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Summary: Really, really sad. Really, really painful.
Review: It took quite a while to get through "American Pastoral" -- probably because the Swede was such a sad, pained character...what else could really go wrong?
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Summary: Compelling
Review: Compelling, even if the author's penchant for too much detail at times slows the pace down. In the end you come away with the satisfaction of reading a really good book.Venkat
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Summary: A thoughtful novel
Review: This is a powerful work of fiction that is, at least in part, an analogy of the loss of American stability brought about by the sixties culture. Philip Roth frames his story around the Levov family, and the horrible ordeals that they endure when one of their own goes terribly wrong. Most of the characters are drawn with compassion, and this is especially true with regard to the character of Lou Levov. Although this is a sad novel, there are moments of gentle humor. The dialogue is almost always excellent and entirely believable. While American Pastoral is an excellent literary work, one wishes that it were just a bit longer and answered a few more questions. Perhaps that is intentional, given that one of the book's themes is that there are some things that can not be understood by human reasoning alone. This is a very serious novel well worth reading.
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Summary: Potent prose, plot, but long winded.
Review: My first experience w/ Phillip Roth, and I was impressed by his range to depict the mood of an era with such accuracy and emotion. The paperback version extends past 400 pages, and Roth would have not lost much by trimming it to 300.
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Summary: Wow, this is the bomb! Amy.
Review: Phillip Roth's uncanning ability to capture the essence of my life is like a trip through the bowels of my mind. To fully understand the creative genius of T.Poll you MUST read this novel. Gee, Amy was right on.
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Summary: A Very Rare Reading Experience
Review: Or at least for me it was. American Pastoral is a rare reading experience, both for its lyric descriptions of family turmoil, and its awesome sympathy for its main character, the Swede. Roth very well demonstrates that longing in all of us to be the big man in the world, and how being that big man isn't all it's cracked up to be. The beginning doesn't seem to be related at all with the rest of the story, and the general plot is thin, but affecting nonetheless. Be prepared though; this is one overwhelmingly sad book.
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Summary: Wow! This book just blew me away
Review: Absolutely intriguing! What more can I say. The Swede is such a carefully created character. I can sympathize with him at times, but Merry's actions were the only way to wake him up to real life. He created his own perfect world, and she showed him that it was a farse. It seemed like everything was going right for him always, but even the Swede couldn't make complete perfection.
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Summary: This book shows the effect on a man when his child murders.
Review: The special power of this book is in showing how a man who went from high school sports hero to US Marine to a successfull business man with a beauty queen wife can have his life turned on its head when his daughter becomes a terrorist and murderer in the late 60s. It makes you question values about family and country. The reasearch that Roth has done on the fringe left groups is also rather amazing, containing many small details that not many would care to look for.
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Summary: First Time Roth Reader:
Review: I shouldn't be writing this, having not even gone onethird through the book. However, as a first time roth reader, just wanted to say, while sometimes the text tends to be a little too detailed, there are many portions which delve so accurately into the human psyche. Good read...will go on!
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Summary: Roth writes with insight, wit and poetic beauty.
Review: I have never been so deeply engrossed in a book, so early into the novel. To use the author's own words, the reader is "[transported]...out of the longed-for American pastoral and into everything that is its antithesis and its enemy, into the fury, the violence, and the desperation of the counterpastoral--into the indigenous American berserk." I have been reading this book with a pen in hand, so that I can underline all the passages that I never want to forget. As it turns out, I find myself underlining most of the book.
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