He's baaaack! In a switch from his recent narratives of post middle age misfits, Roth zeros in on a Jewish youth who will never reach maturity, but in many ways gets just as screwed up. He is reared in the environs of his father's kosher butcher shop, where is learns the trade from the slaughterhouse to the sales counter: just the start of his troubles. Amid the chaos of the Korean War, he escapes by matriculating to college in, of all places, Winesburg, Ohio: but not quite that of Sherwood Anderson. Try as he might to lead a quiet academic life he is surrounded by misfits who eventually cause his dismissal and enrollment in the Army. As in most of his novels Roth dwells over and over on sexual innuendo and in particular one pleasurable pastime that, if you believe him, seems to be foremost in the minds of those of his persuasion. Too, he continues to prove the Cole Porter lines from âAnything Goesâ that âGood authors too who once knew better words, now only use four letter words writing prose.â His favorite, a rather unique vernacular word that dubs as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, and participle, has become as common in use as âain't.â The other, derived closely from its Latin root, is probably considered to be the crudest in the English language. And oh, did I mention that I now feel nearly qualified to be a kosher butcher? He dives into this trade so frequently and with such detail that I might have been reading âMoby Dickâ and learning the art of whale hunting. His hero, you ask? Well he ends up much like the chickens in the slaughterhouse, although not kosher. But there is yet a story intermingled with all of this and I still enjoy reading his novels; I devoured this one in an afternoon. With another hitting the bookstores as I finished I wonder, âIs Zuckerman really finished?â
In 1951, during the second year of the Korean War, an intensely studious young man has just transferred from Newark, New Jersey to begin his sophomore year on the highly conservative campus of Winesburg College in Ohio. As the son of a kosher butcher, Marcus Messner finds that he can no longer take his father's attitude towards him. It would seem as if Marcus' father - the once-sturdy, hardworking neighborhood butcher - has become increasingly fearful for his beloved son. While Marcus' harried, long-suffering mother claims that his father's apprehension only stems from his immense love and pride in Marcus and his many accomplishments, the young man can no longer deny that his father's treatment of him has produced too much tension in their relationship.
To Marcus, the once jovial and diligent store-owner seems to have changed almost overnight. His inexplicable anxiety seems to stem primarily from the man's misperceptions about the dangers of adult life, the dangers of the world, the dangers that he imagines lurks around every corner for his beloved boy. It is this eccentric behavior that finally forces Marcus to move far away from his parents; as he believes that he can no longer endure their stifling behavior. So Marcus leaves the local college where he is originally enrolled and transfers to the pastoral, illustrious and elite campus of Ohio's Winesburg College.
It is in this midwestern college, where Marcus must find his own way among the customs and constrictions of a completely different world. Philip Roth's twenty-ninth novel Indignation, is a remarkable departure from his more recent books; this is a story of inexperience, foolishness, sexual discovery, intellectual resistance, courage, personal integrity, and error. It is a powerful story told with all the inventiveness and wit that the author has at his command.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; although I cannot adequately explain what I liked most about the story. In my opinion, it was a easy read for me, and quite a unique story. I found myself avidly wanting to know what would happen next and how the story would eventually develop. I would certainly give this book an A+!
To Marcus, the once jovial and diligent store-owner seems to have changed almost overnight. His inexplicable anxiety seems to stem primarily from the man's misperceptions about the dangers of adult life, the dangers of the world, the dangers that he imagines lurks around every corner for his beloved boy. It is this eccentric behavior that finally forces Marcus to move far away from his parents; as he believes that he can no longer endure their stifling behavior. So Marcus leaves the local college where he is originally enrolled and transfers to the pastoral, illustrious and elite campus of Ohio's Winesburg College.
It is in this midwestern college, where Marcus must find his own way among the customs and constrictions of a completely different world. Philip Roth's twenty-ninth novel Indignation, is a remarkable departure from his more recent books; this is a story of inexperience, foolishness, sexual discovery, intellectual resistance, courage, personal integrity, and error. It is a powerful story told with all the inventiveness and wit that the author has at his command.
I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; although I cannot adequately explain what I liked most about the story. In my opinion, it was a easy read for me, and quite a unique story. I found myself avidly wanting to know what would happen next and how the story would eventually develop. I would certainly give this book an A+!
