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elliebasta's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Medical content
marc129's review against another edition
3.0
If you have never read a Philip Roth book before, then this is your perfect opportunity: you only need three hours. But keep in mind: though it does contain some of his classic ingredients (the Northeastern city of Newark as the place of action, the Jewish environment, the process of a 3rd storyteller who tells the life of someone else), this is not a typical Roth.
First of all "Nemesis" is much shorter than most of Roth’s other books, and it does not contain that complex composition, deeper stratification, and wonderfully spun out storytelling of [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650._SY75_.jpg|598119] and [b:The Human Stain|11734|The Human Stain (The American Trilogy, #3)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308953496l/11734._SY75_.jpg|1118624] or the neurotic and excessively sexually obsession of [b:Portnoy's Complaint|43945|Portnoy's Complaint|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594130599l/43945._SY75_.jpg|911489] and [b:Sabbath's Theater|11654|Sabbath's Theater|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327935642l/11654._SY75_.jpg|588]. The 'Roth universe' indeed is much richer than what this booklet has to offer. It looks very much like Roth in his old age forced himself to go to the essence and to focus exclusively on how people deal with the blind tragedy of life (whether it is the war - because this is happening in 1944 - or the polio virus that paralyzes and kills innocent children) and how this makes or breaks their lives.
With "Nemesis" Philip Roth did what John Williams did with [b:Stoner|166997|Stoner|John Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320600716l/166997._SY75_.jpg|1559207] and Ernest Hemingway with [b:The Old Man and the Sea|2165|The Old Man and the Sea|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329189714l/2165._SY75_.jpg|69741]: at the end of their lifes they wrote a perfect short novel, with a simple composition, in an incredibly ripe literary style and with a restrained passion that touches the reader emotionally to the core. All three of these novels revolve around the same theme: human destiny and its setbacks, and how to deal with it. And of course, the three authors each have their own emphasis, one more fatalistic than the other, but in the end with all three novels I had the same mix of emotions: a mixture of anger (yes anger, even rebellion) about the wasted life of the protagonists and yet also resignation and even acceptance.
I only have one advice to the reading addicts that we all are, here on this website: read this book by Roth, let yourself be touched, cry with it, get angry, put it away and then live, for heaven’s sake: LIVE!
First of all "Nemesis" is much shorter than most of Roth’s other books, and it does not contain that complex composition, deeper stratification, and wonderfully spun out storytelling of [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650._SY75_.jpg|598119] and [b:The Human Stain|11734|The Human Stain (The American Trilogy, #3)|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308953496l/11734._SY75_.jpg|1118624] or the neurotic and excessively sexually obsession of [b:Portnoy's Complaint|43945|Portnoy's Complaint|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594130599l/43945._SY75_.jpg|911489] and [b:Sabbath's Theater|11654|Sabbath's Theater|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327935642l/11654._SY75_.jpg|588]. The 'Roth universe' indeed is much richer than what this booklet has to offer. It looks very much like Roth in his old age forced himself to go to the essence and to focus exclusively on how people deal with the blind tragedy of life (whether it is the war - because this is happening in 1944 - or the polio virus that paralyzes and kills innocent children) and how this makes or breaks their lives.
With "Nemesis" Philip Roth did what John Williams did with [b:Stoner|166997|Stoner|John Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320600716l/166997._SY75_.jpg|1559207] and Ernest Hemingway with [b:The Old Man and the Sea|2165|The Old Man and the Sea|Ernest Hemingway|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329189714l/2165._SY75_.jpg|69741]: at the end of their lifes they wrote a perfect short novel, with a simple composition, in an incredibly ripe literary style and with a restrained passion that touches the reader emotionally to the core. All three of these novels revolve around the same theme: human destiny and its setbacks, and how to deal with it. And of course, the three authors each have their own emphasis, one more fatalistic than the other, but in the end with all three novels I had the same mix of emotions: a mixture of anger (yes anger, even rebellion) about the wasted life of the protagonists and yet also resignation and even acceptance.
I only have one advice to the reading addicts that we all are, here on this website: read this book by Roth, let yourself be touched, cry with it, get angry, put it away and then live, for heaven’s sake: LIVE!
gregz_newdorkreviewofbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Bucky Cantor is mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore. The protagonist of Philip Roth's thought-provoking new novel Nemesis believes that life isn't fair, that life's dealt him a horrible hand, and he is fed up living under the reign of an angry god who kills people willy-nilly. It all just seems so arbitrary, or, as Roth eloquently puts it, "He was struck by....how powerless each of us is against the force of circumstance."
As the cover blurb states, this theme is one Roth has played with frequently in his recent quartet of slim novels (Everyman, Indignation, The Humbling and Nemesis). Nemesis, though, may be the best of the lot. The novel is set in Newark in the summer of 1944, amidst a burgeoning polio epidemic. Bucky supervises a playground of grade-school-age kids and laments the fact that his poor eyesight has prevented him from joining the war effort, as his two best friends have.
Some fellas just aren't happy unless they're miserable, and Bucky seems to be one of these. When kids on his playground start contracting — and dying from — polio, Bucky gets angrier and angrier, and he feels more and more helpless against chance. So he takes a chance of his own, accepting a job as an instructor at a summer camp in the Poconos where his new fiance is a counselor. But he immediately feels badly about it — like self-preservation is a sin, like not taking a challenge (even an invented one) head-on is a discredit to himself. For Bucky, the fact that his two friends are fighting the Germans seems to mean he should have to create and fight his own battles, whatever they may be — even if they're against himself and his own desire to be happy.
Bucky is such a tragic character — but one with whom it's easy to sympathize. He's your standard nice guy, he has the respect of everyone who knows him, and the reader can't help but like him. His harangues against God's unfairness are few and far between at first, and seem more like a minor glitch in an otherwise normal guy, rather than a overarching philosophy that guides Bucky's life. But guide his life his God-anger does. And the angrier he becomes with God, the angrier he is with himself for what he perceives is his helplessness to stop these fresh-faced youths from getting polio. So the question — which Roth spends the rest of the novel answering — is who is Bucky's real nemesis, himself or God?
Beyond Bucky's misguided self-castigations — and how brilliantly, though simply, Roth renders them — the other thing I loved about this novel is how the idea of people's fear of the unknown about polio, and their need to assign blame, definitely draws to mind contemporary issues. Folks in 1944 had no idea what caused polio and how it spread. And, despite reactionary and ineffective strategies to try to contain it, fear spread at the same rate.. Sound familiar?
I loved this book, sure. But in the interest of full disclosure, Roth can do little wrong in my eyes. He's one of my favorites, and I've read him more than any other novelist. Nemesis isn't quite in the top-tier, American Pastoral or Portnoy's Complaint level of Roth novels, but it's very, very good. Highly recommend!
As the cover blurb states, this theme is one Roth has played with frequently in his recent quartet of slim novels (Everyman, Indignation, The Humbling and Nemesis). Nemesis, though, may be the best of the lot. The novel is set in Newark in the summer of 1944, amidst a burgeoning polio epidemic. Bucky supervises a playground of grade-school-age kids and laments the fact that his poor eyesight has prevented him from joining the war effort, as his two best friends have.
Some fellas just aren't happy unless they're miserable, and Bucky seems to be one of these. When kids on his playground start contracting — and dying from — polio, Bucky gets angrier and angrier, and he feels more and more helpless against chance. So he takes a chance of his own, accepting a job as an instructor at a summer camp in the Poconos where his new fiance is a counselor. But he immediately feels badly about it — like self-preservation is a sin, like not taking a challenge (even an invented one) head-on is a discredit to himself. For Bucky, the fact that his two friends are fighting the Germans seems to mean he should have to create and fight his own battles, whatever they may be — even if they're against himself and his own desire to be happy.
Bucky is such a tragic character — but one with whom it's easy to sympathize. He's your standard nice guy, he has the respect of everyone who knows him, and the reader can't help but like him. His harangues against God's unfairness are few and far between at first, and seem more like a minor glitch in an otherwise normal guy, rather than a overarching philosophy that guides Bucky's life. But guide his life his God-anger does. And the angrier he becomes with God, the angrier he is with himself for what he perceives is his helplessness to stop these fresh-faced youths from getting polio. So the question — which Roth spends the rest of the novel answering — is who is Bucky's real nemesis, himself or God?
Beyond Bucky's misguided self-castigations — and how brilliantly, though simply, Roth renders them — the other thing I loved about this novel is how the idea of people's fear of the unknown about polio, and their need to assign blame, definitely draws to mind contemporary issues. Folks in 1944 had no idea what caused polio and how it spread. And, despite reactionary and ineffective strategies to try to contain it, fear spread at the same rate.. Sound familiar?
I loved this book, sure. But in the interest of full disclosure, Roth can do little wrong in my eyes. He's one of my favorites, and I've read him more than any other novelist. Nemesis isn't quite in the top-tier, American Pastoral or Portnoy's Complaint level of Roth novels, but it's very, very good. Highly recommend!
nearnik's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hhannahhs's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lethal_literary_lesbian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
maxmflick's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bojangacic's review against another edition
4.0
Tetralogija kraćih romana sa kraja karijere Filipa Rota, među kojima je "The Nemesis", vidljiv su znak da je veliki majstor, kao i svaki čovek- podložan plimi vremena, počeo da usporava. Pogotovo nakon publikacije i negativne recepcije kod "The Humbling", Rotovog najslabijeg dela, mnogi oko njega su smatrali da je vreme za pragmatičan korak, prestati sa objavljivanjem i mogućim narušavanjem celokupnog utiska jednog velikog opusa. Oni koji su ga čitali mogu da zaključe kako Rot nije baštinio reč "kompromis" u svom vokabularu. Bio je svestan neminovnosti kraja, ali je imao još jednu stvar da kaže. Ta jedna stvar je bila "Nemeza".
Baki Kentor, dvadesettrogodišnji upravnik Njuarškog školskog igrališta, onemogućen da služi vojsku zbog problema sa vidom, zatiče se u pandemiji dečije paralize. Kroz oči slabovidog Bakija vidimo sav strah, paniku, predrasude, upiranje prstom i snagu dezinformisanosti u zajednici koja biva svakodnevno umanjivana- dete po dete.
"Nemeza" je vrlo smiren roman, nema taj standardni rotovsko-sintaksički tajfun, već nas jednostavnim, razložnim rečenicama od tačke A do tačke B vodi glas iskustva, polako i sigurno, sa moralnom dilemom glavnog junaka u fokusu: ostati i kompenzovati svoje odsustvo sa pacifičkog fronta, samim tim umiriti poljuljani osećaj muškosti, ili pobeći na sigurno.
Priča se završava dirljivom scenom, meditacijom o životnim izborima, prihvatanjem i odbijanjem sopstvenosti. dozvoljavanju drugima da nas istinski vole kada istu emociju ne iskazujemo prema sebi, kao i večitom pitanju: "Jel moglo drugačije?
"Nemeza" je dostojan završetak, beleži stavljanje tačke na veliko stvaralaštvo. Iako nije u vrhu, kada se poredi sa ostalim Rotovom delim, sve su šanse da je bolja od većine knjiga koje ćete ove godine pročitati.
Baki Kentor, dvadesettrogodišnji upravnik Njuarškog školskog igrališta, onemogućen da služi vojsku zbog problema sa vidom, zatiče se u pandemiji dečije paralize. Kroz oči slabovidog Bakija vidimo sav strah, paniku, predrasude, upiranje prstom i snagu dezinformisanosti u zajednici koja biva svakodnevno umanjivana- dete po dete.
"Nemeza" je vrlo smiren roman, nema taj standardni rotovsko-sintaksički tajfun, već nas jednostavnim, razložnim rečenicama od tačke A do tačke B vodi glas iskustva, polako i sigurno, sa moralnom dilemom glavnog junaka u fokusu: ostati i kompenzovati svoje odsustvo sa pacifičkog fronta, samim tim umiriti poljuljani osećaj muškosti, ili pobeći na sigurno.
Priča se završava dirljivom scenom, meditacijom o životnim izborima, prihvatanjem i odbijanjem sopstvenosti. dozvoljavanju drugima da nas istinski vole kada istu emociju ne iskazujemo prema sebi, kao i večitom pitanju: "Jel moglo drugačije?
"Nemeza" je dostojan završetak, beleži stavljanje tačke na veliko stvaralaštvo. Iako nije u vrhu, kada se poredi sa ostalim Rotovom delim, sve su šanse da je bolja od većine knjiga koje ćete ove godine pročitati.
firetresses's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.0