Posted by Sterling on 26/1/2011, 21:35:58, in reply to "Re: Some Recent Reading"
98.71.121.236
I really have never read Roth, so a year or two ago, I tried American Pastoral, under the impression that it is one of his best. It was a real effort to get through. The book's structure is very awkward, in my opinion. It starts out reasonably interesting with Zuckerman, but the opening turns out to be totally irrelevant. The story then turns to the Swede and is mostly deadly dull with much detail about making gloves. There were a few striking and memorable scenes, but overall, I pretty much hated it.
I also found it to be reactionary and full of hatred for the war protesters of the 1960's. Although I have never advocated violence, the narrow, dismissive, ugly tone was pretty offensive. If someone unfamiliar with the Sixties read this novel, they would believe that the Vietnam war protests were carried out by obnoxious poseurs and dumb clueless kids. The fact that most of the protests to the Vietnam War were peaceful is ignored. The horrors of the war the protester attempted to stop are ignored. What a right-wing jerk!
--Previous Message--
:
: The only Roth book I read is Human Stain and I did not
: like it at all. Just all the things that were
: happening did not make any sense to me. I thought the
: professor and the garbage cleaner's love affair was
: not realistic. I also thought that the book was
: written with a movie in mind, and sure enough there
: was a movie, which I disliked even more than the book.
: I would like to try an earlier novel by Roth but I am
: a little scared.
:
: Lale
:
:
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