American Pastoral

Rating:
Summary: A disturbing and stimulating book.
Review: Phillip Roth again shows intellect,skill and honesty in this book.The conflicts,betrayals and cruelties are disturbing but ring mostly true.The spirit and courage,along with the patches of humour-mostly black,depicted are inspiring. Overall a satisfying,if somewhat bleak,story by a highly skilled author who is not afraid of great openness and honesty.

Rating:
Summary: A Weary Read
Review: I actually chose NOT to finish this book after plodding my way through over half of it. Discussions with about 10 other people provided the same responses. Only 2 actually finished it and adviced me not to bother. I tried to force my way through it, but...life's too short. There are too many great books calling my name.

Rating:
Summary: Left me gasping for air
Review: I rate this book a five only because it was written by Philip Roth one of America's best living writers. But sadly this book does not make it. Had this been written by a first time novelist it would have been dropped on the lowliest reader's desk and if it came without return postage put out with the rest of the "round file" stuff. His language tends to be Rothian which is the only good thing in this book. But his endless background information about characters breaks all the rules: telling about them instead of showing us. Oh, Philip, tsk tsk. In addition to the lack of dramatic force, all of the characters sound exactly the same in their complaining and self-rightousness--like some grumbling 70 year old retired dry cleaner or for that matter glove maker. I'm sorry that I am so down on this book because I wanted to like it. But what really killed it for me is the malevolence shown to Vietnam war protesters as if they were all bombers, or if they weren't bombers then they had to be goody two shoe limousine liberals. Sorry. Just one other thing. I'm sure my book group won't entirely agree with me.

Rating:
Summary: this was a failure
Review: unlike his other books this one just did not hold the same poise as the others, it is a slow read and by the end the reader is so bored that they resent even reading it, i dont think anyone should read unless they need some good sleep

Rating:
Summary: Great! Real life as chaos and confusion
Review: I listened to the book performed on tape and it made all the difference. I'm not sure I would have had the patience to read some of the endless descriptions, but I never fast-forwarded the dramatic voice! There was an instant bond to one who grew up in Essex and Morris Counties in NJ. My only hesitation in rating this book higher was that while daughter Mary and other "Weathermen" characters talked about the great profit mongers, neither Swede nor his father ever internally face the unfair profit margin they used in order to gain such wealth. The reader is left to believe that the best worker the Lavov's had, a Black woman who managed the shop and felt an ownership and pride in it, was probably not paid a very high salary. They gave what many give - the annual holiday gifts, the days off, etc. and felt they were doing well for their employees. Yet how did they manage to make millions and millions of dollars? Not by sharing a lot of that wealth - that's for sure. But Roth never has them face this during any of their internal dialogues. Otherwisel, I really enjoyed listeneing to the struggles and although it was sad, seeing Swede finally understand that real people are not Johnny Appleseeds nor devils - just something in between.

Rating:
Summary: Another Roth Masterpiece
Review: To conservatives, another Roth masterpiecce will be another headache. Do you remember The Counterlife? Yes, that was another Roth masterpiece. Remember how unconventional it was? Well, this book is again very unconventional. Not only in terms of plot, but also the way it's structered. See, Zuckerman isn't telling the story of the main character, The Swede. No, he's imagining what happened. So, much in the style of Heller (or Roth, who came up with this first?), the events of the novel aren't really the events of the novel. But, if they were the events, then this is a crazy story. And the crazy story Roth spins is highly engrossing and orginal. But, then again, when Roth gives his best, be perpared to amazed.

Rating:
Summary: American Pastoral made me think Jewish
Review: American Pastoral made me think Jewish. The conversation format brought back memories. It grasps the reader and doesn't let go. Cheryl Singer

Rating:
Summary: Nathan Zuckerman asleep
Review: The action is all over the place, thin and stretched out between glove making and raising bull. The Swede's daughter's curriculum vitae just simply does not make sense. And why all these hebraeic asides, if they have nothing to do with the story? This book is not really well thought out

Rating:
Summary: A materpiece!
Review: I loved this book. Roth had become so hard to read in recent years that I was reluctant to pick this up but I found it as enjoyable as anything he has ever done. A pentrating look into the lives of my father's generation, men of limitless ambition but limited abilities. It chilled me to the bone. It said so much about being Jewish in America in the 20th century and about being american post world war 2 that it should be required reading in college history classes. Of course, it is written in the typical roth prose, shining like a gem throghout. I recommend this to everyone I know and even though it was slow in parts -- why is that such a crime? isn't real life slow in parts, too? -- i was very sorry when it ended. Mazeltov to Roth but this is a book for non-jews as well. The Swede is one of the great characters of modern american fiction. fantastic

Rating:
Summary: A Deeply Affecting book
Review: As a new fan of Philip Roth, I was amazed by this book. I feltengrossed in his sense of history, and the iner lives of thecharacters. The ability to perceive that inner life and what constitutes an inner life while showing the world another face was fascinating and Roths delving into the psyche of this charachter is remarkable.