I just completed this yesterday. So, from a very short perspective on this, I present my review:

With the pungent scent of urine now once again in full force in the Great Metropolis (it had begun to fade during the Dinkins administration, virtually vanished during Giuliani's tenure, and started to waft back into every pair of Gothamite nostrils during Bloomberg's illegal third term), Saul Bellow's 1970 hate-letter to New York (written as only a Second City denizen could pen it) appears, at times, almost prophetic. However, Bill de Blasio hasn't had to grapple with a city as unhinged as Lindsay-era New York. It is an almost unbelievably self-centered city in this book. Having spent my early childhood precisely in the neighborhood the titular character inhabits, and having witnessed what transpired there on the news when I was nine, ten, and eleven - the exact time this novel is set - I must assert that the social climate is accurately depicted.

New York was an extremely violent place in the late sixties. No one in 1970 would have fathomed that thirty-five, forty, or forty-four years later it would have one of the lowest crime rates among any major city on earth. That was not the planet of Mr. Sammler. Not the Disneyfied place of today. But I emphasize, there's still a residue of bitterness in the old place, and Bellow captures something that has never truly departed.

What makes MR. SAMMLER'S PLANET worth reading is its rueful humor. Bellow is almost invariably funny; a significant advantage for a profound writer. The ruefulness is particularly apt for this story. Briefly, this novel is about a septuagenarian who, having survived, not thirty years earlier, an atrocity at the hands of the Nazis, finds himself surrounded by impulsive brats in their mid-twenties. He is like a Lear who encountered and escaped human monsters while still relatively young and now, in his old age, he is at the mercy of incurious, egotistical Americans. This must be noted. The author whose greatest novel began with the words, "I am an American, Chicago born," wrote a novel twenty years later about a man who perceives the United States as a hopelessly foreign country. This does not imply that this was Bellow's final judgment on America. In fact, a close reading reveals that Sammler does not ultimately feel alienated by America as such. But Bellow is highlighting a fatal flaw in the American character. Sammler is a survivor of epic proportions, living among the willfully silly children of the victors of an existential war.

It will assist in clarifying the title if I point out that Sammler, before the war, studied, read, met, and conversed with H.G. Wells, the idealist science-fiction pioneer who wrote WAR OF THE WORLDS.

Bellow's influences are diverse, but what I have concluded is that his true models are the nineteenth-century Russians. Occasionally, his philosophy eludes me, but his ability to describe absurd situations is unrivaled. It anchors him and, consequently, elevates the reader. He shows us the planet.

Published in 1970, Mr. Sammler's Planet is, in many respects, a book that encapsulates the spirit of its era.

During that time, anxiety regarding the state of America had reached a zenith. Student protests were rampant, the Vietnam War was raging, racial tensions were high, political assassinations were occurring, and urban decline was evident. All of these factors seemed to imbue the times with an apocalyptic character.

Set against this backdrop was the impending exploration of the moon. Bellow comments on the Zeitgeist through the eyes of Artur Sammler, a man who has endured another apocalypse - the Holocaust. Having witnessed the worst that humanity can inflict, Sammler has a certain detachment from the madness surrounding him.

The novel features a thread of plot involving Sammler's interactions with the dysfunctional Gruner family, upon whom his livelihood depends, and his own troubled daughter, Shula. She "borrows" a valuable manuscript under the delusion that it will assist her father in a project he is not actually undertaking - a memoir of his association with H.G. Wells. The plot, which is almost farcical, is framed by Sammler's encounter with a black pickpocket on a New York City bus.

As is often the case in Bellow's novels, the plot is intertwined with pages of reflections on the nature of history, philosophical speculation, and social commentary, as well as Sammler's own memories of surviving the Holocaust in Poland. At least this time, we are spared the midlife crises that plague characters like Henderson, Herzog, or Kenneth Trachtenberg. Sammler is beyond midlife and lacks the typical Bellovian preoccupation with what women desire.

Somehow, Bellow manages to make his unique combination of elements work, but the ending is so disturbingly unresolved that the novel feels somewhat like a shaggy-dog story. Sammler's final words, "we know, we know, we know," seem to echo Henderson's "I want, I want, I want," serving as an ironic mantra and a means of evading the fact that we truly know very little. Just as what Henderson wants remains unclear to him and to us, so too does the true nature of Sammler's understanding.

I did a review of this book here:

https://youtu.be/3yguH9Y5r1c

This book truly deserves a detailed examination. It offers a wealth of valuable insights and engaging content. The review on the provided link delves deep into the various aspects of the book, analyzing its strengths and perhaps even highlighting a few areas that could be improved. By watching the video, you can gain a better understanding of what the book has to offer. Whether you're a fan of the genre or simply looking for a good read, this review can help you make an informed decision. So, don't hesitate to click on the link and check it out for yourself.

This is a deeply Kierkegaardian novel.

It's as if Either/Or gave birth to a grouchy, horny, and funny baby in conjunction with an ex-Yippie neocon.

Despite all of this, it's actually rather good.

The combination of these elements creates a unique and engaging narrative that keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end.

The grouchiness adds a layer of complexity to the characters, making them more relatable and human.

The horniness provides a bit of spice and drama, while the humor lightens the mood and prevents the story from becoming too沉重 or depressing.

Overall, this novel is a must-read for anyone who enjoys thought-provoking literature with a touch of humor and a lot of heart.

After reading the sixth book, it feels like I almost understand Saul Bellow. This time, I knew well what to expect. The Nobel Committee's statement describes Mr. Sammler's Planet quite well, as well as other works of Bellow: "A mixture of picaresque romance and delicate analysis of our culture, entertaining adventure, powerful and tragic episodes in quick succession, combined with philosophical discussion. All is presented to the reader from the perspective of a shrewd and penetrating analyst, which helps us understand the external and internal situations that drive or prevent us from acting, and this can be called the dilemma of our time."

The protagonist of the novel, Arthur Sammler, a seventy-year-old gentleman who survived the Holocaust and is well-read, may not be the typical protagonist of a picaresque romance, but he still gets into rather confusing situations during the plot of the book. However, the plot always seems somewhat secondary in Bellow's writings; it just leads the reader to the next introspective moment in Sammler's life. The book has been compared to the biblical lamentation, and Sammler's role is to bitterly witness the collapse of the modern world in the Sodom of New York. By juxtaposing Sammler's horrible experiences in the Holocaust and two days in 1960s New York, Bellow shows that the modern world has not found meaning in its hedonism that could replace the nihilism of the mass graves of Auschwitz.

Mr. Sammler's Planet is essentially very conservative. Sammler's positive memories are described very sparingly and they are related to the early 20th century in London, when there was still hope in the modern era. The book is, of course, quite misogynistic in a conservative style and does not spare racism either. The key symbols of moral collapse are immoral women and an extravagantly dressed but animalistically sexual black pickpocket. Perverse and plotting white men, of course, get their share, but in their case, the full-scale treatment naturally remains half-hearted.

Mr. Sammler's Planet was an interesting reading experience, and in a way, I can even understand why it won the National Book Award. Although I do not share Bellow's view of the collapse of the modern world, following Sammler was in a way captivating. If it were someone other than Bellow, I could even think that linking the collapse to the above-mentioned elements would be just a realistic description of a 70-year-old conservative. And if the book is read like this, detaching it from the author's ethics, as I somehow ended up doing while reading, it is in a way a rather withdrawn opus.

"-- If the moon were useful to us metaphysically, I would be completely in favor of it."

Mr. Artur Sammler, a Jew in his 70’s, resides in New York City. In 1940, during a mass execution in Zamosht Forest, Poland, the Nazis attempted to kill him. The Jews were first forced to strip and then dig their own mass grave. Sadly, Artur’s wife died that day. After the war, his nephew, Dr. Elya Gruner, rescued Artur and his daughter, Shula, from a Displaced Person camp and has supported them financially ever since. If one were to define Artur’s profession, he might best be considered a philosopher. Elya Gruner, driven by obligations and expectations, is deeply enamored with his family’s past in Poland. Meanwhile, his two spoiled children, Angela and Wallace, are pure Americans. They look to Artur Sammler as a confidant and advisor.

Before reading Mr. Sammler’s Planet, I had read two other novels by Saul Bellow, namely Humboldt’s Gift and Herzog. While I did appreciate those novels, I only enjoyed certain parts of them. The same holds true for Mr. Sammler’s Planet, but I found myself enjoying more of this one compared to the other two. The issue I have with Saul Bellow’s novels is that there are extended passages, both verbalized and internal monologues, that are rather dry. I often find myself getting lost, confused, or bored during these parts. It is precisely these aspects of his writing that I don’t always enjoy. Saul Bellow was undoubtedly a highly intelligent man, and I believe he expressed his philosophy about the world and other opinions through his characters and these passages. However, when Bellow focuses on his stories and characters, I am often captivated.

Artur Sammler is a truly interesting individual, quite self-aware. He has a very realistic perception of himself and his life. He is a person whom others like and are drawn to. I found myself developing a liking for him, and the other characters were a bit quirky, which made the ensemble all the more engaging. I also relished the dialogue in the novel; it felt very true to the characters. Due to my earlier remarks, this novel was a bit of a mixed bag for me. However, as I progressed through the novel, I developed a stronger affection for it. Reading Mr. Sammler’s Planet does require some effort. My advice is to make sure you are aware of what you are getting into, but that has been the case for all of Bellow’s novels as far as I’m concerned.

Excellent books are those that make you wonder, when you finish: what makes a book excellent? Why on earth did I like this one so much? And it's good that you wonder, because appreciating a book - or any work of art - cannot be the exclusive privilege of emotion. Or: for the experience to be complete, the work, in addition to satisfying your aesthetic taste, must also fulfill your ethical expectation.

The Mr. Sammler’s Planet is excellent precisely for this reason: it satisfies both form and content.

Saul Bellow is (as James Wood (not Woods, Wood) said) a modern kind of Flaubert, a guy whose style is to seek 'le mot juste' - which, if it is peculiar in an American, is even more unexpected in an American, so to speak, modern.

Of course he has a formula: in this book, in addition to the very amusing descriptions of the characters (his characters are almost always described little by little and the physical description is always intertwined with the personality - nothing simplistic, it's not that: the character's body reflects a little of his state of mind, of his soul), but then, in addition to these inimitable descriptions, he uses a'stream of consciousness' as it should be: first, with commas in the right places and everything, and with understandable words. Then, the interior monologue is always, in one way or another, interspersed and interwoven with the narrative of the facts. That's what makes it make sense.

And on top of all that, the story has substance; and it's a good and melancholy story.

The care with the form of the narrative makes you want to talk to the author; the spontaneity of the content makes you want to sit at the table with the character (ah, it would be transcendental to sit on a park bench with Mr. Sammler, as one of the characters does; or to hear from him the summary of what he has deduced from life, in a richly but badly decorated room, as happens at the climax of the story, where the interior monologue becomes the speech of the one who realizes that he is in life to fulfill his part of the contract, whatever it may be).

In short, excellent books - like Mr. Sammler’s Planet - make you want impossible things. And deliver, at least, a part of them.

Just finished reading "Mr. Sammler's Planet" by Saul Bellow.

It is a truly beautiful story of a holocaust survivor. In his late age, he relives the horrors of the holocaust in the context of his daily life in New York.

Saul Bellow masterfully draws beautiful parallels between the old and the new. However, it was initially a difficult book to get into.

The first 100 pages presented a bit of a challenge. But once past that point, the book turned out to be quite stunning.

It展现了深刻的人性洞察和精湛的文学技巧.

This is a quintessential book from a Nobel prize winner, and it definitely lives up to the high expectations associated with such an accolade.

It makes the reader reflect on the past, the present, and the human condition in a profound and thought-provoking way.

Overall, it is a remarkable piece of literature that I would highly recommend to others.

In my mind, it smacked of early 1970s philosophy.

This particular brand of philosophy, for some reason, simply didn't resonate with me.

Perhaps it was the way it was presented or the ideas it put forth.

To me, it seemed overreaching, as if it was trying to cover too much ground and make grand claims that weren't entirely supported.

And ofttimes, it even bordered on being silly.

The concepts and arguments felt forced and lacking in substance.

It was as if the proponents of this philosophy were trying too hard to be revolutionary and ended up coming across as amateurish.

Overall, it left a negative impression on me and failed to capture my interest or engage my intellect.

I found myself dismissing it as a passing fad or a misguided attempt at intellectualism.

Maybe others saw something in it that I didn't, but for me, it was simply not a philosophy that I could get behind or find any value in.

Mr. Sammler's Planet stands as one of the most potent and visionary novels penned by Saul Bellow.

Nowadays, numerous intellectuals have uncovered that madness might be regarded as a form of higher knowledge. Undoubtedly, power and money have the potential to drive individuals insane. So, why couldn't people also obtain power and wealth by being crazy? They seem to be intertwined.

The lethargic and hedonistic society depicted in Mr. Sammler's Planet is populated with crazies, perverts, and rogues. It is a so-called "glorious planet," yet everything seems to be conspiring to make it an intolerable place to inhabit. There appears to be an unconscious collaboration among all souls, spreading madness and poison, as if to flush everyone out. Mr. Sammler ponders that this is not so much a Faustian aspiration but rather a scorched-earth strategy. Ravage everything, and what does death ultimately gain? Defile the world and then flee to the supposed bliss of oblivion.

Mr. Sammler managed to survive the horrors of the holocaust, but now he finds himself threatened with perishing at the hands of a soulless society, along with the very essence of culture and humanism. There is already an abundance of indifference and violence in this world, yet the world persistently clamors for more.

Mr. Sammler had a particular aversion to these unproductive moments of clarity. He witnessed how a single individual would demand more when the totality of human circumstances simply couldn't provide any additional satisfaction. Sammler didn't welcome these instants, yet they persisted regardless.

Both knowing and not knowing - it was one of the more common human states.

Mr. Sammler’s Planet is my second encounter with Saul Bellow's works. Similar to Henderson the Rain King, it showcases a character striving to understand himself by first grappling with the world around him (and perhaps vice versa). Set in the late 1960s, at the brink of the sexual revolution and the Moon landing, both of which are prominently referenced throughout the narrative, an ordinary elderly man, who is depicted as a caricature of the ordinary to such an extent that he appears rather eccentric to the reader, experiences a misadventurous span of several days (or perhaps weeks?) that culminates in an epiphany. Mr. Sammler’s Planet is less of a traditional story and more of a meandering episode from Artur Sammler’s life. This includes a long-running narrative that alternates between the rather thin plot, dialogue, wandering thoughts, philosophical musings, and numerous flashbacks.

Some of the story's key turning points involve the highly knowledgeable Holocaust survivor Mr. Sammler being taunted by students about George Orwell; Mr. Sammler catching a pickpocket in the act of stealing and then being cornered by him, and upon being cornered, mysteriously having the man expose his genitalia to him; and simultaneously preventing the theft of a scientist's manuscript about the Moon landing and the theft of his nephew's secret fortune by his grandnephew. Listing these events in this manner doesn't truly do justice to the story - it is actually a very thoughtful, sensible, yet humorous picaresque novel - but it does illustrate the strange circumstances of Mr. Sammler's life that fuel his inner conflict.

The core of this conflict lies in the changing attitudes towards sex among the younger generation, as exemplified by Angela, Sammler's promiscuous and scantily clad grandniece. Sammler, who is guided (and often haunted) by his experience as a Holocaust survivor, having been partially blinded and forced to kill during that time, is mostly indifferent to the numerous instances in his life where blatant perversity and sexual hedonism surface. However, at the novel's conclusion, moments before Angela's kind father suddenly succumbs to an aneurysm, Sammler suggests that she apologize to him for her overall conduct. It seems to me that Bellow reached the conclusion that traditional conservative values are somewhat essential in the face of changing times. He reveals in the novel's final words that people possess an inherent moral understanding of what is and isn't appropriate. He appears to criticize society for betraying this intrinsic knowledge of what is good and right (perhaps, namely, God or God's law - if only Bellow could witness the world today). I completely disagree with what seems to be Bellow's final conclusion, yet I admire his portrayal of Sammler and Sammler's journey. I don't often see Bellow being discussed, but he ranks among the most challenging writers that I have personally enjoyed.

Só os teimosos querem à viva força estar certos. Estar ou não estar certo não depende senão da explicação dada. The intellectual has become a creature that explains. Parents to children, women to husbands, speakers to listeners, experts to laypeople, colleagues to colleagues, doctors to patients, a man to his own soul, they all explain. The origin of this, the cause of that, the root of events, the history, the structure, the reasons why. Most things go in one ear and out the other. The soul knows very well what it wants. It has its natural wisdom. It rests, unhappy, on superstructures of explanation, poor bird, not knowing in which direction to fly.

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Nobel Prize in Literature 1976

Saul Bellow was born in Canada on June 10, 1915 and died in the United States of America on April 5, 2005.