Roth tells an excellent story, and his character descriptions and development are top notch. This book however, is a bit on the misogynistic side and borders on racist. ( )

Comienzo el 11/23/2021-Interesante. A ver la película!

"modern literature" I almost got to the end (the fifth and final chapter of this tragedy) but found myself skimming more and more, and finally couldn't take any more of the mindless ranting, or of the despicable qualities of the characters. I thought the race aspect (the protagonist being a light-skinned black man posing as a Jewish person) was interesting, but then it went downhill.

I get that the characters are supposed to be human and therefore flawed, and I get that the narratives are also human and therefore unreliable, but couldn't find much to appreciate in any of them, and felt like the pages and pages of stream-of-consciousness blathering wasn't helping (maybe 1-2 pages would suffice instead of 5 or 8 or 10?). Yes, we can hardly blame the Vietnam vet for his PTSD-related issues and yes, we should support our veterans way better, but this was a miserable way of communicating that idea, especially if I also have to endure being inside the head of the empty shell that was left of Faunia and the frustrated, friendless Delphine. Coleman/the narrator's account of Coleman was likeable (and had a reasonable, balanced voice) but like I said, then it went downhill.

Ugh. Skip the whole thing. ( )

This book somewhat made me cringe whilst reading it, but I think I appreciated it a lot more after discussing it at book club - there was a lot to talk about in it. I really don't think the female characters are any good, they just don't make sense and I really didn't need reminding of the size of Faunia's breasts quite so often. The central conceit of the book (Coleman Silk's secret) doesn't really hold up to any light scrutiny. But there are some great bits of writing in it too and some thought-provoking stuff. ( )

Philip Roth is a brave author for trusting entirely to his story, relentlessly showing all of his cards at the start. There's no surprise ending here, only surprises along the way. His reveal about Coleman's past is so blunt and sudden, I thought I'd misunderstood at first. And still his story is compelling enough it doesn't matter. There is something quotable on nearly every page of this novel full of wisdom and insight about life and lives.

Since the author isn't shy with his own spoilers, I won't be either. Coleman clothes himself in an ulterior identity as a means of transcending societal limitations on his race. Thereafter he has a curiously adverse response to any minority group's movement to overthrow those limitations. It isn't merely disbelief in the movements' effectiveness. He finds them puerile, a childish tantrum against the laws of reality.

Coleman has progressed so far in his chosen direction that it becomes impossible for him to relate to what was, even when self-interest is at stake. Like a domesticated crow that can no longer return to the wild, his nature and identity have diverged too far to be reconciled. This theme applies as well to the other three central characters: a woman suffering from past traumas, a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD, and a professor caught between the country she left and one that won't accept her. All of them reject the notion of turning back, whatever their difficulties, because the identity they've embraced (or want to embrace) is more real.

I've not read Roth before, and I came to him anticipating less empathy for perspectives outside of his own background; a false impression I acquired somewhere. Only once did I wince - badly. Coleman muses about the possibility of his lover being better in bed as "a gift of the molestation" she suffered as a child. Try to read that as the character's thoughts alone. ( )