From the Bookshelf of Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…

The Adventures of Augie March

Saul Bellow

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Sep 07, 2019 Jim rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-bymrbyd, fiction, canadian-authors

Well, this set my reading back a couple of months. Every once in a while I have to tackle something like this to remind myself why I like to stick to non-fiction just as much as possible. But this one was on the prestigious list of the 1001 books you must read before you d-i-e, so I thought I would tackle it.

I hated it. I feel guilty saying that, and maybe a little bit stupid since so many have rated it so highly. Bellow is a good writer when he's not baffling you with some clumsy sentence struc ...more

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Mar 10, 2025 Peggy rated it it was amazing

Maybe it’s good that I never got around to reading Bellow before now. I’m not sure if this book would have struck me so if I’d read it at 20 or even 30. I found it to be magnificent. It’s nice to whole-heartedly love Augie March and I do. I am now looking forward to Herzog and perhaps a couple more. Bellow’s work is now out of style, too ornate, too straightforward. I’m sure without checking that current feminists despise him and rightly so, I suppose. But he writes with such force, such authent ...more

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May 04, 2023 Deodand rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: canadian-authors, usa, purchase-only, fiction, unfinished, oh-hell-no

I was given heavy warnings not to try this one. It is not my cup of tea...I never liked picaresque novels. English teachers seem to think teens love them because they can relate to the protagonists. I never agreed.

I finally crashed to a halt at page 100 after a month, legs heavy from wading through the endless character sketches.

I can see how this book would be polarising, with it being 100% some people's jam and for others it's a nightmare. I didn't like it myself but that doesn't mean I woul ...more

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