Casey's review
Portnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth
Oh crazy. I was just talking about this book with a girl at work today. You've got to let me know what you think. I haven't read it.
re the biographical connection - a prof was just talking about how to squelch all the critical speculation about roth = the assholes in his books, he wrote a straight account of his actual childhood, to less-than-exciting results. it was called "the facts" or something...
Casey's review
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
Casey's review
rating:
I had a love/hate relationship with this book.
On one hand, his honesty is incredible. He shares the inner workings of a pretty deplorable mind without pulling any punches, and it seems likely that much of this stuff is semi-autobiographical. He's very open about the Jewish culture he grew up in, focusing mostly in this book on all their faults, including hatred of any other race but their own and a constant fear of the world. Much of this behavior he credits to generations of diaspora, which has left everyone shell-shocked, suspicious of others, and relying on paranoia to survive.
He's also open about the sexual frustration and consequent sexual obsession that resulted from a childhood of constant parental monitoring, strict morality and an obsessive mother. This is pretty much the theme of the book, this childhood-generated obsession with sex (along with a certain hatred of women brought on by hatred of his mother) and how it plays out over his lifetime.
He tells the whol...more
On one hand, his honesty is incredible. He shares the inner workings of a pretty deplorable mind without pulling any punches, and it seems likely that much of this stuff is semi-autobiographical. He's very open about the Jewish culture he grew up in, focusing mostly in this book on all their faults, including hatred of any other race but their own and a constant fear of the world. Much of this behavior he credits to generations of diaspora, which has left everyone shell-shocked, suspicious of others, and relying on paranoia to survive.
He's also open about the sexual frustration and consequent sexual obsession that resulted from a childhood of constant parental monitoring, strict morality and an obsessive mother. This is pretty much the theme of the book, this childhood-generated obsession with sex (along with a certain hatred of women brought on by hatred of his mother) and how it plays out over his lifetime.
He tells the whol...more
Oh crazy. I was just talking about this book with a girl at work today. You've got to let me know what you think. I haven't read it.
re the biographical connection - a prof was just talking about how to squelch all the critical speculation about roth = the assholes in his books, he wrote a straight account of his actual childhood, to less-than-exciting results. it was called "the facts" or something...