uomo in bilico o uomo in attesa? joseph sta aspettando di partire militare, di unirsi agli altri in guerra e nel frattempo si lancia in una sua guerra contro tutti: il fratello e la sua famiglia, gli amici, i vicini di casa, gli ex compagni di partito, il resto del mondo, i soldi, il concetto di carriera, le convenzioni sociali e tutto il resto. non va meglio con le donne: la moglie, da cui si estranea sempre di più nonostante in fondo le voglia bene, e l'amante, lasciata ai margini. alla fine, nelle ultime parole del libro, esplode tutta l'inquietudine del nostro: meglio rifugiarsi nella massa dei soldati e negli obblighi del regolamento che rimanere in una libertà che costringe a fare ogni giorno i conti con tutto quello che ci circonda e, soprattutto, a fare scelte. joseph sembra già uno degli anti-eroi che avrebbero popolato la letteratura e il cinema americano un paio di decenni dopo: gran romanzo, davvero.

This was Bellow’s first novel.
It is set in Chicago during WWII.
The character, Joseph, writes about his life in first person journal entries. He is in his 30s. He is dangling because he might get drafted into the army soon. Since he might be drafted he is not working. He is married and his wife is working. He is basically just hanging out. They are living in a rooming house.They lost their apartment because of a dispute he had with the landlord.

It is a short novel of one of those extended times between things, before something big might happen. In this case being called up into a war that one might get killed in. The novel is mostly internal dialogue of someone in one of these in between times, and a very stressful one. It is also a portrait of a man without an exterior structure to control his time and actions. It is a place that many find difficult to find comfort. It is easier to just let someone else tell one what to do, show up here, at this time, do this job for this long, eat at this time, etc. He is dangling outside of that structure for a time, that place where one has to be self motivated, or self contained enough to be at peace when the order of the day is to run with the crowd. The novel shows that this can be a difficult place where one needs to be very strong, assured of oneself enough to go on.

There is not much mention of the war. A war, that at the time of the novel’s composition no one knows what is going to happen, how long the war will go on, how many will die, or who will win. The book contains that tension that hangs right there alongside that dangling man. It is an extreme time of “we are all together” which can be harder than usual on the temperamentally alienated.
Joseph visits family. His prosperous brother tries to give him money which creates tension. He visits his wife’s family, more tension. There is conflict in the rooming house, and between him and his wife, in the role reversal of the man being the breadwinner.

Aren't we all dangling on the edge of life on the mysterious precipice of death?
What does one do while dangling?

Good novel from a man who was later awarded The Nobel Prize (The Dynamite Prize).

What is the purpose of a novel? To reflect culture? society? To entertain? To inform? To explore ideas/the human condition? To tell us about ourselves? I've been asking myself this a lot lately, more so to answer the question: "Why do I read, and why do I read  what I read?". Inevitably the answer to the first question is "all of the above" and the answer to the second is "it depends". The multitudes. As always.

I've read a few "to be entertained novels" recently and was finding the endeavour profoundly disappointing. Enter Saul Bellow, Nobel prize winning Canadian/American author, as antidote.

This novel was wonderful. My first introduction to Bellow. A fully readable story about Joseph, in limbo, as he waits to be called up to the Army. It is easy to read, but full of introspection and beautiful prose about the human condition. Written in 1944 but applicable, always. Except for the parts about "instructing Iva". Those parts haven't aged well. I won't say more, I will just end my review with this:

Great pressure is brought to bear to make us undervalue ourselves. On the other hand, civilization teaches that each of us is an inestimable prize. There are, then, these two preparations: one for life and the other for death. Therefore we value and are ashamed to value ourselves. We are hard boiled. We are schooled in quietness and, if one of us takes his measure occasionally, he does so coolly, as if he were examining his fingernails, not his soul, frowning at the imperfections he finds as one would at a chip or a bit of dirt. Because, of course, we are called upon to accept the imposition of all kinds of wrongs, to wait in ranks under a hot sun, to run up a clattering beach, to be sentries, scouts or workingmen, to be those in the train when it is blown up, or those at the gates when they are locked, to be of no significance, to die. The result is that we learn to be unfeeling toward ourselves and incurious. Who can be the earnest huntsman of himself when he knows he is in turn a quarry? Or nothing so distinctive as quarry, but one of a shoal, driven toward the weirs. But I must know what I myself am.

or, how 'bout this:

The quest, I am beginning to think, whether it be for money, for notoriety, reputation, increase of pride, whether it leads us to thievery, slaughter, sacrifice, the quest is one and the same. All the striving is for one end…it seems to me the final end is the desire for pure freedom. We are all drawn to the same craters of spirit - to know what we are and what we are for, to know our purpose, to seek grace.

C'mon gorgeous!

پس از اين مسئول كارهايم نخواهم بود.از اين بابت سپاسگزارم.در اختيار ديگري هستم،رها از تصميم گيري؛فسخ آزادي
بشتاب براي ساعات منظم
و براي نظارت بر روح
زنده باد سربازي

Bel libro. Molto toccante!

A escrita de Saul Bellow é feita de uma filigrana encantadoramente bela. Um livro tão bem escrito e tão encantador que o leitor não tem vontade de sair deste mundo tão filosoficamente real. Tão breve como intenso . Grande livro e um autor a revisitar sempre.

Hurray for regular hours!
And for the supervision of the spirit!
Long live regimentation!

- joseph, on going to war, or, me, on returning to school after break

this book was alright, but i got the idea in my head that its the sort of subject matter salinger would write about… and i know i wouldve preferred salingers voice…

i dont have much to say about this story, though i do think the unconventional approach to the war novel is interesting—focusing on the perspective of someone who doesn’t necessarily want to partake, but who is torn up by the alternative. i also love when early to mid 20th century books feature characters in socialist circles, its always interesting to see how politics and personal life intersect

A peculiar book. When our library curbside pickup was cancelled, I started perusing e-books and selected this one, almost at random, except for its famous author. Some of his philosophical musings dragged a bit, but I did enjoy the little dramas among his extended family, his wife, and his friends and neighbors. The writing was excellent with rich details that pulled me into each scene. Now I am (at least semi) interested in trying some of Bellow's later works.

What a brain wisp this is; read more than 30 years ago. Very thin and quick, though. Compared to some of the dusty classics I was reading in college, it was closer to what I was looking for philosophically and in the existential sense at the time (man helplessly awaiting his fate, almost preferring the worst rather than uncertainty), and I remember liking that it made its points more compactly than ...Augie March, which I also tackled at the time and preferred less. Still, it didn't quite get there for me. Probably need to give Bellow a second look. I was going to try Humboldt's Gift and just said, "naw," and ended up selling it.

I wonder if the guy who illustrated the cover (of the edition posted with my review) did the Harlequin romances, because it sure looks like it.

(KR@KY 2016)

I understand that this is "minor" Bellow, but what a shining debut. There is some first timer awkwardness, certainly, some failed digressions. For the most part however this book is populated with wonderful writing. Bellow moves from heightened philosophical dialogues (foreshadowing later predilections for this method, à la Herzog) to an almost Chekhovian realism. He seems to outline all of his major themes in this novel. The average man is driven to sorrow and destitution by a materialist society—forced to become heroic, and perhaps go beyond his means, if only in his own head, to liberate himself. He is our superfluous man. A lapsed radical, failed academic, jobless, with only a history degree, now confined to his bedroom, awaiting the draft to a war he may not agree with. His father describes him as having 'prepared himself for a life that he will never be able to live,' and now he can only wait.

The Dangling Man is a diary styled novel exploring the hardships and lack of identity belonging to a man named Joseph who is supposed to be drafted for the Army, but his draft keeps being delayed. Without work, Joseph is idle and struggles to understand his purpose or role in life. The diary details the psychological toll that this idleness has on Joseph's mind and relationships. While the story was interesting, it also felt pretty repetitive, which I guess was part of the point. Joseph isn't very likable for most of the novel, as he has outbursts of aggression and rage and has very few consequences for his actions. He also sulks a lot and is overall lethargic and upset about his lot in life but seems unwilling to change it. This is definitely not a book I would have picked up on my own - 2.5 stars.

My second book by Saul Bellow and I really like his understated style. I didn’t realise this was his debut novel or that it was written way back in 1944, feels quite prescient. A man stuck between normal civilian life and the humdrum monotony of it and being drafted for the war. As the title suggests it’s about the fact freedom can be a curse on most people, but there were other themes explored here. I liked the quiet middle class anguish, the polite rage building, the sense of not belonging or towards the end of wanting to belong.

“You can divorce your wife or abandon your children but what can you do about yourself”