Portnoy's Complaint

I first read this one back in high school and, in a lot of ways, it's as good as I remember it being. The book can be, by turns, funny, insightful, excruciating and observant, but what's most impressive about it is how incredibly unforced it seems: Roth's facility for rendering dialogue -- or rather, monologue -- is nothing less than amazing. Reading this one, you might as well be in the room with Alexander Portnoy, listening to him rant, remember, complain and interrogate himself. The novel verges on being some sort of historical document: in fifty years, you might be able to hand this to someone and say, "this is how American Jews spoke in the twentieth century." The text, which, of course, leans heavily on the passive voice, show more overflows with jokes, swears, regionalisms, and yiddishisms. You might also be able to say "this book perfectly expresses the condtradictions faced by the Jewish diaspora in the United States and exposes the cultural contradictions inherent in sixties-era liberalism." Any one of these would be an accomplishment, but Roth seems to pull them off all at once while barely breaking a sweat. It's half comedy routine and half exorcism, and it's a joy to read.

But there are also a few things here that keep this from being a five-star review. The first is that Alexander Portnoy seemed a whole lot less likable the second time round that he did the first, though this might have been because when a teenager myself I focused on his accounts of his teenage troubles. These sections still go down easier: Portnoy's more endearing when he plays his parents' victim than when he's acting like a fault-finding, thoughtless, chauvinist, a role that he occupies for much of the book's second half. The fact that he knows that's he's being unbearable, most of the time, doesn't make this stuff easier to read. Also, the book suffers from what might be termed the Woody Allen problem: both Roth and Portnoy love, and love describing, beautiful women, which is fine. But if Alexander's such a hopelessly neurotic cad, how come he keeps ending up with such terrific babes? At times, the book drifts towards fantasy, which might be, I suppose, also fine. "Portnoy's Complaint" isn't a documentary, it's a study of a hopelessly divided psyche in which we get to see an unstoppable id fight it out with a socially conditioned superego. Of course, I imagine some readers will only be able to take so much of this: the book, good as it is, can be an exhausting to read. Alexander's subconscious, from the book's very first sentence, is stuck on blast. Even so, whether you end up loving, hating, or identifying with Alexander Portnoy, this one should be on everyone's "must read" list. show less

Not what I expected - the ego contending with the id for superiority. The central conceit here is the urge for self-gratification, mainly symbolized in sex, masturbatory and otherwise, that stands in for the author's urge to write or the mind's desire for acceptance. Roth's picture of Jewish domestic life, with its neuroses and absurdities, influenced a lot of later comedy from Woody Allen to Jerry Seinfeld, who seem like pale imitations in comparison.

The profanity and sexual abandon might turn off some readers, but this is one of the funniest novels I have ever read. Roth writes with an honesty that, like his hero Alex Portnoy, is part perverted schmuck and part misunderstood genius.

I hear Roth wanted this book to be a provocation and a scandal. Well, he really did a good job at that. I can imagine his blunt report on the endless series of masturbations and sexual variations by Alexander Portnoy caused a lot of annoyance and indignation, even though the book was published in that symbolic year 1968. And I sympathise with all those that state that Roth has done the jewish community in America much wrong by creating this archetype of the oversexed, schizofrenic modern jew. The book is really "over the top", I often thought - while reading - : do you really have to be so explicit to make your point?
Well, as a matter of fact, I think Roth was right! This book is one very long scream of a person in distress, a scream show more out of agony, a scream to help him deal with all his obessions: his overbaring parents, especially his mother, yes Mr Oidipous; his jewish identity with all its crazy rules, and the American view on what is proper and successful. Portnoy is a person in revolt, he wants to break all boundaries, and in a way he does, but to his personal discomfort and unhapiness.
This long scream (the word 'complaint' is rather downplaying it) has great power of its own, but it is enhanced by the blunt style Roth uses: all the time Portnoy cries out, uses jewish references, statements by others, screams of despair and indignation. In a way it reminded me of Dostojevski's Notes from underground.
So, in the end, my judgment is mixed: on the one hand this book has great power, Roth has found a voice of his own, and really goes all the way; on the other hand I don't really feel connected with this book, Alex Portnoy remains a stranger to me, though he tells me something about a certain society in a certain period of history. show less

I don’t propose to spend too long writing about this sordid and utterly unamusing novel – I have already wasted more than enough time reading it. The edition that I read was even more heavily strewn with critics’ encomia than usual, all of them suggesting that this is a comic masterpiece, and it seems to have played a significant part in launching Philip Roth as one of those authors striving to bring off ‘The Great American Novel’.

I wonder whether this is another case of the Emperor’s new clothes, with no one daring to rock the boat by suggesting that, rather than funny and acutely observed, it is simply a clumsy attempt to shock, which left no crass stereotype knowingly overlooked.

Scoppiettante e grottesco, questo libro assume ancora maggior valore se si pensa all'anno della sua pubblicazione, il 1967. R. non risparmia nulla e nessuno, sopratutto il protagonista, dalla sua critica acida al conformismo e alla ipocrisia, e cosparge tutto di osservazioni così emotivamente dettagliate che fanno stupire. Un grande scritto di liberazione dell'inconscio, per nulla catartico.

Philip Roth, erkekliğin kitabını yeniden yazdı. Histerik, kurnaz, hesaplı, korku ve beklentilerle dolu, ama çok da kıvrak, cazibeli, hatta cilveli bir kitap bu - neredeyse "öteki"nin kitabı.

Sıkça söylediği gibi insan dişisi, kadın olarak doğmuyor, bir kadın olarak inşa ediliyor. Ama erkek olmak için de yoğun bir inşaat faaliyeti gerekmekte, üstelik malzemelerden çalma şansı çok daha kısıtlı. En azından kahramanımız Portnoy için - ki bütün dünyada bir erkeğin başına gelebilecek en büyük talihsizlik onun da başındadır: Bir kadın tarafından doğurulmak ve yetiştirilmek.

Fakat talihsizlikler burada bitmez; bir de baba vardır, çekirdek aile cehennemi vardır. Üstelik Portnoy, Yahudidir; show more hiçbir yerde kendinizi yurdunda hissetmeyip hep başka diyarların düşünü kuran bir azınlık mensubudur. Ve her erkek gibi başındaki asıl bela, sonu gelmez istekleriyle ona dünyayı dar eden "koca kafalı canavar"dır. Bir türlü yatıştıramadığı canavarı ile annesinin demir pençesi arasında sıkışıp kalan Portnoy, bu uzun feryadıyla çağdaş edebiyat tarihinin en kıvrak, en keyifli, en edepsiz monologlarından birini yaratıyor.

Bir erkeğin cinsel gelişimini yer yer gerçekten çok komik ve sevimli, yer yer irkiltici olabilen serüvenleri üzerinden izlerken; bir yandan orta sınıf aile kültürünün dehşetini hissediyor, "büyüme" denen sürecin aslında nasıl azap dolu olduğunu hatırlıyoruz. Çağdaş Amerikan edebiyatının ustalarından Philip Roth, bu romanında argo ile ironiyi, fars ile trajediyi, kahkaha ile hüznü eşsiz bir kıvraklıkla harmanlıyor.

Herkesin kendi çocukluğundan ve annesinden bir şeyler bulacağı; herkesin kendi içindeki ötekiyle, kendi içindeki azınlıkla karşılaşacağı; kendi canavarını hatırlayacağı bir roman bu... çok komik, yakası açılmadık ve sevimli... Times Literary Supplement'a göre yüzyılın en iyi yüz romanından biri olan bu samimi itirafnameyi Türkçede yayımlamaktan sevinç duyuyoruz. show less

Portnoy's Complaint is not for the faint of heart or those who aren't inclined to read a novel that is far out of their comfort zone. To say the least. Philip Roth presents us here with the dark inner workings of what we've always suspected everyone else's brain is like but what really reflects what goes on in our own heads during our most frank moments towards ourselves. We read the ranting and ravings of a 'nice Jewish boy' in session with his therapist. Ironically the perspective isn't that of the therapist, which would be the traditional way of telling the story. Instead this is the 'unedited' stream of consciousness of Portnoy himself.

Perhaps a central theme of this novel is one man's confrontation with his past and his upbringing show more and how that has shaped his current life. As the reader we're left to guess what is fact, what is fiction and most of all what really contributed to Portnoy's extreme behavior and train of thought.

We learn that poor young Portnoy was the victim of an overbearing mother and a nondescript father. Both parents clearly know where their son should go and where he should end up in life. As you might expect from the Jewish angle in this book, the main means by which both parents (mostly the mother) steer their son is through endless waves of guilt. As so many times in character situations of this nature, the nature of the guilt is sex. In the case of Portnoy sex, or rather masturbation, was the only way in which he could separate himself from his family, specifically his mother. It was the only way in which he could maintain some sort of control over his own body and a sense of self. It sounds extreme, and it is, but from the story we learn that Portnoy's mother asserts control over her son in even intimate physical ways. Over the course of the novel we learn what deep effects Portnoy's upbringing has over his personal life. We also read how from the outside Portnoy is a well respected professional and outstanding member of society. Nothing about this man is normal however and Roth cleverly and clearly shows how many deviants can portray a facade completely different on the outside as to what is going on on the inside.

Whether Philip Roth was using intuition, personal experience or a lot of research into this particular domain of twisted relationships will forever remain a mystery. It is clear however that Roth plays the analyst as well as the patient and does so in a convincing way even though the events and thoughts of the protagonist are in most cases highly exaggerated. At least so we assume. Even though this type of extreme confrontational writing is not my preferred reading it does from time to time make it worth while past time, but only from the hands of a skilled writer. Roth shakes you up but he does it with a lot of humor and respect. show less