I spent quite a lot of time trying to digest (and I don't think I've succeeded yet) "American Pastoral". This usually means that a book didn't really appeal to me, but in this case it's quite the opposite: I don't know how long it's been since I came across a novel so beautiful, so dense, hard, and incisive that it didn't allow me to read too quickly, because every page, every paragraph needed to be chewed, assimilated, investigated, and held onto for a long time before being able to add new words.

A lot has already been said about "American Pastoral", and I don't think I can add much more, except that I'm very happy that Roth is such a prolific writer, because now I would like to buy his entire bibliography and spend all my free time reading a few pages and reflecting a lot.

I find Roth's writing extraordinary, extremely dense, it's true, but perfectly balanced, without a single word out of place (yes, it's to be able to read such prose without intermediaries that I would like to master English perfectly, but, damn it, I still have a long way to go to be able to reach such a goal), with a surgical precision that almost inhibits (and never as in this case do I think the expression "surgical precision" is extremely appropriate: Roth handles his writing with confidence and precision, and uses it to dissect life - that of the Swede, of America, and why not, of humanity).

This novel hurts, it hurts because, although apparently distant from the lives of many (the immensity of certain tragedies, fortunately, do not directly touch each of us), in reality it reduces to a paradigm, to reflections taken to the extreme, of course, but terribly simple and close, within the reach of anyone. "American Pastoral" is the paradigm of all hopes, dreams, commitments that anyone can pour into the most diverse causes, and of the irrationality of life, capable of sweeping away every commitment with a blink of an eye. It's a novel that ends with a question, and the only possible answer seems to be that there are no motives, that things happen, that whatever one can do, life will not take into account our desires, our commitment, how much good we have done (or thought we have done), because there is no rationality, there is no purpose, there are no ultimate causes.

"American Pastoral" is one of those novels that cannot leave anyone indifferent, for better or for worse. It certainly didn't with me.

**Title: An In-depth Look at a Compelling Novel**

"Everybody who flashed the signs of intelligence he took to be intelligent. And so he had failed to see into his daughter, failed to see into his wife, failed to see into his one and only mistress - probably had never even begun to see into himself. What was he, stripped of all the signs he flashed? People were standing up everywhere shouting, 'This is me! This is me!' Every time you looked at them they stood up and told you who they were, and the truth of it was that they had no more idea of who or what they were than he had. They believed their flashing signs too. They ought to be standing up and shouting, 'This isn't me! This isn't me!' They would if they had any decency. Then you might know how to proceed through the flashing bullshit of this world."

This excerpt provides a profound insight into the book. It tells the story of Swede, a seemingly perfect individual - an obedient son, a successful businessman, and a devoted family man. However, his world is shattered when his 15-year-old daughter plants a bomb in the town post office, killing two people. The illusion of a perfect family is destroyed, and Swede embarks on an intense search to understand where he went wrong in raising his daughter.

I initially had no intention of reading this book. But as part of my 2017 reading resolution to read ten award winners, I decided to give it a try. After the disappointment of "The Road," I wasn't expecting much. However, this book proved to be a pleasant surprise. While "The Road" had minimal dialogues, this one features the incessant rant of the protagonist. At times, it can be frustrating when Swede describes a person at different occasions, only to present a different picture each time. But this is also what makes the book so engrossing. It tests the reader's limits, yet the author has masterfully created a maze that keeps you wandering, feeling as if you're exploring the same path for the first time. It truly left me mesmerized.

This book is brilliant in expressing a wide range of emotions. We experience the doting father's love, the husband's passion, the son's devotion, the man's rage as he blames himself for his daughter's actions, the pain of uncovering the lies he has believed all his life, and the helplessness of a husband when his wife goes into shock. Through Swede, we feel so many emotions.

This is a disturbing, haunting, yet absolutely stunning and fantastic novel. It's an amazing read, but make sure you're ready to give it the attention it demands and deserves. I will definitely be reading this again in a few years.

My first "encounter" with the author: I'm charmed to meet you, Mr. Philip Roth. I have a great admiration for how well you write. This book has a powerful message and it's a "must-read", I would say

Roth dimostra la sua grandezza di scrittore in questo romanzo.

His masterful storytelling weaves a captivating narrative that draws readers in from the very beginning. The characters he creates are vivid and complex, each with their own unique personalities and motives.

The plot unfolds with skill and precision, filled with unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader on the edge of their seat.

Roth's use of language is also a standout feature of this novel. His prose is rich and evocative, painting a detailed picture of the setting and the emotions of the characters.

Overall, this novel is a testament to Roth's talent as a writer and a must-read for anyone who appreciates great literature.

\\n  An Overwritten, Self-Indulgent Version of Paradise Lost\\n

I have a complex set of emotions regarding this 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning book. On one hand, I am deeply captivated by the power and grandeur of the story. It centers around Seymour "The Swede" Levov, the beautiful American archetype, living in an idyllic countryside. However, everything takes a drastic turn for the worse. His daughter Merry becomes an uncontrollable teenager and resorts to acts of terrorism in protest against the Vietnam War, baffling and betraying all that her father represents. The contrast between the beauty of the Swede, the purity of his intentions, the glory of the surrounding nature, and the utter horror and destruction that降临 is what makes great literature. It makes profound statements about what it means to be American, human, and unknowable and unknowing (leaning heavily towards the pessimistic side), painted in bold, thick, black strokes over the pastoral scenery.

BUT:

My brain often ached while slogging through what I can only describe as overwritten, self-indulgent, and sometimes even boring ramblings. There were sentences that were as long as novellas, requiring me to go back entire pages to remind myself what the author was talking about. There was so much detail about glove making that it made my eyes glaze over. There was a lot of focus on Jewish identity and the fact that the Swede married a shikse, though from what I could tell, no one really cared about that more than Roth himself. The beginning, told from the point of view of "Skip" Zuckerman, the writer and huge admirer of the Swede, was especially painful and bombastic.

That being said, I am glad to have read and finished it. Many parts of this book were compelling and magnificent, so I think it was worth it. Particularly, the character of Merry fascinated me. Her journey and where she ends up is incredibly dark and heartrending. Her battle against her father, who is always trying to do things right not for himself but for appearances, culminates in a tragedy beyond any parent's worst nightmare. What this says on a personal level and then on a more general American platform will keep me thinking for a long time.

My second book by Roth, after Nemesis, is clearly one that I read in the wrong order. 'The American Pastoral' is actually the original 'Nemesis'. It tells the same story of an all-round American Golden Boy who is broken and destroyed, but here it is the women who are responsible for his downfall. The Swede, our Golden Boy, is undone first by his daughter and then by his wife. However, he remarries and has three sons, and life becomes good and wholesome again. It is almost comical how every single woman in this book is responsible for the downfall of at least one good man.

I was initially ready to get angry at Roth, as I had a preconceived notion that he was misogynistic. But after thinking deeper about the book, an alternative interpretation occurred to me. Maybe these angry, imbalanced, violent women are simply fed up with patriarchy, oppression, and capitalism. Maybe the angry women and the angry blacks (who also feature in this novel to the main character's puzzlement) are tired of these upstanding citizens, American Golden Boys, and their so-called American Dream. They are out to destroy it.

I don't know if Roth is or isn't a misogynist, but there is enough ambiguity about him to ensure that he will never receive the Nobel Prize. John Sutherland put it quite nicely in Love, Sex, Death and Words. He said that one of the things that hobbles the Nobel Literature Prize is its founder's instruction that it should be awarded to the author of 'the most outstanding work in an ideal direction'. There is an argument about how 'idealisk' should be translated, but the basic instruction is clear - the laureate should be on the side of the angels. The 'idealisk' criterion probably explains why Philip Roth, who is many things but no angel, has never been honored. It also explains why the committee usually aims to get in just ahead of the undertaker.

All that aside, Roth's prose shines. Even the lengthy passages devoted to describing the process of glove making in painstaking detail are somehow endearing. Other passages, especially the scene and the aftermath of the almost-incest incident, are very powerful. I found the writing less annoying than in Nemesis, and I even enjoyed the framing narrative. It would be nice if Roth hadn't forgotten what he was doing and closed the frame in the end as well.

A quick note on the proposed film cast - Ewan McGregor? No! He looks nothing like the Swede. Tom Hardy, on the other hand, looks like the Swede. I know he is a bit short, but if we cast Reese Witherspoon as the Swede's wife Dawn, who was supposed to be tiny, then anyone will look tall next to her. Also, Reese would be an excellent choice as she has exactly the short, tiny lady charisma that I imagined Dawn to have.

* edit: I reread this review just now and I wonder if my (and Sutherland's) comments about the Nobel Prize still hold true vis a vis Handke's award last year.

The central theme of this book revolves around a father's profound love for his daughter who commits a series of truly reprehensible deeds that are almost impossible to forgive. The daughter, Merry, kills four people with full awareness and intention. These deeds are carefully planned, and as a result, the relationship between the daughter and her parents completely disintegrates. Any parent would wonder who is responsible in such a situation.
The father, Seymour Levov, nicknamed the “Swede”, is a tall, blond, and handsome man. In high school, he was a champion, the school's best athlete, and highly admired by all. Now, together with his father, they run the family's glove-making business, which has factories in Newark, Puerto Rico, and for a time, also in Czechoslovakia. Seymour loves his daughter deeply; he adores her, and the love he feels for her and the memories of her childhood are poignantly described. However, as a teenager, she rebels, straying from all the basic principles by which she was raised. Balancing the deep-seated love for one's child when they behave in a contradictory manner as an adult is a nightmare for any parent, and this is the central theme of the book. This theme is movingly and insightfully portrayed, with the dialogues between the parent and child being pitch-perfect. The words accurately capture how teenagers and parents communicate and illustrate how their views can be completely opposed. This is the aspect of the book that I like.

However, the book takes a turn for the worse when infidelity and adulterous behavior among the adults are added to the mix. What starts as a promising focal point becomes diluted, and the focus shifts to a statement about the fallibility and deviant behavior of people in general. The story becomes too long, drawn out, and unwieldy, turning into an exaggerated and negative philosophical discourse.
The story is set in New Jersey during the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the Newark Riots, the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the Weathermen (WUO) providing the backdrop for the events. In this sense, the book can be classified as historical fiction. Political dissent and the perception that the fundamental principles structuring society were crumbling are characteristic of both the era and the book.
In 1985, Seymour asks Nathan Zuckerman, an author who was his younger brother's childhood friend, to write about the family. Then, in 1995, the author and Seymour's younger brother meet at their forty-fifth high school reunion. Nathan Zuckerman learns that Seymour had recently died of prostate cancer. Zuckerman then reconstructs the events of Seymour's life based on newspaper articles, his own impressions of the high school hero from his youth, and conversations with Seymour's brother and with Seymour before his death. Zuckerman astutely reconstructs Seymour's emotions and thoughts, as well as the relationship between the mother and daughter, both of which are well done.

What I like about this book is the accurate portrayal of teenagers' rebellion against their parents. The path towards independence and adulthood is not easy for either side, and both view each other's opinions with complete incomprehension. However, I dislike how sex is presented and woven into the story. It takes too prominent a role and is often described in an excessively vulgar manner. Perhaps the author intended to titillate the reading public, but in doing so, sex is made to seem dirty.
As mentioned, the family is in the glove-making business, and the book delves into all the intricacies of the trade. You will learn how a glove should be made properly, which leathers are best, how to stretch, sew, dry, and store the leather; every imaginable detail is included! This is interesting for a while, but then it goes on for too long. Throughout the entire book, details about people, places, and events get off track, and the book should have been tightened up.
The audiobook I listened to is narrated by Ron Silver. In conversations where different characters are speaking, they all sound exactly the same, making it impossible to tell who is talking! Seymour has a very particular way of speaking, with a Jewish East Coast accent, which the narrator does well. However, not all the characters should sound like him. Even Seymour and Merry sound the same, except that Merry stutters, and the stuttering is very well performed by the narrator. I have given the narration three stars.
Overall, although I like the way the parent/daughter relationship is depicted, the book becomes unwieldy and is far too long. The philosophical message it imparts is exaggerated and completely unnecessary. For me, the book as a whole was just okay.

Everyone knows just how completely mad I am for “The Human Stain.” Seriously, I think it really is one of the most brilliant books of all time. Roth is renowned for his prose, with his lengthy sentences that form lengthy paragraphs. In this case, the Pulitzer Prize was awarded prematurely. “American Pastoral” has just a fraction of the brilliance of his later work, which still won awards, albeit not that one.

This book is unnecessarily long as it focuses on one central event, the destruction of Everyman (American Everyman) Swede Levlov. I've always said something like “The straight life... is full of strife.” (Undoubtedly a stupid notion.) And it's true. Because he falls into all the traps that countless other hetero pro-family, pro-Americana twerps fall into, we witness the horrible descent, which is particularly awe-inspiring. Roth has the audacity to make so many statements about the U.S. pre-9/11 that he could be significantly called a literary apostle. Few writers have the courage to delve so deeply into history and correlate it to one particular instance of being “wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk” (as John Updike does in his Rabbit novels, for example).

Confident, adult, and perhaps too sophisticated—this is what Rothianites like me simply can't get enough of. (So you can imagine my shock when I realized that “Nemesis” is his official last novel!)

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I was not a fan. I had never really shown much interest in this particular thing. Maybe it was because I didn't understand it fully or perhaps it just didn't appeal to me on an initial level. But as time went by, I started to notice little things about it. There were some aspects that seemed quite unique and interesting. I began to wonder if I had been too quick to dismiss it. So, I decided to give it a closer look. I started to research more about it, talk to people who were fans, and try to understand the reasons behind their enthusiasm. Slowly but surely, my perception started to change. I found myself becoming more and more intrigued. And before I knew it, I was no longer just an observer. I was starting to develop a certain level of appreciation for it. Maybe, just maybe, I was on the verge of becoming a fan after all.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth, a 1997 publication by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is a novel that has received a great deal of attention and acclaim.

Many have already provided eloquent and detailed analyses of this work, which is often regarded as one of the best novels ever written.

However, I also have some random thoughts about the book.

The book is not a cheerful one. It is filled with a moody and sad atmosphere, weighted down by the heaviness of yearning, regret, and disillusionment.

The novel simmers with anger, which is directed in various ways and for different reasons at different situations and people. It is also a well of deeply rooted retrospection and even fervor.

The novel progresses slowly, and I admit that it took me two long wait periods from the library to finish it. Nevertheless, it is still a hypnotic novel, full of allegory, and is considered a true American classic by many.

I'm not sure how I would have felt about this book if I had read it years ago, but now I think I understand it and why it resonates with some people. However, I can also see why others may not be impressed.

As the book concludes, there is a sense of letdown, which left me feeling slightly depressed. But overall, the book did give me a lot to think about.

This is not my first encounter with Roth's work, and it won't be my last. While it wasn't my favorite and I don't think it lives up to the Pulitzer hype, it was still worth the extra time and effort I put into reading it.

For now, though, I think I'm ready to return to my regular reading for a while.

3.5 stars.

O masterpiece. A modern version of the tragedy of Job...

Seymour Irving Levov, also known as "the Swede" by his high school classmates and unanimously admired for his extraordinary athletic abilities, is not just an exemplary case, a symbol of social success, as the narrator, the old storyteller Nathan Zuckerman, seems to present him at the beginning. I would say, without any paradox, that Seymour Levov is the exemplary case of the non-exemplary man, of the ordinary individual.

Seen through the eyes of the narrator, the Swede seems, of course, an intangible giant, a bright god, a victory of physical strength and beauty. Seen through the eyes of the reader, Seymour is just an innocent victim of American history, of an "inner madness that seized this people" in the 1960s. Jerry Levov, his younger brother, the future vehement and resentful surgeon (who had to endure the "glory" of his brother), accuses him of never having tried to look beyond appearances, of having refused to "analyze" himself, to go beyond the surface of things, of having understood nothing about life. It is an unfounded opinion.

Seymour saw the world exactly as everyone else does, without exception, as any normal person sees it. What does this philosophy propose? Everything is governed by an unsurprising order, there are no anomalies, no intrusions in the calm succession of events. What we do not immediately understand eventually finds a satisfactory explanation. History is predictable. For the ordinary individual, there are no "black swans".

The fault of the Swede (if he has any) is that he never thought that the vision of common sense (in which there are only rules) is incomplete. There is chance. There is the incomprehensible. There are exceptions. And there are blows that are hard to predict.

When Seymour's 16-year-old daughter, Merry/Meredith, plants a bomb at the post office to "protest" against the war in Vietnam, Seymour, the honest and naive one, receives a blow that will turn his entire existence upside down. The postulate of common sense "That can't happen to me because the world doesn't accept that" suddenly gives way to the singular questions: "Why me?", "Why was I chosen exactly?". In the end, to quote another postulate of the same kind, "death always happens only to others".

To think otherwise is a form of nihilism. For the nihilist, there are only exceptions. No one could resist if they thought otherwise, in terms of "catastrophe", of a sudden reversal, as Jerry might perhaps want. They would go crazy.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with Seymour's vision. Man is obliged to deceive himself. Seymour Levov does not differ in any way from the others. It is natural for him to be overwhelmed by guilt. But this feeling has no justification in his case. He has done nothing wrong. No one can anticipate a psychosis. You cannot be responsible for the fact that, sometimes, life collides with chance.

We can sense in Philip Roth's novel (also) a version of the story of Job...