been living in Nazi Germany in the thirties, would you have written such a story?” Strong stuff. Nathan, however, is devoted more than anything to truthfulness and art and refuses to take responsibility for the feelings of his family and to take on the weight of history which they are trying to impose upon him.

Estranged from his father, he seeks out a substitute in one Emanual Lonoff, a successful, middle-aged Jewish-American writer. Citing his published stories and his magazine profile, he writes to Lonoff, inviting himself because he happens to be in the neighborhood staying at a writer’s colony in upstate New York. His girlfriend has left him, his family questioning his morals, he seeks the approval from a spiritual father, a fellow writer. He gets far more than he bargained for.

Lonoff lives a quiet life in The Berkshires with his wife of thirty-five years, Hope. Also visiting on the same weekend as Nathan is is the beautiful but mysterious Amy Bellette, Lonoff’s former student. There is tension in the house. While never explicitly stated, it is more than hinted at that Bellette is a former lover of Lonoff’s. There are no doubts about in long suffering Hope’s mind.

Lonoff receives Nathan warmly, but still holds him at arm’s length. The wisdom and affirmation that Nathan is seeking is meted out in tiny doses. Like the writing that Nathan admires, Lonoff’s words are spare and while as an artist he reveals truths fearlessly, in life he is guarded. He describes his approach to writing:

"I turn sentences around. That’s my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and I turn it around again. Then I have lunch. Then I come back in and write another sentence. Then I have tea and turn the new sentence around. Then I read the two sentences over and turn them both around. Then I lie down on my sofa and think. Then I get up and throw them out and start from the beginning."

Given Nathan’s romantic notions at the time about the noble cause of literature and art, that’s a little disappointing. And yet, that’s pretty much what writing is. For Hope, however, this describes her life with Lonoff as one of enforced solitude, and she’s had about enough of it. That, along with the presence of Amy, brings about a crisis in the marriage and a confrontation that Nathan gets to witness.

Nathan, in the meantime, has fallen in love with Miss Ballette, or at least who he imagines her to be, none other than Anne Frank. Her age is right, her look is right, and her background is unknown. If only she would marry him, he could take revenge on his critics who attack his anti-Semitism. Sadly, she is only Amy, not Anne, and well he tells her she looks like Anne Frank, she reacts with indifference.

The life Lonoff lives, devoted to his art, just as Nathan desires for himself, is not without its costs. The costs are paid not just by the writer, but also by the people in his life. In the end, at the end of the tumultuous weekend, Lonoff’s knowing evaluation of Nathan is both praising of his talent but also a warning about the life he is choosing for himself:

“I’ll be curious to see how we all come out someday. It could be an interesting story. You’re not so nice and polite in your fiction. . . . You’re a different person.”

It’s impossible to read The Ghost Writer without thinking of Roth himself. The setting of the story is in the same timeframe as when Roth’s career was beginning, at it was Roth’s unflinching portrayal, the the good and the not so good, of Jewish-American life thatbrought him both fame and controversy, first with Goodbye, Columbus, and then Portnoy’s Complaint. The Ghost Writer was written on the other side of the fame and controversy and is imbued with the wisdom of a life having been lived. The tone is genuinely wistful and, as a truth teller, Roth is willing to own up to the flaws, vanity, and shallowness of his twenty-three year-old self. Among the larger themes of all of Roth’s work is the two-edged sword of heritage. We are a nation of immigrants and while we attempt to purge ourselves from whatever identity that defines our ancestors, there are also times when the heritage that haunts is also the heritage that comforts us. In The Ghost Writer, Roth shows us the birth of that dichotomy.

The Ghost Writer was selected by the Pulitzer committee for fiction for the prize in 1980, but the Pulitzer committee overrode the decision and instead gave the award to Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song. It’s hard to imagine two books more different in style, subject and sheer heft. Thirty years later, it’s hard to say anything about the comparative merits of the two books other than, “Wow, what year that was.”(less)

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Apr 10, 2011 Alex Nguyen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The book I read for quarter 3 was The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth. He introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s, as a writer who was obsessed with the Great Books. Without revealing too much, Nathan Zuckerman is a young American writer who's just published three successful novelettes. He sends his last work to his father, a member of the New-York Jewish community and must face his disappointment in front of the written description of family events that could provoke anti-semitism among Nathan's r...more The book I read for quarter 3 was The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth. He introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s, as a writer who was obsessed with the Great Books. Without revealing too much, Nathan Zuckerman is a young American writer who's just published three successful novelettes. He sends his last work to his father, a member of the New-York Jewish community and must face his disappointment in front of the written description of family events that could provoke anti-semitism among Nathan's readers. Nathan leaves New-York for Massachussetts where he meets his father in literature, Lonoff, a secluded writer leaving with his wife and a beautiful young woman in a house lost in the country. Nathan will observe, during 24 hours, the real life of a man who's dedicated his life to literature. He will understand the secret relationship between Lonof and the young woman staying at his home who's also looking for the image of a father in Lonoff.
The book first starts off slow, like most books, but soon after introducing every character in the book; the pace begins to explode with action and mystery. The way it was written really gets to you. Zuckerman meets a lot people with a lot of history behind them. Their past is filled with history and adventure. You could sense the emotions when he writes about them. His books contain such a subtle, building power that hits about two-thirds the way through. The novel is really about what must be sacrificed in one's life for art, and whether that sacrifice is even worth it.
I would actually recommend this book to anyone. This book is short and easily readable. The book captures the reader's mind and teleports you into the farmhouse in the 1950s. The conflicting emotions and the suspenseful thinking that surrounded the air was unbelievable. Mystery and the imagination plays a huge role in the book. After reading a specific part of the book, sometimes I had to put down the book and think for awhile. Even though it slowly begins, you would never expect it to end.(less)

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Jan 06, 2011 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It doesn't bazooka the otherwise settled dust in your heart like his later work does, but it has moments close to that. This is my fourth Roth book and it was, like the others, engaging in every moment. The best part of the book is the section about Nathan Zuckerman. The character is publishing a short story about Jews fighting over money and behaving in nasty ways. Nathan's father begs him (and goes further than that) to not publish the story because the goyim will see it as a confirmation of t...more It doesn't bazooka the otherwise settled dust in your heart like his later work does, but it has moments close to that. This is my fourth Roth book and it was, like the others, engaging in every moment. The best part of the book is the section about Nathan Zuckerman. The character is publishing a short story about Jews fighting over money and behaving in nasty ways. Nathan's father begs him (and goes further than that) to not publish the story because the goyim will see it as a confirmation of their anti-Semitic beliefs and the Jews will see Roth as a self-hater and "informer," as Roth puts it--the right, specific word to explain the core of the issue. The section on Lonoff is totally compelling, totally relate-able (since when is that not a word, SpellCheck?) and teeming with Roth's distinctive self-awareness. By that last part I mean his maturity to bring to light every good and bad element of the character's internal life without judgment or the least concern for how anyone else will receive it. That allows his humor to shine in this section, but never just to deliver a punchline, always to deliver a revelation. The section on Anne confused me in that I wasn't sure if I was to assume Nathan imagined the whole thing or had heard it from Lonoff, which exchange I imagine would have been more explicitly depicted in the text. So then how impressive, bold and moving is that: The fantasy of this woman Nathan wants to fuck, the same fantasy we all have when someone pretty walks by, is written in a level of detail we--the people who have those same fantasies--would never know they even contained had Roth not pointed it out. He blows my mind. The last section was a real resolution, though, like all his books I've read (except Indignation), it could go on indefinitely. (This time it does! This is book one of nine in a series!) The ending is startlingly uncomfortable. Roth makes us feel everything and, like Shakespeare, articulates (more wordily) feelings we don't even recognize having. (less)

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Dec 29, 2009 Marylisa DeDomenicis rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Spoiler Alert.
I found this to be an imaginative -- I hesitate to say clever because of the implied condescension -- way to say artists must lose their identities in order to keep their identities, that they must sacrifice everything to truly be catalysts for art. I love the way Roth satisfies the reader by seemingly leaving the protagonist's qualm's unanswered and his feelings unsettled, but on further thought one sees the devise he uses: the box in the box in the box. The protagonist's questio...more

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Nov 07, 2007 Erin Beck rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to meet Zuckerman. The beginning of the book is good. I feel Zuckerman's excitement and nervousness in getting to meet his favorite author. I also have wondered a great deal about how authors deal with their parents reading about their most deviant thoughts and desires. Roth lets us know how his parents reacted. The end of the story stops being about our character and is about a girl who claims to be Ann Frank. I didn't know the book would take this turn and was dissappointed.

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Mar 13, 2012 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I probably knew too much going into this story, though it's because of what I knew beforehand that I read it in the first place. If you're someone who's interested in the way writers think, you should enjoy it. Example: the narrator's lament about his imagination being lacking, that he could never invent a scene like the one he's just overheard, is both playful and serious.

It was also fun to speculate on whom Roth might be basing his fictional 'big' literary figures. The narrator, talking to his...more

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Feb 09, 2009 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

This seems to be a time to get myself up to date with names that I've always admired but for some reason haven't read extensively. I'd read the later Zuckerman books (The Human Stain, etc.), but outside of that, not a whole lot of Roth. And since Cormac ain't putting out for me, I thought I'd satiate some reading urges by digging into some of million-and-six books of Roth's that I hadn't yet gotten into.

So here, the Zuckerman saga begins...

I've heard interviews with Roth where he's discussed how...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Ghost Writer veered between reminding me of truly inspired art - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea being the most obvious example, but also the brilliant Boondocks episode "Return of the King" - and the frustratingly tedious archetype that John Kennedy O'Toole got me so familiarized with: Wifey McNag. Nemesis and Indignation, to my recollection, also suffered from the dialogue Roth gives his women. I hope I'm not alone in this assessment.

The theme of The Ghost Writer, as an armchair novelist-to-...more The Ghost Writer veered between reminding me of truly inspired art - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea being the most obvious example, but also the brilliant Boondocks episode "Return of the King" - and the frustratingly tedious archetype that John Kennedy O'Toole got me so familiarized with: Wifey McNag. Nemesis and Indignation, to my recollection, also suffered from the dialogue Roth gives his women. I hope I'm not alone in this assessment.

The theme of The Ghost Writer, as an armchair novelist-to-be, definitely fascinated me: as someone currently writing a story involving a very unflattering portrait of a woman I know in real life, I appreciate how sacrificing a little morality for the lofty ambition of literary greatness can warble somebody's head. It's an interesting background for a story, and all in all it is played well; The Ghost Writer throws politics and reputation at odds with literature and art in a refreshing way.

However, I am unsure whether or not Roth underplayed how conceited a person needs to be to really consider this trade-off a dilemma. The risking of familial reputation by writing a semi-slanderous narrative clearly based on said family has definite consequences; to risk those for something as illusory and improbable as literary prestige is either noble or completely lacking in nobility. I go back and forth on whether or not Roth captured Zuckerman's plight sympathetically or not; on one hand, I clearly empathize, but on the other hand, his plight (if granted minor tailoring) could render itself reprehensible.

That all being said, the story is excellently expedient moving from point to point, and evolving the way it does. That the psychological evolution of Zuckerman moves convincingly within one night almost angers me at Roth's success at what seems like a contrived narrative push. Without giving too much away, the novel has a compelling thesis statement (for writers and the like, anyway) and pushes it forward tediously in the first act, brilliantly in the second, and decently in the third. The Ghost Writer contains quite a strange and rewarding element of surprise once the reader conquers the first chapter; it's just hard to keep that enthusiasm up to apologize for the last one.(less)

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Mark I actually reread The Ghost Writer a couple months ago on a whim. You're definitely not alone in questioning how Roth portrays women--misogyny is one...more
Jan 05, 2012 06:10am

Mike I can definitely see how Hope Lonoff's supposed to be the mouthpiece - sort of a Tim-in-The-Office audience surrogate. That's right, Tim. Not Jim. Per...more I can definitely see how Hope Lonoff's supposed to be the mouthpiece - sort of a Tim-in-The-Office audience surrogate. That's right, Tim. Not Jim. Perhaps I wanted a little bit more regret? I mean, at some point that life must have appealed to her. To end up where she did, she must've had similar, overly romanticized notions about either living the writer's life or bearing witness to it. Maybe that was there and I didn't pay enough attention. That's probably true. In any event - and this is a thought I'm having in retrospect, not one I had while reading it - perhaps my problem with her would be mitigated by her being more crestfallen. Like she was a believer, and now she's converted away. She seems straight-up opposed to it the entire time; maybe just a reference or two to her character changing from a Zuckerman-y figure in love with the Lonoff life that eventually has a rude awakening? I can't articulate this the way I'd like.

I'm curious what your primary notion of the theme was, because I'm not sure the pieces of what I garnered add up. For me, the exploitation of material is what gets the ball rolling. The second chapter instills the dilemma in his head about his art against the responsibility to his family and their creed, and in the third, he invents this fiction that revolves around the same dilemma for a whole other person. Maybe it's not the exploitation of family itself as a primary theme, but it's the express-lane device that catalogs the psychological toll it can take for writers to reconcile capturing something "true" artistically against what they sacrifice personally to do so. He definitely feels guilty about it, or at least hopes he can make a martyr out of himself a la Amy Bellette. Or something like that; I mean, Amy's story is a defense/rationalization to himself. Which leads nicely into the Kafka reference at the end.

However, this only really accounts for the middle, which is where my personal prejudices lie. I don't think that on its own really nails the first and fourth chapters in the way I'd prefer. Maybe they felt disconnected to me? I don't know. But they didn't seem to relate as much to the part of the book I was biased toward, and so I reacted all dickish to it. I made up my mind what the book was about, more or less, before it was done. Whose fault is that?(less)
Jan 05, 2012 02:15pm

Mark The theme that stands out for me is the division between what Nathan and Lonoff see as "the writer's life" versus "normal life." Writers, according to...more
Jan 06, 2012 05:56am

Sep 29, 2010 Caitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my first exposure to Roth and I really loved it. It is a unique story about a young writer struggling with the confict of interest between his art and his family. He is Jewish and his parents expect him to honor their family and heritage. They are still recovering from the Haulocaust, a terrible situation that he was just not a part of so he is not as anxious about it. The family feel that he betrayed him by the publication of his first novel. He escapes to the secluded home of a famous...more

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Oct 23, 2009 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been wanting to read Roth for a while now, after seeing my dad blow through about 14 of them in the past year, but it took me a while to get to one. Then, once I decided to read some Roth, where do you start? Out of 29 books, a Zuckerman book, a Roth book, a Kepesh book, or just one of his goodies that can stand alone? So I went with the first Zuckerman of the series of 7.

...And now that I'm done with it I really don't know what to say about it... His style kind of reminds me of Salinger:...more I've been wanting to read Roth for a while now, after seeing my dad blow through about 14 of them in the past year, but it took me a while to get to one. Then, once I decided to read some Roth, where do you start? Out of 29 books, a Zuckerman book, a Roth book, a Kepesh book, or just one of his goodies that can stand alone? So I went with the first Zuckerman of the series of 7.

...And now that I'm done with it I really don't know what to say about it... His style kind of reminds me of Salinger: short, pretty straight forward, but the material really isn't as epic and overstated as some authors, but he writes more with a sense of limited scope (on the page) that reveals his ideas and philosophy in a greater perception. The whole novel takes place over a single night, in a single house, in 180 pages; yet what he accomplishes -- in a character's reflection, a night's worth of thoughts, an interaction with a writer, two conversations with his wife, and a woman living with them that may or may not be a famous person long believed dead -- is astounding.

With this novel Roth tackles a writer's mentality and focus towards his art while at the same time weighing the balance between fiction and reality, where responsibilities lie, whether portrayals in art can come back on reality in helpful as well as hurtful ways, and Roth ties it all together with his protagonist (his alter ego) finding such a balance, much as I'm sure it took good ol' Phil a while too as he tackles his material and the conflict between his life and his art.

Like a Salinger, I love the way his sentences just pop off the page, no wasted word, nothing less than beauty and Zen shining through the characters' conflicts and, in the end, epiphanies. The "story" seemed to move a bit slow and didn't really have the "action" of many other writers, but I like his focus on complex issues and social perceptions that are examined from an allegorical, a metaphorical bent.

It didn't really knock me over like some of the 5-star books I've read lately, but it was definitely intriguing enough to set me on a quest of 14 more Roth books, like it did my dad, to see his take on other such complex ideas, issues, and perceptions with other such examinations. And the great thing: most of his books are under 300 or 250 pages. (less)

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Aug 05, 2009 Alex S. rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's a quick read, not even 200 pages, but along with it's sequel it's probably the most potent of the four Zuckerman Bound books. An amusing meditation on the consequences of art on the artist, certainly one of the wisest of the few Roth books I've read. He's really not preoccupied here with being funny or getting a rise out of his reader (which I do think he's trying to do with a lot of his work). There's a sobriety and maturity and wisdom here that, unfortunately for the rest of the series, s...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

All right, I admit it -- I'm not the biggest fan of postmodernism, for a whole host of reasons that are sometimes related to each other, sometimes not: because of the movement's insistence, for example, that the only "true" artists are ones with advanced college degrees; because of its worship of col...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Stephen Gallup rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are a number of living writers of fiction whom I admire, but Philip Roth has to be the king. For me, reading this guy's flowing, unornamented prose is like imbibing very fine wine. A couple years ago I read The Human Stain and was so impressed that I followed up immediately with two other titles in quick succession – and then felt as if I'd chugged down something that should have been savored by the thimbleful. So I took a break from him.

The Ghost Writer, an earlier work, has themes I rec...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Ubik 2.0 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Il fantasma entra in scena

"Lo scrittore fantasma" è un'opera minore nell'ambito della bibliografia di Philip Roth. Lo è da un punto di vista strettamente letterario, perchè riveste invece una certa importanza nella costruzione del personaggio di Nathan Zuckerman, principale alter ego dell'autore che compare, talora come protagonista narrante come in questo caso talora come figura secondaria più defilata, in una parte cospicua dei romanzi di Roth.

Ciò è confermato dalla presenza come coprotagoni...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Steve rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel

"There is obviously no simple way to be great." (p. 58, re: Felix Abravanel, a.k.a. Saul Bellow.) Much of the book is an unconscious debate between Abravanel's lifestyle (jet-setting, supermodel-dating, effortless masterpiece-production) and the asceticism of Lonoff ("if you change the brand of soap it takes him six months to accept it," his wife Hope complains). "Classically, down througth the ages, the artist has always considered himself beyond the mores of the community in which he lived. Gr...more "There is obviously no simple way to be great." (p. 58, re: Felix Abravanel, a.k.a. Saul Bellow.) Much of the book is an unconscious debate between Abravanel's lifestyle (jet-setting, supermodel-dating, effortless masterpiece-production) and the asceticism of Lonoff ("if you change the brand of soap it takes him six months to accept it," his wife Hope complains). "Classically, down througth the ages, the artist has always considered himself beyond the mores of the community in which he lived. Great artists, as history reveals, have been harshly persecuted time and again by the frightened and ill-educated, who do not understand that the artist is a special individual with a unique contribution to make to mankind. Socrates was considered a corrupter of the young. Ibsen was forced into exile...on the other hand, the artist has a responsibility to his fellow man, to society, and to truth and justice." This is the other background-debate throughout this kunstlerroman. Roth gives us no straight answers, only serious questions, as he should. In the Judge's letter alone we have good (and bad) arguments on both sides of the issue. "What set of aesthetic values makes you think," he asks, "that the cheap is more valid than the noble and the slimy more truthful than the sublime?" Roth, not only in this book, is both attractive and repellent because of these issues--you can tell he enjoys provocation, and that the more people complain about his alleged grossness and anti-Semitism, the more, like a mischievous child, he wants to do it.

Chapters 1, 2, and 4 are marvelous, perfect even. Ch. 3 seems completely pointless and stupid to me, but I can find no one who agrees with me on this. It seems completely irrelevant to the rest of the book, which is pitch-perfect, and deals with the consequences of the writer's life.

As I've said elsewhere, to be a good writer, you must be sensitive. But to not go crazy from the writing world, you must be insensitive. It's an impossible situation. The writer's position in the world seems to me the focus of the good chapters here; the fact v. fiction thing in ch. 3 seems too cute. And I just don't really care about "the relationship between a writer and his work." I do happen to care, as someone with wild aspirations, about the effects writing has on your own attempt at being normal.

I love Lonoff; he gets all the great lines. Roth still can't write female dialogue--Amy's pleas in the middle of the night, Hope's Shakespearean hissy fits. That's just not how women are. At least I hope not. But Lonoff--the old man--he writes perfectly.

I still haven't read James' "The Lesson of the Master" which, I'm told, is a precursor to the Ghost Writer.

Of course, everyone asks who the ghost writer is. And is it the writer who is a ghost or is he rather a writer of ghosts? As with the greatest of literature, there's more than one right answer (but there are wrong answers). (less)

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Nov 15, 2010 Kami rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, school-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow, where to start with this novel? It's a bit of a mess, in all honesty, but it's a lovely mess with incredible ideas and questions. I read this for my Jewish-American Literature class. So far, we've read primarily essays and short stories that try to figure out what an American Jew really is. We've yet to figure it out, because in all honesty, there is no answer to that question. Roth succeeds in portraying several different types of American Jews here, and they are all so diverse. It's like...more Wow, where to start with this novel? It's a bit of a mess, in all honesty, but it's a lovely mess with incredible ideas and questions. I read this for my Jewish-American Literature class. So far, we've read primarily essays and short stories that try to figure out what an American Jew really is. We've yet to figure it out, because in all honesty, there is no answer to that question. Roth succeeds in portraying several different types of American Jews here, and they are all so diverse. It's like the character who may or may not be Anne Frank says, her mother lit candles on Fridays, and they celebrated Chanukah, other than that, they were indistinguishable from any other family living in Holland at the time. This book is furious about what happened in the Holocaust. But it's beautifully confused about it too, which I think is incredibly fitting. Instead of focusing on the tragedy of it abstractly like so many lessons in elementary school did, it focuses on a small cast of characters and how their lives are effected by it. It's a novel about identity, and how identity can or cannot be successfully invented. Amy claims that she is Anne Frank, Lonoff is void of any personality except in his fictions, his wife has had all of her personality sucked out of her by her necessary servitude to her genius husband, and Zuckerman is such a despicable character that Lonoff tells him that he hopes he is different in his writing, because (at least how I interpreted it) no one could possibly stand to read him if they were reading his real thoughts and personal opinion in his work. The title could really refer to any one of the 3 writers of the novel. And I think that the reading and interpretation of the novel could change drastically when you read it with that perspective changed. I find I'm somewhat blank when I try to figure out what the impression this has made on me. It ended most inopportunely, so I'm definitely going to need to read the next Zuckerman novel, which is an evil ploy of Roth's. I adored the style of the novel, and the prose is seductively simple and elegant. But all of the characters were despicable people completely void of real personality. I mean really, the only reason it seems that Zuckerman chose Lonoff as his idol was because he was snubbed by his original. And he lusts after both of the other men's women, to add insult. But it was fascinating, and I do feel compelled to read more of Roth's writing, let alone that I want to re-read this one just so I can feel like I understand it a little better, which makes this book successful in my eyes. Most definitely recommended.(less)

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Apr 01, 2012 Amanda Byrne rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have a feeling Roth is one of those authors you read to make yourself feel smarter and end up questioning the number of IQ points you have. For someone who's received as many awards and accolades as he has, I found this book to be, well, boring. Boy meets his idol, sees girl, wants girl. End of story. Big woo.

Maybe I missed something here, on the greater role the story plays in regards to society or some such nonsense, which is what makes me think my intelligence may not be up to the task of f...more

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Mar 14, 2011 Nick Tramdack rated it 4 of 5 stars

My buddy Benjamin Nelson recommended this book and I acquired a copy, through certain methods. I read this on a trip to Montreal in June 2009. Previous to this the only Roth I'd read was Portnoy's Complaint.

I could have done without the narrator's kvetching. about how hard he was working to become a good writer. Oh noes, an 8 hour day at the typewriter. We should all have such problems. But the characterization was top-notch and very entertaining, a real maelstrom of neurosis. Heh, as if you cou...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Woody rated it 4 of 5 stars

4/5. This was my first exposure to Roth, and I've got to say, whoa--dude gets down on the page. As much as I really wanted to give this book five stars--at some points it was way exciting, way funny, and of course, way tragic--every time my mouse hovered over that fifth star, I remembered Chapter 3: "The Femme Fatale." Does a book deserve a strong review if one chapter (out of a total of four--so 25% of the novel) is complete garbage? All that Anne Frank stuff is fascinating, don't get me wrong,...more

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Feb 23, 2012 D.R. Haney added it

A bit sluggish at the outset, this short novel, the first of Roth's Zuckerman series, comes together as a profound meditation on youth and age, life and art, masters and protégés. Set, with a few excursions, in a remote house during the course of a wintry overnight visit, and spotlighting four characters -- a reputable writer, his long-suffering wife, the writer's possible mistress (who may also be the miraculously survived Anne Frank), and twenty-three-year-old Nathan Zuckerman (who naturally,...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Richard Bardon rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is an interesting study in momentum. The first half of the story is a fascinating study of a young writer getting to spend the evening with his intriguing hero. This portion of the story culminates with one of the best surprise plot twists I've ever witnessed in literature. However, once this revelation is made--and the next few pages read my with heart touching my tonsils--the story cools and becomes a rather drab exercise in character description. Obviously, The Ghost Writer is the f...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Matt Stalbaum rated it 4 of 5 stars

The more I read Philip Roth, the easier it is for me to understand how he's considered one of the greatest living writers, if not the greatest. His descriptions are so effortlessly effective that you may as well be watching a movie for all the work you need to do in visualizing them clearly. The plot here is remarkable too, deceptively simple (an up-and-coming writer spends the night at the home of his idol) but so full of parallels and subtle ideas that you find yourself analyzing the book desp...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Outstanding, breathtaking! The man really can write anything. This is the first of the Nathan Zuckerman trilogy, and I can't wait to re-read the rest. I don't love all of Roth's books, but when he's good, he's a genius! This book rests on the premise of contrasts: we all want to be great, but we all have a nagging mother or father (or both) in our heads or in our lives who undermine our confidence; it is important to admire other great artists, though if you get too close to them, you will inevi...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Poupeh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have so far read three books by Roth, this, the American Pastoral, and Everyman.
He is not among my most favorite ones (his texts feel really in control even when his characters are not, and are not fluid or mischievous enough for me, if that makes any sense!) but still it is really interesting to see how he, who is so evidently American and Jewish in his writings, writes of themes that can so easily be placed in an Iranian Muslim family, of course with differences, but i mean the similarity o...more

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About Philip Roth

Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained early literary fame with the 1959 collection Goodbye, Columbus (winner of 1960's National Book Award), cemented it with his 1969 bestseller Portnoy's Complaint, and has continued to write critically-acclaimed works, many of which feature his fictional alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman. The Zuckerman novels began with The Ghost Writer in 1979, and inc...more

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“I turn sentences around. That's my life. I write a sentence and then I turn it around. Then I look at it and turn it around again...” — 15 people liked it

“In my childhood I led the life of a sage, when I grew up I started climbing trees” — 9 people liked it

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