This is a very dark book, perhaps the darkest one I have read by Roth so far.

The reduced length, in my opinion, does not allow for the best expression of all the various thoughts about the life and death of the protagonist. In fact, the entire novel is an account of an old man's reckoning with himself and his past. However, in some way, the author still manages to depict the existence of a man.

I have appreciated other works of Roth more. Probably this particular one can be better understood in other stages of one's life. It makes me reflect on how our perception of a book can change depending on our own life experiences and the stage we are in. Maybe when I reach a more mature age or face similar life situations as the protagonist, I will have a deeper understanding and a different perspective on this book.

Nonetheless, it is still a thought-provoking piece of literature that offers insights into the human condition and the passage of time.

Memento Mori

If I had read it twelve years ago when I bought it, who knows... I was in a house surrounded by healthy people.
But today I had the most absurd laughs, thanks to the bitter irony, but irony, of Roth: something to exorcise the terror of the transformation of one's own body into a corpse, a source of joy and pain, an eternal thought against all reason.
Do you remember the comic finales, or the comicity in general, where reality is turned upside down and you laugh, laugh with crossed legs to ward off the worst? Where those who take things too seriously fall into a pit or break into a thousand pieces and make you laugh instead of eliciting the right sympathy followed by uncontrollable tears?
Well, all this happened to me as I followed the steep and accelerated descent into old age of this unnamed man who is Everyman, as if we didn't know that sooner or later it happens to everyone...
Of course he doesn't ask for pity, at least not by Roth's hand, but a certain mercy for his decaying body that cannot be the nemesis for his libertine past. And on this we agree: what does the past have to do with the end?

The fact is that everyone has their own penances and to see them in black and white in a context like a rest home in a Truman Show (unknowingly to the guests, let's say) and told with the nonchalance of someone who wants to continue to play the part of the infallible seducer between a bad pass and a struggle, well... it makes you want to laugh, laugh, laugh and looking at yourself in the mirror you say: But are you talking to me? Hey, who are you talking to? Are you talking to me?
Anyway, a three-star rating, slightly diminished precisely because he, good soul, was the author of American Pastoral and especially Portnoy's Complaint.

Roth's beautiful writing immerses us and keeps us entertained through the web of events that unfold on the pages.

The core is mortality, the body, and aging, which make us think about who we are and what awaits us.

I liked it. I didn't feel it was a masterpiece, but I believe that when I read it again 20 years from now, I will feel it with greater intensity.

Roth's prose has a certain charm that draws the reader in and makes them want to keep turning the pages.

The themes he explores are universal and relevant to our lives, making the book not only an entertaining read but also a thought-provoking one.

Although I didn't initially consider it a masterpiece, I can see the potential for it to have a deeper impact on me in the future.

As I grow older and gain more life experience, I may be able to better understand and appreciate the nuances of Roth's writing and the profound ideas he presents.

Overall, it was a worthwhile read that left me with a sense of curiosity and anticipation for what else Roth has to offer.

Is it okay?
+How?
-I see you've really thought about it. I've never seen you think like this before!
+Well, I've always been thinking throughout my life. Were you blind?
-I've never seen this state of your thinking before. What has changed in the middle?
+The difference is that before, I used to think about others and everything related to others (such as having better eyesight, a higher income, a more luxurious life, a better car, an elevator upgrade, what others say, etc.); but now I'm thinking about myself.
-I told you you've become something :(
+No, did you expect that my mental state when I'm thinking about myself and my life would be the same as my other thinking states? Saying "yourself" and saying "others"
-No, dad, don't forget to teach me the lesson of thinking and distinguishing between yourself and others now. I know better than anyone else how you symbolized your life and reached this point.
+Yes, don't say that, you're not in my place and you don't understand that when you understand the bottom line and then you're going to die in a few days, what does it mean?
I see a mountain of "not becomings" that never reached the stage of "becomings".
A mountain of sadness, regret, and grief for lost opportunities and moments.
The conditions are difficult.
-Why are you thinking about it now? Why?
+Because...
-Huh? I didn't understand. Wait a minute. Why when sadness and regret were a mountain and you didn't reach the stage of giving birth to it, now in old age it becomes a mountain?
Remember the self-created mountain, remember the poem of Nasir Khusraw. You used to be able to think well.
+It took time. First, learn not to interrupt me in the middle of my speech.
Also, in these difficult mental conditions, your advice doesn't help me.
-No, actually before, your memory helped me a lot.
If you had the memory that it's not like this now.
Just the knowledge of "He said: We do not know what is from us and what is on us."
+Well, if your lecture is over, I'll go and start implementing some of my wishes and spending the last moments of my life.
-No, no, wait a minute. For me, the question is why do you people, when you understand that you're going to die soon, rush to implement your wishes, but before that, the most important part of your thoughts is always about "others"? For example, do such and such a thing, what will others say? Wear such and such a thing because I like it, no, no, if I wear it, what will people say?
Buy such and such a house, but I have to work a lot, is it worth it? Yes, yes, because people will say good things about me at that time, so.....
+I don't know. Look, we people don't know what we want ourselves, we don't understand. But I feel that death gives this power of understanding back again, it brings the taste of experiencing life back to us, it helps us to live at least a few days without paying attention to money and related problems, and at least when we die, we can say to that world: Aargh, I lived a real life for three seconds out of the millions of seconds that I put my foot on the dusty ground, and we can celebrate ourselves with it.

We must say that our dear inner voice also wants us to live for a few days, be happy, without paying attention to many things, but in a safe condition. I admit that many times we do very little ourselves, but really some wishes and implementing them require having stable conditions. So, with the utmost respect to you, dear inner voice, when you don't put yourself in someone else's place, don't put all this "me, me" in the way and let's enjoy the last breath of death.

In the end, we must say:
This is like all the stories of life, marriages, children, divorces, unhappiness, surroundings, and the sensitive old age of each person that you can imagine. Because although this story had a personality, we could replace each person with it. Do you know why? Because its end was death! Success in death is guaranteed. Death, without any kind of difference, embraces everyone. Fortunately, some of them with a wider and warmer embrace :)
I read somewhere that "we adults are a set of suppressed inner promises and desires."
So it's not surprising that a person in the last moments of his life wants to deal with himself a little so that the burden of sorrow is at least a little lighter. After all, he has a long way ahead and the power and ability of youth that he doesn't have. He is now an old man with a burden of thoughts, not becomings, and multiple sorrows on the road to death, moving forward.
And life says: "But still, one must live."

This book, "الواقعه" (The Inevitable), is an atheist work.

A deceased elderly man, with a few quiet and incomprehensible words from the mourners at the funeral about who he was, and a return to the past and a revival of this forgotten well through his memories. The author, along with the interlocutor, accompanies this sleeper in the grave from childhood to the moment of death and reviews the events of his life.

For me, who is forty years old, this book was like a physical and material hell in old age. Although Philip Roth was born into a religious Jewish family, he himself is an unbeliever and perhaps has no stories contrary to his beliefs. You will clearly see these beliefs in the lines of the book. The emphasis on the dead bodies that are buried in the cemetery and the description of a forgotten cemetery with broken, erased, and disappeared tombstones. Perhaps these descriptions explain the perishability of humans and are in contrast to the beliefs of Abrahamic religions.

The main character of the story, Nathan Zuckerman, has an open house and a history of betrayal. With a series of mistakes and lusts. For me, he was not "one like everyone else." Leaving the family several times along with the child for the lust of a beautiful, young woman. These are not things that have become common. At least not for me yet. I consider such behaviors and decisions - especially depriving a child of a father's protection - worthy of severe punishment, whether in this world or in any other world, whether spiritual or physical. Fortunately, it is true that Philip Roth himself knows nothing but the day of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, and eating from the tree of Zaqqum in hell, but he creates a very earthly hell for the main character of the story. What he creates is no less than the punishment of the day of judgment.

The hell with the punishment of loneliness, not seeing loved ones, depression, physical and mental weakness, chronic diseases, and again, loneliness, being alone, and loneliness.

And you, young man! Know and be aware that one day you will become old, and old age is not something that can be fought and won.

\\n  

“Old age is not a battle, it is a general killing.”

\\n

There is no doubt that one day that event will occur.

«إِذَا وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ»

I was a little nervous about reading Everyman.

I didn't know if I wanted to subject myself to a book I knew was going to be such a downer. Nor was I in a hurry to be reminded that I'm going to die one day and that growing old will be a terrifying experience.

But now that I've finished it, I don't think it'll keep me up at night like I had thought it would. This book is less about the horror of facing your inevitable death and more about the hell you can create for yourself in old age if you lived like a bastard your whole life.

I know Phillip Roth would punch me in the face for saying this, but I think that even though he so vehemently argues against religion in Everyman, the book actually kinda creates a case for, if not religion, then at least living by some kind of moral code. I got the feeling that if his protagonist had just been a better person, the difficulties of old age and impeding death wouldn't have been so terrible.

In the end, Everyman, for me, was about how old age is bad but loneliness is worse. It shows that a life without meaningful connections and a moral compass can lead to a much more miserable existence in the later years. It makes one reflect on how we should live our lives now to avoid such a fate.

We had gone to Gisha, and my eyes fell on the security police building! A soldier, slovenly and with a disheveled appearance, was hitting his head with his fist in frustration. His courage seemed to have left him, in my opinion. They had cars that they had confiscated due to the detention of a Russian, and people were coming to get their cars back. These things had been described to me. I said: What a useless and fruitless pursuit! In the end, what? Nothing! Lives that are being destroyed and will ultimately be in ruins on your head. On the other side, a woman in her mid-thirties without a Russian, with hair tied in a horse's tail, was passing in front of the tough-faced security police officers who were smoking, without paying any attention. I said: Let's go and see if this story, like all the others, can be discovered? We went and discovered it. On our way back, we passed by the security police building again. The sky had become dark, and it was easy to see how much they felt insecure. The shadow of death had fallen over all of Gisha. I had not read the story before I left.

1402-06-26

The story "Every Man" about a man between life and death

It begins with the funeral of the hero of the story and ends with his death

He recalls the details of his life at every stage of his life until he reaches the end

Facing oneself and admitting the weaknesses and regretting the mistakes

Paying attention and focusing on true and sincere relationships and connections

The events are not in chronological order, and Philip Roth moves from one time period to another

Nevertheless, the narrative remains smooth and realistic

This story delves deep into the human psyche, exploring the various emotions and experiences that a person goes through in a lifetime. It makes the reader reflect on their own life and the choices they have made. The non-linear structure adds an element of mystery and keeps the reader engaged until the very end. Overall, "Every Man" is a thought-provoking and powerful story that offers a unique perspective on life and death.

Let's put it this way: there are books that you might fall in love with (perhaps) beyond their objective qualities.

For me, Everyman is one of these.

(I think it's the third time I'm rereading it.)

I find it a gem. Short and just the right amount of sad. Never overly tearful.

Among Roth's post-2005 books, I prefer it to both "Indignation" and "Nemesis".

Then there are passages inside that make me die, like this one:

"There was nothing in those August days, after the German submarines had been destroyed and there were no more drowned sailors to worry about, that wasn't marvelously clear. And nothing, in his physical perfection, that he didn't have every reason to take for granted."

I won't say too much about the story as it can be read anywhere.

In general, I find it quite unassailable. [74/100]

Final consideration: both books that in the Einaudi edition have a completely white cover (The Catcher in the Rye) or a completely black cover (Everyman) have a protagonist named Phoebe. Maybe I like the name but I spent some time thinking about it.

Human beings age in a certain way, and their choices accompany them forever. One must strive hard to open one's hungry mind from looking at the past. Aging is an inevitable process that every human experiences. As we grow older, our bodies and minds change, and the choices we make along the way have a significant impact on our lives. We often tend to look back at the past with regret or nostalgia, but it is important to learn from our experiences and move forward. By keeping an open and hungry mind, we can continue to learn and grow, regardless of our age. We should embrace the changes that come with aging and make choices that will lead us to a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Why do so many people pour forth pure and even apparently sincere adoration for this writer?

He wins top literary awards. He sells millions of books. But what does he write? He writes short, bleak, even hopeless books without stylistic invention about the lives and deaths of horrible, whining, shallow, narcissistic protagonists living in ugly places.

Yes, every man lives and dies. We grow old. The body breaks down. We die. But is this really all there is to life? Give the man a PEN/Faulkner Award and a Pulitzer Prize. I just can't imagine why so many critics find so much in Roth's faithless, tedious and banal writing.

His omnipotent God seems to be his own reason, which he worships and adores infinitely. He cannot admit that his own reason cannot possibly begin to understand the mysteries of this vast universe. So we hear his endless rants and complaints about his isolation, when in truth his moral choices have alienated him from people who, otherwise, might love him. How is this not poetic justice?

Why is this self-occupied point of view so worthy of so much acclaim? How is Roth an everyman? Does he speak for you in this novel? God, I hope not. His perspective sheds so little light on my human condition.

He writes about the ugliness of life like Booker Coetezee and Princeton Professor Joyce Carol Oates that they have become the 21st Century School of Ugliness. Is the beauty and breathless mystery of life even remotely within his limited grasp? Does he not understand how faith trumps reason almost every time?

Roth seems intelligent enough. But does he think that his naive messianic faith in his reason's infallibility and sanctity will lead him stumbling somehow upon some semblance of happiness or even sanity?

I am weary of the 21st Century School of Ugliness posing like a hooker in downtown Newark as rich, gritty reality and, therefore, truth. Inspire me. Don't lead me down another self-evident dead-end because your intellect can't take you beyond the shallow waters of ego-centrism.

Show me some depth and profundity and wisdom or even some cause for hope for humanity. Show me you can really think. Show me you understand there is a world of beauty beyond your shallow existence that you have even begun to fathom.

How could this possibly be among the most honored writing that we have to show for our great civilization? Generations to come will look back on this moribund writing and pity us that somehow we couldn't do any better.

You can finish this book in under two hours.

You will find yourself anxiously burning through the pages, eagerly waiting for something truly meaningful to occur.

However, as you progress, you'll realize that it never will.

That, I think, is kind of the point.

Even so, it will have a profound impact on you. It will break your heart, leaving you unable to sleep all night.

You'll feel compelled to call your grandma and tell her you love her.

For the next week, you'll be engaged in slow-breathing exercises, trying to calm yourself down from an ever-on-the-verge-of-overwhelming-your-sensibilities panic attack.

At this point, you may very well wish you'd never read it.

But despite all that, you probably still should.

This book has the power to evoke intense emotions and make you question things you never thought you would. It challenges your perceptions and forces you to confront your inner self.

So, even though it may cause discomfort and turmoil, it's an experience that can ultimately lead to personal growth and a deeper understanding of the human condition.