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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43945.Portnoy_s_Complaint?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Portnoy's Complaint" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170240551m/43945.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43945.Portnoy_s_Complaint?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Portnoy's Complaint</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/463.Philip_Roth">Philip Roth</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9792550?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>for me what this book is about is the struggle one faces to live up to others' expectations of a shared ethose simply because they happen to belong to the same group.  most especially when the groups' expectations of lifestyle choices and ideals are not held by the individual.  the group says why don't you accept your roots?  the individual answers, because i had no choice in them, and now i have a choice. here the protagonist is not choosing against bieing jewish, but against being the jewish man he is expected to be.   here is a book length tirade about being a jewish american man by a jewish american man.  portnoy seethes at the constant suffocation he has had to put up w/ because of his background: the self-hatred, anxiety/shame/deviant view regarding his exagerated sexual appetite, and overall inability to form deep relationships with most anyone.  thse parts of his person do not fit into the jewish american man who he grew up around and who his parents long him to be.  he at least partilly blames this on his upbgining: over concerned, intrusive jewish mother. and some of this is self-imposed.  like holden caufield of cather in the rye, part of the pressue to meet the expectations of his parents, larger ring of family, and possibly the world is his of his own making.  and i think that is true in life.  of course those pressues exist and surround us, but to a certain extent they only become as imposing as we let them.  and at the same time i think portnoy realizes it is that background that makes him who he is, the parts of his person he values above all.  in at least some small way, who doesn't experience that inner conflict about one's own identity.  one's self vs. where one came from.
<br/>
<br/>     i think roth asks questions about allegiances to groups very well.  he has a story, "champion of the faith," i think it's called, where a jewish seargent is brown nosed by new jewish recruits to get special favor to accommodate their shared faith and standards of living.  when the seargent finally concedes, he finds out the recruits did not use his favor as they'd promised.  the point isn't these characters are jewish.  it has as much to do with any group.  the point is the danger of aligning with or favoring people simply because they happen to belong to the same group as you.  i think roth is saying, we aren't the same people simply because we were born into a group, any kind of group, or even if we chose the same group.  there are no short cuts to a relationship, so before i trust you, prove your worthiness.
<br/>
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/652004?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Grant's review
rating:

bookshelves: 20th-century-american-literary-nove
status: Read in September, 2006

for me what this book is about is the struggle one faces to live up to others' expectations of a shared ethose simply because they happen to belong to the same group. most especially when the groups' expectations of lifestyle choices and ideals are not held by the individual. the group says why don't you accept your roots? the individual answers, because i had no choice in them, and now i have a choice. here the protagonist is not choosing against bieing jewish, but against being the jewish man he is expected to be. here is a book length tirade about being a jewish american man by a jewish american man. portnoy seethes at the constant suffocation he has had to put up w/ because of his background: the self-hatred, anxiety/shame/deviant view regarding his exagerated sexual appetite, and overall inability to form deep relationships with most anyone. thse parts of his person do not fit into the jewish american man who he grew up around and who his parents long him to be. he at leas...more for me what this book is about is the struggle one faces to live up to others' expectations of a shared ethose simply because they happen to belong to the same group. most especially when the groups' expectations of lifestyle choices and ideals are not held by the individual. the group says why don't you accept your roots? the individual answers, because i had no choice in them, and now i have a choice. here the protagonist is not choosing against bieing jewish, but against being the jewish man he is expected to be. here is a book length tirade about being a jewish american man by a jewish american man. portnoy seethes at the constant suffocation he has had to put up w/ because of his background: the self-hatred, anxiety/shame/deviant view regarding his exagerated sexual appetite, and overall inability to form deep relationships with most anyone. thse parts of his person do not fit into the jewish american man who he grew up around and who his parents long him to be. he at least partilly blames this on his upbgining: over concerned, intrusive jewish mother. and some of this is self-imposed. like holden caufield of cather in the rye, part of the pressue to meet the expectations of his parents, larger ring of family, and possibly the world is his of his own making. and i think that is true in life. of course those pressues exist and surround us, but to a certain extent they only become as imposing as we let them. and at the same time i think portnoy realizes it is that background that makes him who he is, the parts of his person he values above all. in at least some small way, who doesn't experience that inner conflict about one's own identity. one's self vs. where one came from.

i think roth asks questions about allegiances to groups very well. he has a story, "champion of the faith," i think it's called, where a jewish seargent is brown nosed by new jewish recruits to get special favor to accommodate their shared faith and standards of living. when the seargent finally concedes, he finds out the recruits did not use his favor as they'd promised. the point isn't these characters are jewish. it has as much to do with any group. the point is the danger of aligning with or favoring people simply because they happen to belong to the same group as you. i think roth is saying, we aren't the same people simply because we were born into a group, any kind of group, or even if we chose the same group. there are no short cuts to a relationship, so before i trust you, prove your worthiness.
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