Harrison Bae Wein's Blog: Harrison Bae Wein, page 10

Zuckerman's Heartbreaking Exit

Exit Ghost by Philip Roth

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Well, at this point in his life, Nathan Zuckerman wouldn't care what any of us thought of his book, and he'd ask us why we cared about each other's opinions. But as we're all already here partaking in the type of social media activity he believes is killing literature, I'd say that you should read this book if you enjoyed The Ghost Writer, the excellent first Nathan Zuckerman book. This, the last in the series, is a sad meditation on aging, impotence (literal and figurative), relationships, and literature. You would lose some of the heavy weight of time, regret and loss if you didn't read The Ghost Writer first, but the others in between aren't necessary to get this one. As in other Zuckerman books, Roth plays with your perceptions and makes you aware of the writing process and the reader's relationship with the writer. The fact that all the characters speak in essentially the same voice is either lazy writing or a way to signal that you're reading something that is constructed to a far greater extent in the writer's head than he's letting on. I believe it's the latter, and it all makes for an unsettling, thoughtful read that I thoroughly enjoyed.



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Pastoral, by Nevil Shute

Pastoral by Nevil Shute

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Pastoral tells the story of a wartime romance in a careful, understated manner that slowly draws you in. Using a simple, elegant writing style, Shute creates a detached tone that lets him depict very harrowing situations in a way that lets you relate. The bombing mission scenes are intense, and you get a vivid sense of the daily rhythms and challenges of life on an air base. The thoughts about teamwork and leadership seem very modern, if the gender politics aren't. Remember, though, that it was written over 70 years ago and times were what they were. Overall, Pastoral doesn't approach the weightiness of Shute's masterpieces like A Town Like Alice or On the Beach, but it's well worth reading.



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American Pastoral review

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I've read several Philip Roth books and was saving this one for a treat. I was profoundly disappointed. I've since been trying to understand why people so liked this sour, plodding book. Most reviews seem to focus on the way Roth depicts the unraveling of the fabric of America in the 1960's. There is definitely plenty of well-researched period detail, but this sad, angry longing for the good old days just didn't resonate with me. If you think our society has been ruined by a permissive moral culture, please go enjoy the book and don't waste your time telling me how terrible I am. I do think Roth was trying to do more in this book, but as I'll explain below, I don't think he fully succeeded.
****SPOILERS****
Essentially, this book amounts to Nathan Zuckerman, who has appeared in several Roth novels now and is well past his prime, bitterly and with clear relish deconstructing the life of his childhood hero, Swede Levov. The Swede's life is conflated with societal troubles and intended to reflect what Zuckerman seems to think has gone wrong with America. Unfortunately, the Swede, as imagined by Zuckerman, sees no depth or real character whatsoever in any of the people in his life. He has no real insights about anything that's going on around him, personal or societal, and so it makes for pretty dull, difficult reading. Once Zuckerman's personal narrative is left behind for good and we enter his imaginary world of the Swede's life, the characters are shallow and unconvincing. This is particularly pronounced, as others have pointed out, in the women he professes to care for and in the African-Americans that form the backbone of his company.

I think Roth is up to a lot more than it seems on the face of it, though. He has written rich, heartfelt characters in other books. If you read this carefully, there are enough hints that Roth wants you to be very aware that these are the artificial, angry imaginings of a bitter, impotent man facing his mortality. Zuckerman has to know about his country's ability to constantly reinvent itself and emerge from challenges even stronger, since he's imagining events long ago, but he utterly ignores it. Likewise, we get enough details early on to know that the real Swede moved on with his life after the terrible events Zuckerman imagines here. That, too, is dismissed by Zuckerman. He just rolls with the bitter perspective of the Swede's brother. The book ends just as the Swede's life, and American society, hits its lowest point. We all know what comes afterward, but Zuckerman as writer chooses to leave things when they're at their worst.

I'm sure you could read this book many ways, but to me it says a lot more about how Zuckerman, bitter and disappointed about how his life has turned out, chooses to imagine the Swede than it does about the end of order in our society.

That said, it just didn't resonate for me as a work of art. It didn't touch me emotionally beyond an irritation at the sour tone and the frequent repetitions. These latter have been praised by some as an artful technique, but they aren't the creative repetitions of someone like, say, Alain Robbe-Grillet (author of Jealousy, In the Labyrinth, The Voyeur). This is the repetition of an angry person who keeps saying the same thing over and over again to seek validation until you just want to scream, "Enough already!"

In the end, the book degenerates into an angry rant that, however artful in some ways, I found very difficult to read. I'd recommend other Zuckerman books before this one. I've not read all of them yet, but Ghost Writer is wonderful. The two stars I gave this book are for the craftsmanship and the fact that I did give it a lot of thought.



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Hastings does his first book review

Hastings just posted his first book review on his blog, of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I'm not sure about his interpretation, but I think you'll find he has an interesting point of view. Check it out at http://housecathastings.com/?p=112.

Books that have stayed with me

A friend challenged me on social media to list 10 books that have stayed with me. You're not supposed to think too much, but that's just so hard to do because so many books stay with you. Here's my list:
David Copperfield--Charles Dickens
Persuasion--Jane Austen
Wives and Daughters--Elizabeth Gaskell
Parable of the Sower--Octavia Butler
The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr--ETA Hoffman
Don Quixote--Miguel de Cervantes (translated by Edith Grossman--don't see it listed here)
A Prayer for Owen Meany--John Irving
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
Atonement--Ian McEwan
Karoo-Steve Tesich

Honorable mentions:
The War of the Worlds--HG Wells
True History of the Kelly Gang--Peter Carey
The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman--Angela Carter
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit--Jeannette Winterson
The Counterfeiters--Andre Gide
The Stranger--Albert Camus
Jealousy--Alain Robbe-Grillet
Stranger in a Strange Land--Robert A. Heinlen
Dune--Frank Herbert
Blindness--Jose Saramago

Vote by September 4

I entered a story in the 250 Word Count Challenge in the All About Animals group here. Go here for the stories (mine is #15): https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/.... Then visit https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/7... to vote.

Listopia

I've nominated The Life and Opinions of Housecat Hastings for several lists. Please take a moment to visit them and vote for it. You can find them here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/book/1.... Thank you for your support!

Welcome

This is my first blog post here. Obviously, I'm excited about my recently published novel, The Life and Opinions of Housecat Hastings. I'm just learning how to use Goodreads. I'm really impressed with all the interesting groups and the interactions the site allows. I hope it helps people find my book, but also that it proves to be the vibrant, supportive literary community it seems to be.

I welcome any questions, comments, and of course book reviews! If you're interested in more about me, visit http://harrisonwein.com. The site is still a work in progress, but it gets the job done.