OK, let me just say that I am extremely excited about this book. My friend Cal recommended it to me some time ago, and I finally got around to reading it. OH MY GOSH! I've truly been missing out on Philip Roth! He is now my new favorite author. I understand that it might seem like a hasty judgment to make based on just one book, but this one is simply that good.

Cal and I have a lot of similarities in the books we love, yet for entirely different reasons, which makes it quite interesting. To put it simply (although I dislike doing so), Cal gets more excited about the story and character development, while I'm more excited about the writing style. Well, this book has both in abundance. It made me laugh out loud, it brought tears to my eyes, it left me in awe, and it made both my mind and my heart burst with emotions. Roth is truly a master storyteller and wordsmith.

The NY Times listed American Pastoral as one of the best works of American fiction written in the past 25 years, and I couldn't agree more. It's on par with Don DeLillo's Underworld and Marilynne Robinson's Gilead. Maybe it deeply resonated with me because of what my life has been like in the past couple of years, but I also think there is something universal about it. The true wonder and magic of this book is that a reader like me can't help but empathize with the main character, a person who embodies The Man in every possible way. It's truly amazing.

Just one small but powerful quote:

What was astonishing to [the Swede] was how people seemed to run out of their own being, run out of whatever the stuff was that made them who they were and, drained of themselves, turn into the sort of people they would once have felt sorry for. It was as though while their lives were rich and full they were secretly sick of themselves and couldn't wait to dispose of their sanity and their health and all sense of proportion so as to get down to that other self, the true self, who was a wholly deluded fuckup.

Zelim jos, ne zelim da mislim da je ovo kraj jedne tuzne (ali fenomenalno tuzne) porodicne sage epskih razmera.

I still want more. I don't want to think that this is the end of a sad (yet phenomenally sad) family saga of epic proportions.

There is so much more to this story that could potentially unfold. The emotions and experiences within this family are complex and deep, like a vast ocean waiting to be explored further.

Maybe there are hidden secrets, unresolved conflicts, or unexpected twists that could change the entire narrative. We can't simply assume that this is the final chapter.

The pain and sorrow that have been endured might lead to a breakthrough, a moment of clarity, or a new beginning.

We must keep our minds open and our hearts receptive to the possibility that there is more to come in this tragic yet captivating family story.