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aegagrus's review against another edition
4.0
While I've always been rather ambivalent towards the mythic ideal of the Great American Novel, American Pastoral certainly feels like the outgowth of a distinctly national tradition. Philip Roth's meandering volubility and detailed industrial digressions reminded me of Melville, while his emphasis on neurotic interiority called to mind the celebrated novelist's 20th century peers. Roth's prose is not what I would describe as elegant, but it is exquisite in its own way -- especially for connoisseurs of the finely-crafted run-on sentence.
At the novel's heart is a three-pronged fall from innocence -- the intertwined destruction of a personal idyll, an aspirational immigrant ethos, and a city's economic identity -- and the sheer bewilderment and paralysis these calamities produce in Seymour "Swede" Levov, the man who tried to do everything right. Courting self-destruction by straining to embody all that which is expected of him, the Swede is ultimately trapped in a tense, claustrophobic limbo -- a sensation best captured in the masterfully neurotic dinner party that comprises the novel's final chapters. Ultimately, there is no explanation to be had:
"Jerry thinks he can escape the bewilderment by ranting, shouting, but everything he shouts is wrong... Reasons. But there are no reasons. She is obliged to be as she is. We all are. Reasons are in books." (281)
On a personal level, I paid special attention to the Swede's feckless compassion:
"As usual, the Swede's default reaction to not being able to fathom cause and effect...was to fall back on a lifelong strategy and become tolerant and charitable" (341). The reference here is to a friend's puzzling choice of spouse, but the broader critique resonates because it reflects a predisposition I often notice in myself.
Merry Levov, the Swede's beloved daughter cum domestic terrorist, is an interesting character. On the one hand, I appreciated that her political violence is not presented as the unfortunate misadventure of a young, gullible, ideologue -- and that the Swede fumes at the "provincial smugness" with which his neighbors presume to understand what has happened to her. On the other hand, the stereotype of a young ideologue is deemed objectionable because it posits a rational account of violent radicalism where there is none -- not because the novel is interested in offering a better account.
Roth is sometimes deemed a misogynist. I haven't read enough of his work or engaged enough with his public persona to have an informed stance on this. In the case of this novel, the multilayered frame narration means that we are always at some remove from "the truth" -- often in a character's unreliable or purely imagined reconstruction of events. This being so, I found the troubling sentiments expressed by various characters at various points largely appropriate to the novel's bleak and confused moral universe. Taking this work in isolation, I did not think any of these preoccupations and prejudices were being endorsed by the author (again -- the content of these character's explanations for things is largely besides the point). However, it seems that the critique of Roth's body of work concerns his proclivity to inhabit certain minds, give voice to certain feelings, and repeatedly ignore or sideline others. I find this line of argument eminently reasonable, though once again I will have to defer to those having more familiarity with his entire corpus. Taken as an individual book, American Pastoral was an immensely compelling read.
At the novel's heart is a three-pronged fall from innocence -- the intertwined destruction of a personal idyll, an aspirational immigrant ethos, and a city's economic identity -- and the sheer bewilderment and paralysis these calamities produce in Seymour "Swede" Levov, the man who tried to do everything right. Courting self-destruction by straining to embody all that which is expected of him, the Swede is ultimately trapped in a tense, claustrophobic limbo -- a sensation best captured in the masterfully neurotic dinner party that comprises the novel's final chapters. Ultimately, there is no explanation to be had:
"Jerry thinks he can escape the bewilderment by ranting, shouting, but everything he shouts is wrong... Reasons. But there are no reasons. She is obliged to be as she is. We all are. Reasons are in books." (281)
On a personal level, I paid special attention to the Swede's feckless compassion:
"As usual, the Swede's default reaction to not being able to fathom cause and effect...was to fall back on a lifelong strategy and become tolerant and charitable" (341). The reference here is to a friend's puzzling choice of spouse, but the broader critique resonates because it reflects a predisposition I often notice in myself.
Merry Levov, the Swede's beloved daughter cum domestic terrorist, is an interesting character. On the one hand, I appreciated that her political violence is not presented as the unfortunate misadventure of a young, gullible, ideologue -- and that the Swede fumes at the "provincial smugness" with which his neighbors presume to understand what has happened to her. On the other hand, the stereotype of a young ideologue is deemed objectionable because it posits a rational account of violent radicalism where there is none -- not because the novel is interested in offering a better account.
Roth is sometimes deemed a misogynist. I haven't read enough of his work or engaged enough with his public persona to have an informed stance on this. In the case of this novel, the multilayered frame narration means that we are always at some remove from "the truth" -- often in a character's unreliable or purely imagined reconstruction of events. This being so, I found the troubling sentiments expressed by various characters at various points largely appropriate to the novel's bleak and confused moral universe. Taking this work in isolation, I did not think any of these preoccupations and prejudices were being endorsed by the author (again -- the content of these character's explanations for things is largely besides the point). However, it seems that the critique of Roth's body of work concerns his proclivity to inhabit certain minds, give voice to certain feelings, and repeatedly ignore or sideline others. I find this line of argument eminently reasonable, though once again I will have to defer to those having more familiarity with his entire corpus. Taken as an individual book, American Pastoral was an immensely compelling read.
jenpaul13's review against another edition
3.0
The American Dream. It’s common throughout much of American literature and culture, yet the dream depicted typically winds up a failed attempt at attaining the highly sought after American Dream rather than the idyllic version. American Pastoral by Philip Roth describes the Levov family's struggle to maintain their dream.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Swede Levov is a man for whom life has been pretty generous in the fortune and luck it doles out. Swede is a gifted high school athlete, a trained Marine, married to a former Miss New Jersey, father to a loving daughter, and set to inherit his father’s successful Newark glove factory. But it his daughter, Merry, who will be the undoing of his luck when she bombs the local post office as a political action during her teenage years. After the deadly spectacle that his daughter commits, Swede’s perfect American life has been thrust out of orbit, his life wracked with a new sense of guilt and sorrow.
Abundant in details, most often gritty, to depict the complexities and perceptions of life in America as told from the different, yet still limited, experiences of one family. The narrative roamed quite a bit and seemed to move at a glacial pace as it provided vastly different takes on the same person and the situation with his daughter that seems to have defined his life, which throws doubt on the integrity of the information being provided and what constitutes the truth of the matter.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Swede Levov is a man for whom life has been pretty generous in the fortune and luck it doles out. Swede is a gifted high school athlete, a trained Marine, married to a former Miss New Jersey, father to a loving daughter, and set to inherit his father’s successful Newark glove factory. But it his daughter, Merry, who will be the undoing of his luck when she bombs the local post office as a political action during her teenage years. After the deadly spectacle that his daughter commits, Swede’s perfect American life has been thrust out of orbit, his life wracked with a new sense of guilt and sorrow.
Abundant in details, most often gritty, to depict the complexities and perceptions of life in America as told from the different, yet still limited, experiences of one family. The narrative roamed quite a bit and seemed to move at a glacial pace as it provided vastly different takes on the same person and the situation with his daughter that seems to have defined his life, which throws doubt on the integrity of the information being provided and what constitutes the truth of the matter.
eleni_mac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
miles_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
lactomar's review against another edition
4.0
Forced this on my list to try to get more classic american fiction in my back pocket. An interesting picture of american life, I can't say I identified with the themes a lot, but the way it was structured with the unreliable narrator and proceeded through the story I really enjoyed. Clearly an iconic book in the genre.
dizcofriez's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
m4ddy05's review against another edition
3.0
Questo è saper scrivere. La trama, per quanto affascinante e oscura, passa in secondo piano eclissata dallo stile di Roth.
Primo approccio con l'autore, sicuramente non l'ultimo.
"Puoi cercare di tirar fuori tutto quello che hai dentro, ma allora non sarai altro che questo: vuoto e solo anzichè pieno e solo."
Primo approccio con l'autore, sicuramente non l'ultimo.
"Puoi cercare di tirar fuori tutto quello che hai dentro, ma allora non sarai altro che questo: vuoto e solo anzichè pieno e solo."
basketballdevourer's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
basketballwasneverlikethisskip's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-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
5.0
social_lurking's review against another edition
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0