The genius of Philip Roth
March 17th 2008 09:56
:
The genius of Philip Roth
"For hours after the three consecutive calls-and after the predictable banality and futility of the pep talk, after the attempt to revive the old esprit by reviving memories of his colleagues' lives, by trying to find his things to say to buck up the hopeless and bring them back from the brink-what he wanted to do was not only to phone and speak to his daughter, whom he found in the hospital with Phoebe, but to revive his own esprit by phoning and talking to his mother and father. Yet what he'd learned was nothing when measured against the inevitable onslaught that is the end of life. Had he been aware of the mortal suffering of every man and woman he happened to have known during all his years of professional life, of each one's painful story of regret and loss and stoicism, of fear and panic and isolation and dread, had he learned of every last thing they had parted with that had once been vitally theirs and of how, systematically, they were being destroyed, he would have had to stay on the phone through the day and into the night, making another hundred calls at least. Old age isn't a battle; old age is a massacre."
Source: Philip Roth - 'Everyman'
Every October I feel the excitement increasing, as every year I expect that the Nobel Committee will finally make the right choice by awarding Philip Roth the Nobel Prize for literature. But every year is a deception and sometimes I am afraid that Roth will never get the prize. Of course, it's not the end of the world as he will be in good company. Nabokov and Hrabal are just two names that come to mind immediately when I think of the greatest writers of the 20th century that didn't get the prize. Still...
Philip Roth is phenomenal. Philip Roth is incredible. Stylistically brilliant, honest, direct, in-your-face. In the past weeks I read 'Everyman' twice and in between I read 'Patrimony', Roth's memoir of his father's last years. I could read both books again tomorrow; they will never bore me, even if I would read them twenty times.
The books are complementary, one fiction, the other one based on facts. Both books deal with old age, with disease, torment, fear and panic and isolation. And above all they deal with the battle that is called Old Age. As such one could say that both books are not the most optimistic literature to read, but to be faced with reality in such a brilliant way is in fact purifying - and I definitely don't use that word with a sort of 'soft' undertone. Life is torment, fear, panic and isolation. Reality is confrontation, and when reality is presented to the reader in Philip Roth style it is oh so much more comforting than any view that wants us to stick to illusions, as we know that they would only fool us and consequently be much more depressing than the harsh reality could ever be.
For all lovers of good literature who haven't read Roth: start tomorrow! The hilarious 'Portnoy's Complaint' is probably the best introduction, but in fact you can take any of his books - provided that you avoid 'The Breast' and 'The Dying Animal'; the only failures I've read, I admit it reluctantly, for my esteem for Roth is immense. Other great titles: all his books from the nineties are absolutely great. 'American Pastoral' will definitely be a good introduction, but 'Operation Shylock', 'Sabbath's Theatre' and 'The Human Stain' are just as impressive, diverse as they are.
And comes October; I'll keep on dreaming...
Source: Philip Roth - 'Everyman'
Every October I feel the excitement increasing, as every year I expect that the Nobel Committee will finally make the right choice by awarding Philip Roth the Nobel Prize for literature. But every year is a deception and sometimes I am afraid that Roth will never get the prize. Of course, it's not the end of the world as he will be in good company. Nabokov and Hrabal are just two names that come to mind immediately when I think of the greatest writers of the 20th century that didn't get the prize. Still...
Philip Roth is phenomenal. Philip Roth is incredible. Stylistically brilliant, honest, direct, in-your-face. In the past weeks I read 'Everyman' twice and in between I read 'Patrimony', Roth's memoir of his father's last years. I could read both books again tomorrow; they will never bore me, even if I would read them twenty times.
The books are complementary, one fiction, the other one based on facts. Both books deal with old age, with disease, torment, fear and panic and isolation. And above all they deal with the battle that is called Old Age. As such one could say that both books are not the most optimistic literature to read, but to be faced with reality in such a brilliant way is in fact purifying - and I definitely don't use that word with a sort of 'soft' undertone. Life is torment, fear, panic and isolation. Reality is confrontation, and when reality is presented to the reader in Philip Roth style it is oh so much more comforting than any view that wants us to stick to illusions, as we know that they would only fool us and consequently be much more depressing than the harsh reality could ever be.
For all lovers of good literature who haven't read Roth: start tomorrow! The hilarious 'Portnoy's Complaint' is probably the best introduction, but in fact you can take any of his books - provided that you avoid 'The Breast' and 'The Dying Animal'; the only failures I've read, I admit it reluctantly, for my esteem for Roth is immense. Other great titles: all his books from the nineties are absolutely great. 'American Pastoral' will definitely be a good introduction, but 'Operation Shylock', 'Sabbath's Theatre' and 'The Human Stain' are just as impressive, diverse as they are.
And comes October; I'll keep on dreaming...
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