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wolfdan9's review against another edition
3.0
“It’s the commonness that’s most wrenching, the registering once more of the fact of death that overwhelms everything.”
Everyman is a fictional biography of a man’s lifelong relationship with death. This is my 15th Roth novel and certainly not my favorite, but it contained some interesting ideas. Near the end of Roth’s life, he began fixating on death. This novel attempts to understand it. The story is a narrative of anecdotes about surgeries, health problems, and losses of family members and relationships. The feelings at the end of the (nameless?) main character’s life are also highlighted by post-9/11 fears. The main character, obviously based on Roth, decides to “worry about oblivion at 75” as a coping mechanism. He reminisces on his faded youth and vitality. He reminisces on his father’s shop’s watch brands in alphabetical order to get through surgeries. He attempts to escape his fear by offering painting classes to mostly talentless, debilitated elderly people. His life is a string of failed relationships, disappointments, and medical issues. Like all of Roth’s books, Everyman is as candid as an open wound.
As a young man, I have much more living to do before I can grasp the full weight of Roth’s fear. However, like with Exit Ghost, this book allowed me to come to better terms with my own recent major surgery and the effects that are still lingering. I’m not obsessive about death, but since last year I’ve thought a lot about oblivion. It’s my biggest fear, besides the death of my wife, so naturally I’m drawn to literature about it. I feel like I can trust Roth because he is so honest in his writing and has been a companion for me over the last few years. It almost doesn’t matter what I’m reading. His words just soothe me. But when I read his perspectives on death and sexuality in old age, I find myself wondering if I’ll become consumed by the same concerns one day. I wonder too if I’ll find an answer in Roth’s books to avoid the mental anguish he went through while obsessing over his own death and age-related incapacity.
Everyman is a fictional biography of a man’s lifelong relationship with death. This is my 15th Roth novel and certainly not my favorite, but it contained some interesting ideas. Near the end of Roth’s life, he began fixating on death. This novel attempts to understand it. The story is a narrative of anecdotes about surgeries, health problems, and losses of family members and relationships. The feelings at the end of the (nameless?) main character’s life are also highlighted by post-9/11 fears. The main character, obviously based on Roth, decides to “worry about oblivion at 75” as a coping mechanism. He reminisces on his faded youth and vitality. He reminisces on his father’s shop’s watch brands in alphabetical order to get through surgeries. He attempts to escape his fear by offering painting classes to mostly talentless, debilitated elderly people. His life is a string of failed relationships, disappointments, and medical issues. Like all of Roth’s books, Everyman is as candid as an open wound.
As a young man, I have much more living to do before I can grasp the full weight of Roth’s fear. However, like with Exit Ghost, this book allowed me to come to better terms with my own recent major surgery and the effects that are still lingering. I’m not obsessive about death, but since last year I’ve thought a lot about oblivion. It’s my biggest fear, besides the death of my wife, so naturally I’m drawn to literature about it. I feel like I can trust Roth because he is so honest in his writing and has been a companion for me over the last few years. It almost doesn’t matter what I’m reading. His words just soothe me. But when I read his perspectives on death and sexuality in old age, I find myself wondering if I’ll become consumed by the same concerns one day. I wonder too if I’ll find an answer in Roth’s books to avoid the mental anguish he went through while obsessing over his own death and age-related incapacity.
hamedprog's review against another edition
4.0
همه اتفاقات خیلی تدریجی و آروم اتفاق افتاد. نویسنده میخواد به ما بفهمونه که باید پیر بشیم قبل اینکه پیر بشیم
nancy_pocono50's review against another edition
4.0
More 4 1/2 stars but rounded down as I reserve 5 star ratings for actual 5 start books. Typical stream of consciousness from Roth.
blondereader's review against another edition
sad
tense
fast-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
3.0
I didn't like Everyman's disrespect for religion and religious people. Because of his mistakes and mistreatment of people, he ended up dying alone.
jof68's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lmrising's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bansolitude's review against another edition
2.0
This kind of felt like Barney's Version, but if his life was really boring.
aligrint's review against another edition
3.0
This one... what an odd read. Definitely amongst the saddest books I've read, but near the end, I started thinking about [b:Der Fremde Freund / Drachenblut|1514969|Der Fremde Freund / Drachenblut|Christoph Hein|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1184547651s/1514969.jpg|1506667] (in English), which resonated so much more deeply with me. Everyman's main character is at first almost relatable, but by the end of the book, there's a feeling that all of the sadness is entirely physical in nature - that he's caring so much about his body without any real plans of what to do with it, and without a shred of caring for other people. Roth plays with this in the last scene - in which the gravedigger is a far more relatable character, and someone who has a really different feeling on the passing of life.
danielcantread's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mr_c2023's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25