The Prague Orgy

Zuckerman bound is a four-volume trilogy plus epilogue comprising The ghost writer, Zuckerman unbound, The anatomy lesson and epilogue The Prague Orgy. It is a series of novels describing the rise of a Jewish novelist who resembles Philip Roth. Identity, particularly Jewish identity is one of the main themes in Roth's work.

I did not care much for The ghost writer which I read in 1996, and then abandoned the trilogy, but picking it up last November and reading Zuckerman unbound, I was gripped again as with many of his great novels.

While The ghost writer describes the struggles of the young, beginning writer, both the struggles with identity and carving out a place as a writer, in Zuckerman unbound the main character Nathan Zuckerman show more achieves celebrity status. At this stage the theme of identity gains a new dimensions broadening into exploring private and public appearance, and shaping a new identity as a successful, rich author.

The anatomy lesson is the next book in the trilogy. It is quitessential Roth. This novel is absolutely hilarious. I will never again look in the same way at a play mat. This novels is a must-read for fans of Roth.

Like Paul Auster, another Jewish-American author who often explores the Jewish identity, Roth is also unmistakenly attracted to Prague and Kafka. The Prague Orgy is a coda to the American trilogy. show less

Pretty interesting novella. You don't know what's real, and what's not. The narrator was suspected of being a spy by the Czech authorities when he's in Prague to obtain a story. The narrator doesn't know whom he can trust; anyone could be working for the authorities and reporting on him.

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Regular readers know that I'm in the process of getting through Philip Roth's remarkable nine-book autobiographical "Nathan Zuckerman" series, a slew of novels written from the 1970s through early 2000s that essentially record the entire history of the Postmodernist Era, by looking very pointedly at Roth's own life as a major tastemaker of these Postmodernist decades. And in fact for a long time, the short 1985 novella The Prague Orgy was the official endcap of what was known then as the "Zuckerman Trilogy" (consisting of The Ghost Writer, show more Zuckerman Unbound and The Anatomy Lesson), although the reason it's getting such a short write-up today is because there's simply not much to it; more a glorified short story than a standalone book, it tells the tale of Zuckerman traveling to an academic conference in '70s Communist Czechoslovakia, where in usual style he falls in with an absolutely insane femme fatale, gets dragged to a group-sex party held by one of the bright lights of the Czech intelligentsia, and eventually runs afoul of the local secret police, getting whisked away in the middle of the night and unceremoniously dumped on the first plane back to America. An interesting little ditty for what it is, it can nonetheless be charitably called the least essential Zuckerman book of the entire series, and can be pretty easily skipped unless coming across it in the famed '80s four-book compilation known as Zuckerman Bound; and this finally leads us to what's the most exciting part of the entire Zuckerman series, when in the '90s Roth started using this character merely as an everyman narrator for what is widely considered the best books of his career -- 1997's American Pastoral, 1998's I Married a Communist and 2000's The Human Stain. Expect write-ups of those to slowly start appearing here over the next year. show less

Sulle tracce del manoscritto inedito di un martire di lingua Yiddish, loscrittore americano Nathan Zuckerman a metà degli anni Settanta si reca nellaPraga dell'occupazione sovietica. Lì, in una nazione strangolata daltotalitarismo comunista, scopre una dimensione letteraria che non gliappartiene, segnata come dalla prevaricazione istituzionalizzata. E lì, fragli scrittori oppressi insieme ai quali si trova ben presto invischiato in unaserie di avventure bizzarre e struggenti, scopre anche una forma intrigante eperversa di eroismo. "L'orgia di Praga", che riproduce le pagine dei taccuinisui quali Zuckerman annota il suo soggiorno fra quegli artisti proscritti,funge da epilogo alla trilogia composta da "Lo scrittore fantasma", show more "Zuckermanscatenato" e "La lezione di anatomia", e appone un sigillo sensazionaleall'intricata struttura dell'opera magna di Roth sulle conseguenze imprevistedell'arte. show less

Auf der Suche nach dem unveröffentlichten Manuskript eines gemarterten jiddischen Schriftstellers reist der amerikanische Schriftsteller Nathan Zuckerman Mitte der 1970er Jahre in das sowjetisch besetzte Prag. Dort entdeckt er in einer Nation, die vom totalitären Kommunismus in eine Zwangsjacke gesteckt wurde, ein literarisches Dilemma, das von einer institutionalisierten Unterdrückung geprägt ist, die sich von seiner eigenen ziemlich unterscheidet. Unter den unterworfenen Schriftstellern, mit denen er sich schnell in eine Reihe bizarrer und ergreifender Abenteuer verwickelt, entdeckt er auch eine anziehend perverse Art von Heldentum. Die Prager Orgie,

Die Prager Orgie, bestehend aus Einträgen aus Zuckermans Notizbüchern, die show more seinen Aufenthalt unter diesen ausgestoßenen Künstlern festhalten, vervollständigt die Trilogie und den Epilog Zuckerman Bound. Sie bildet einen verblüffenden Abschluss von Roths aufwendig gestaltetem Hauptwerk über die unvorhergesehenen Folgen der Kunst. show less

De schrijver Zuckerman wordt door een gevluchte Tsjech overgehaald om de verhalen van diens vader bij zijn ex in Praag op te halen. De ex is het middelpunt van een groep gefrustreerde culturelen en partijmensen die elke week een orgie organiseren. Hij krijgt de verhalen, maar die worden meteen door de Minister van cultuur in beslag genomen. Die man weet precies hoe socialistische literatuur hoort te zijn! Zuckerman is blij dat hij het er zonder gevangenissen etc. afbrengt.
Een verhaal met verhalen: zijn die verhalen waar? Of worden ze verzonnen en aangepast aan de situatie?