The Human Stain
Philip Roth
Vintage Books, 2000
First impression:
So far, the novel has been nothing but captivating, although Roth has a slightly confusing tendency to "insert in an uncommon order his adverbial phrases". In style he reminds me of both Paul Auster and Kurt Vonnegut, however not as respectively crude or comical, but brutally honest and hosting a number of interesting perspectives.
Review:
I enjoyed this very much initially, because of its sympathetic objectivity, or perhaps subjectivity, I'm not quite sure. As I continued reading, however, I was slightly bored with the dramatic indulgence common in American literature. The issues were made clear relatively early and then dwelled upon for a little too long to keep me focused. But as the theme admittedly is very interesting, I will not be too harsh in grading the work. Roth interests me as a writer, and I hope to have a go at Portnoy's Complaint before I judge him any further.
Rating: Good
April 22, 2010
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Hi there, Your blog showed up in my Reader under the Philip Roth heading. Since Roth is my favorite author, I wanted to say thanks for the write-up on this book. I agree with some of your points and like what you said about the book.
ReplyDeletePortnoy's Complaint is incredibly funny and daring for its time. I loved it, but the book that shows Roth at his finest, not that you asked, is American Pastoral. Like Human Stain and The Plot Against America, it uses periods in American history as a backdrop and a plot point in the development of story and character. It's brilliantly done, too. I hope you'll give it a shot.
And by the way, I love the uncommon order of Roth's adverbial phrases. It's so Rothian.