Goodbye Columbus
by Philip Roth
Goodbye Columbus
Philip Roth |
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1952)
Read in August, 2007
Goodbye, Columbus is the only Philip Roth book I enjoy completely. Sure, I laughed at Portnoy's Complaint, but in the end, I can reduce its themes to the level of a 300-page joke about jerking off. I've also read the Zuckerman trilogy and while I don't mind The Ghost Writer, I found the other two tedious and difficult to get through. I tend to think that early success ruins many a writer, and although, this claim might seem absurd given how revered Roth is, the stress of creating a suitable foll...more
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UPDATE: Roth is an ass. Wow, the Rothelganger hates everybody. "I disliked her right away." And THIS is about the girl the guy is chasing. What a fucker!
The description of the black child looking at art books would be offensive if it wasn't so laughable.
The sad thing is, I think it was Roth's attempt to say, "Look, it's the late-50s, there is a lot of racial tension in Newark...and I, liberal Jew that I am, side with the noble darkies."
He almost ...more
The description of the black child looking at art books would be offensive if it wasn't so laughable.
The sad thing is, I think it was Roth's attempt to say, "Look, it's the late-50s, there is a lot of racial tension in Newark...and I, liberal Jew that I am, side with the noble darkies."
He almost ...more
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Two years ago, for reasons now not clear, I decided to read ever Roth novel up until that date.* In the context of his career, “Goodbye, Columbus” is disjointed, focusing on a set of styles and themes that would not reappear until the 1970’s. Nearly 50 years removed, it is hard to fully appreciate the cultural risks of these stories presented. The sexual politics are so tame, for Roth, as to be almost unnoticeable but the willingness to address questions of Jewish identity, particularly it...more
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Read in February, 2008
If Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the New York novella about flirting with the city’s upper crust, then Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus is the suburban story for the rest of us.
A coming-of-age story about a summer romance, it plumbs tensions from class, generational, religious, and educational differences, and it does so in a way that is instinctive and visceral. While not the most self-aware, sensitive, or rational, the story’s characters—Neil Klugman, ...more
A coming-of-age story about a summer romance, it plumbs tensions from class, generational, religious, and educational differences, and it does so in a way that is instinctive and visceral. While not the most self-aware, sensitive, or rational, the story’s characters—Neil Klugman, ...more
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Read in August, 2008
don't take the 4 stars the wrong way. i liked this book but not as much as i thought i would, given the subject matter. i get neil. i get brenda. i just didn't get the attraction between them at all. why are these 2 dating? what's in it for them? she's pretty. from a different social class. it's summer and she's wearing shorts that cling to her ass. she likes to play swimming pool games. she agrees to nightly sex with neil while he's on vacation at her parents' house and staying in a roo...more
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Read in April, 2008
a book of stories and one novella. the novella is the title piece, "goodbye, columbus" and i think the reason i did not give the book 5 stars is that the novella was not as strong as the stories. that said, it is funny. it is good writing. the characters and situation are relateable. but the stories are where roth shines in my opinion. the first two, "the conversion of the jews" and "defender of the faith" i'd read before, but like any good story, they are both...more
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Read in December, 2007
Downloaded from Audible.com
I am reading this so that I can discuss it with my daughter who has it as a school assignment,apart from which I like Philip Roth's writing.
Narrator: Theodore Bikel, Harlan Ellison, and more
Publisher: Phoenix Audio, 1999
Length: 9 hours
Publisher's Summary
Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin - he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills - meet one summer and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is ab...more
I am reading this so that I can discuss it with my daughter who has it as a school assignment,apart from which I like Philip Roth's writing.
Narrator: Theodore Bikel, Harlan Ellison, and more
Publisher: Phoenix Audio, 1999
Length: 9 hours
Publisher's Summary
Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin - he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills - meet one summer and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is ab...more
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Read in May, 2008
this is the first philip roth book that i've read, and i enjoyed it a great deal. the title story follows a traditional boy-meets-girl, coming of age-type storyline. to me, the most compelling aspect of the story was its simplicity. the prose was clear and concise, yet still painted a nuanced picture of each character (well, except for the african-american character -- every time she was mentioned, i winced). and although i wasn't a fan of the female love interest, i felt for neil as he stru...more
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Read in March, 2004
recommends it for:
failed bohemians
I haven't read any story in this collection other than GOODBYE COLUMBUS but will testify to its once in a lifetime testament of first love. Can you testify about a testament? Happens once a week. Columbus sas one of my favorite lines in literature that i often recite during my twice yearly review at work:
"What was it inside me that had turned pursuit and clutching into love, and then turned it inside out again? What was it that had turned winning into losing, and losing, who knows, int...more
"What was it inside me that had turned pursuit and clutching into love, and then turned it inside out again? What was it that had turned winning into losing, and losing, who knows, int...more
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Read in January, 2005
I had this sitting around from when my thesis advisor suggested I read it. I had read two of the stories but not the novel or the other 3, so I figured I'd finish it (I occasionally feel guilt for having received my degree without having done all of the required reading, and I go back and read something I have sitting around from that period in my life). Anyway, if you grew up in a Jewish household, you'll appreciate the stories as well as the book, and you'll probably still appreciate them if y...more
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Read in March, 2007
I had read _Portnoy's Complaint_ a few years ago and really liked it, but it lacks the grace and poignancy of these earlier stories. The novella "Goodbye, Columbus" is sort of a Mysteries-of-Pittsburgh-for-the-1950s, exploring class identity and romance from that suburban, early-twenties angle that resonates well with me at this point in my life. The remaining five short stories rank among the best fictions of cultural/ethnic identity explorations, articulating the tensions of religi...more
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I just finished reading this story in an Intro to Lit class that I taught over the summer. I'm not a big fan of the other Philip Roth books that I've read (Portnoy's Complaint and American Pastoral), I liked this story a lot. Interestingly, my class, which enjoyed everything else that we read, didn't like this story as much.
What I liked especially about the book was its treatment of class. Neil and Brenda's relationship was doomed from the start because of Neil's inability to shake the co...more
What I liked especially about the book was its treatment of class. Neil and Brenda's relationship was doomed from the start because of Neil's inability to shake the co...more
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Read in September, 2007
This book is a collection of short stories by Phillip Roth, including the novella Goodbye, Columbus, which I did like. Of the short stories, I liked "Eli, the Fanatic" the best. Apparently, when this book came out (1959) it was quite controversial and Mr Roth was denounced as a "self-hating Jew" because of his portrayal of certain Jewish characters. Personally, as a non-Jew (so for what's it worth!), I found his characters to be quite human and real, and overall more likable ...more
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Read in January, 2000
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Read in August, 2008
typical for me & roth. i always want a better ending. i want more from roth: folks rave above him and that's fine, but honestly, i just don't get it. his writing is good, very, very good, but it's so smarmy, almost too clever, so caught up with its status and its ivied-ness. and, i never seem to be shocked by the horny, the oversexed nymphs and satyrs. *oy* and, this from a novella? i dunno. my favorite roth work is the story "epstein": now, there's an ending! and, i realized the e...more
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Read in July, 2008
Goodbye Columbus, the specific short story, disturbed me. This boy who has no money and lives away from this parents meets a girl who has money and lives with her parents. This intimidates the boy, somehow makes him think she is bound to leave him at any moment, so he takes certain actions to "bring" her down to his level, and ultimatelly that act is what leads to him losing her. Oh yeah, and she is left totally f'd. The other stories are like little sound-bytes, also sort of distrubin...more
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Read in February, 2008
I'm a huge Philip Roth fan, so keep that in mind while reading this review. I'm sure it has something to do with the Essex county Jew in me. The story, while literarily ubiquitous (working class boy meets rich girl and summer romance ensues) is painfully beautiful in it's (seemingly) simplicity. Roth's ability to tell such a basic story without incorporating a stitch of trivial predictability is striking. It's a profound novella (the absolute perfect length) that's raw and heartfelt while simult...more
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Read in April, 2007
Despite the inevitable Rothiness of parts of the plot (a lusty Jewish Newark man finds a way to blame a woman for the misfortune his manipulations bring ...not to over-simplify or anything!), I found "Goodbye, Colubus" an almost perfect novella, exquisitely written and absorbing.
Likewise, "The Conversion of the Jews" is about the perfect short story. Somehow both sober and funny; intelligent; heartbreaking.
The other stories (I read all but the last one) are also good...more
Likewise, "The Conversion of the Jews" is about the perfect short story. Somehow both sober and funny; intelligent; heartbreaking.
The other stories (I read all but the last one) are also good...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Alexandra by:
Dustin K.recommends it for: fans of Michael Chabon's early work, shiksas with a fetish, Franny and Zooey fans
Tenderly rendered. Goodbye, Columbus is a bit exasperating, as I take issue with these young whiny East-coast Jewish male protagonists (Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, I'm looking at you) who can't handle the women they're with and so bail on them like the big cry babies they are, but the short stories--especially and forever Eli, The Fanatic--are worth talking about.
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Read in August, 2007
This was one of those culture clash stories, in which the poor guy dates the rich girl for a brief time and then the whole thing falls apart. Only it wasn't a campy comedy like you'd get on TV or a movie. It aimed at a genuine look at the emotions that two teens would experience in the situation.
"Goodbye Columbus" is a solidly written short novel. It was Roth's first, and conveniently the first I've read of Roth. I would like to read more of his work (and there's plenty of it to choo
"Goodbye Columbus" is a solidly written short novel. It was Roth's first, and conveniently the first I've read of Roth. I would like to read more of his work (and there's plenty of it to choo
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