The Actual

Harry Trellman is a man who just doesn’t belong. Raised in an orphanage (despite having two living parents), and possessed with an impassive face, he lives on the edge of society. Yes, he’s successful in business and has many acquaintances, but he doesn’t really connect with anyone, maintaining an observer’s distance. And he IS a keen observer. It is this skill that leads multibillionaire Sigmund Adletsky to hire Harry; and it is through Sig that he is thrown together with his first love, Amy Wustrin, whom he still loves and has loved silently for forty years.

Through his omniscient narrator, Bellow allows the reader insight into the thoughts, feelings, flaws and strengths of the characters.

Bellow is a wonderful writer but this show more slim little volume just didn’t do it for me. I appreciated it, but I didn’t love it. In fairness, I have to admit that I was reading it when I was sick and having trouble concentrating for more than a page or two at a time. As a result, a book that should have taken me just a couple of days, took me nearly a week to complete. I’m sure my enjoyment of this work suffered as a result, but there you have it. show less

The Actual is minor-Bellow, a story about reconnection between old lovers and the memories of the aging elite in 1990s Chicago. Still, though, Bellow's minor works are better than most books.

I like to think that I'm fairly well read. Some might even call me a book snob. Many of my favorite authors are those that others dislike because they are too difficult or too literary or too ~insert witty complaint here~. That said, I didn't get this novel. I mean I understand that it was about the abiding love the protagonist had for his high school girlfriend, a love that endured his moves to China and Burma, his failed marriage, her two failed marriages and forty years. However, the story read as it was about so much more than that and that is where Bellow lost me.

I'm really struggling to put into words how I felt about this novel. It was beautifully written and the underlying theme was easy to decipher, but I just can't shake the show more thought that I'm missing something. It actually puts me off reading other novels by Bellows. I'm afraid that if I'm stymied by his shortest offering, that his longer novels will be completely outside of my comprehension. I know he's a great author and I know his novel is great, so it must be me that is the problem in this equation. Perhaps I will give Bellow another try in a couple years when I have put a little more of my life behind me. show less

As a reading experience, this one was mixed. The writing was good - interesting and thought-provoking. As a story it was odd - past and present intermixed with no clear, discernible point - and I didn't care for the characters much. I did like the idea of the individual as something unique and not able to be duplicated.

The Actual: a novella is Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow's sophisticated, witty remembrance of Harry Trellman's youthful first love, Amy Wustrin, or as he recounts his "love object" when he was a smitten boy of twelve. As part of the same Chicago social set from the early days of middle school to four decades later, Harry still has a warm spot for Amy in his heart despite their own individual failed marriages and life journeys. Bellow examines young love from the perspective of a mature, experienced male, yet successfully captures Harry's youthful feelings of longing, desire and his innocent, spontaneous awkward gestures of sexual awakenings towards his first girlfriend. A precocious reader will joyfully gain insight into the egotism of show more youth, and observe the self-assurance that many young males, who may not be classically handsome, pursue their desire of affection through brain power and tenacity. Bellow employs a self depreciating style of writing here reminiscent of a Woody Allen movie: humorous but ironically tragic as well. I would include this romantic novella as part of my library collection for those bright or gifted students who are seeking a higher literary style of writing. show less

Ageing affairs of the heart described through thoughts of chinese looking guy finally popping the question at the graveside of his life long love's former husband. A simple read but Bellow's style is clear.

Ok, I tried. This novella is only about 100 pages long, but I got 10 pages in and I'm just not in any way interested. He's not Chinese, but he sort of looks like he's Chinese, so he goes to China for five years, but returns to Chicago to be near a woman he hasn't seen in 15 years because he's never been able to stop thinking about her, but then he's told he looks like he's Japanese, and gosh that's true! so he cuts his hair to look more Japanese, and he goes to a dinner party with rich people, then runs into the woman he's been pining over for 15 years and doesn't recognize her, and I just couldn't go any further. Another one off my shelf!