Rating: 
Summary: Good, but.....
Review: ....I come away from it wondering, ultimately, where the author's sympathies lie, much the way I come from most of Roth's books. It's fine to show the weak points of all of your characters---Swede Levov's delusional notions of a crises-free life, his wife Dawn's love-hate relationship with her beauty pageant days, Jerry Levov's jealous vitrol, etc. etc.---but if everyone's flaws and warped dreams are the only thing that distinguish them, how are you suppose to empathise with any of them? Because we all carry these traits? Because we all have grand visions that get dashed? That's a hell of a note on life.I don't necessarily read fiction to be "uplifted," but I have real problems with books where the basic theme is "life is a cesspool disguised as a flower bed and when we discover that, it's too late to do anything about it and we're doomed to end life in misery." For all of the excellent writing in this book and despite the fact that the story does move you along, in the end I felt walluped over the head by the misery...not enlightened or thoughtful or, yes, empathetic for the Levovs and their world. Feel free to disagree.
Rating: 
Summary: Despair and Failure Beautifully Wrought
Review: "American Pastoral" is indeed a special book. It displays none of the often unsettling preoccupation with sex that some of Roth's other books do. This novel examines the rise and fall of a man with a life that all his acquaintances thought was blessed--a start athlete and war hero, who goes on successfully to run his father's glove factory. A non-religious Jew, he marries a pretty Catholic girl (the former Miss New Jersey!), lives in a nice house, and has a pretty daughter, Merry--slips comfortably, in other words, into mainstream America. Merry grows up, though, to be a sociopath, a fanatic, who as part of the general 60's counterculture movement, commits a terrible act of violence, and has to go into hiding...for the rest of her life. Her act destroys the foundations of Swede's world. We watch him and those close to him slowly disintegrate, emotionally and spiritually. Their decline is not a decline in material fortunes, but it is slow and gruelling nevertheless. Roth writes like an angel. Much of this book is expository, written in precise, evocative, sometimes Faulkneresque, sometimes academic prose. The characters are vivid, immediate, and believable. This is also an idea book, though, and often the ideas are left abstract...which isn't bad. Roth doesn't try to force answers where perhaps none exist. This book is truly a treat.
Rating:
Summary: American Demolition
Review: In American Pastoral, Phillip Roth presents a view of American life and the typical American dream of the 1960's. Through the voice of a bystander, Roth takes his readers into a world filled with not only love and adoration, but also hate and rebellion. The story is based on the life and fate of a man that seemed to be exempt from harm throughout almost almost his entire life. The stinging, but eventual downfall to Seymour "Swede" Levov's life is a bitter but heartwrenching tale about a father's unconditional love for his daughter. Swede Lelov led his life in a way that others marvelled and adored. During a time of war, Swede made his town forget about part of their world, and instead, focus on his outstanding athletic skill. "Through the Swede, the neighborhood entered into a fantasy about itself and about the world...our families could forget the way things actually work and make an athletic performance the repository of their hopes. Primarily, they could forget the war" (p.3-4). The Swede's life took away the everyday pain of all the others around him. The Swede then retreats further into the typical American success story and becomes a war hero, then later continues his family's business into prosperous new heights. To top off the dream life, he ends up marrying the former Miss New Jersey. A novel that starts out as a fairy tale ends in upheavel and loss, and truly shows the American Dream of the 60's demolished by political radicalism and everything else that surrounds it. The Swede's daughter Merry plants a fatal bomb in the local post office and ends up killing a doctor. It "Brought the war home to Lyndon Johnson by blowing up the post office in the general store" (p.68). In an attempt to make an anti-war statement, Merry not only brings the war home emotionally, but quite physically. For "Swede", "That bomb detonated his life. His perfect life was over" (p.69). The quintessential American dream that Swede Lelov's life was based on was completely shattered with the bomb. The Swede's life deteriorates right in front of the readers' eyes. His wife is committed into a mental hospital as the result of her not being able to deal with her daughter's actions, and this loss of his wife is followed by the eventual phyisical loss of his daughter (since he lost her emotionally many years ago). As a final downfall in his life, Swede's own health deteriorates at a rapid pace and he is left not only with the loss of the two women in his life, but also the feelings of failure and anguish over his life (that at once seemed unbelievably perfect). Roth presents an ironical end to a life that seemed to start so brightly. A lesson is learned through Roth's powerful words that readers will have no choice but to take to heart. American Pastoral is an excellent novel that brought world events close to home. The novel not only tells the story of a tragic family downfall, but also a tragic human downfall. Merry's actions serve as a righteous symbol for what was going on around the world and how the society's ignorance and denial of the war caused their own downfall. Roth's characterization is what truly brings the story together. "Swede's" initial coldness leaves the readers unable to understand and truly feel his magnificance, but through Roth's brilliant writing, as Swede's life falls down, so do the walls that surround his character. The readers are let into the world of an extremely heartbroken and emotional man. Through his trials and tribulations, readers are able to not only feel for his tragedy, but also for the tragedy of the world surrounding him. An additional note: The story touched me in a personal way, so excuse me if I'm biased. Not only my parents, but I also grew up in Newark, where the story is set. Being able to follow through the town's history in such a manner, made me feel so much more in touch with the novel. I felt like i was not only a reader of this world, but actually present in it. No matter what my biases are though, i would still be able to confidently comment that American Pastoral is an excellent read, and more than worthwhile....
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great...
Review: Swede Levov is the depiction of America at it's finest. Good looking, athletic, earnest, and sincere, he marries Miss New Jersey of 1949 and settles in the country. The couple has a daughter and all is well or at least bearable, until his daughter becomes a radical bomber, a la The Weathermen. What ensues is the destruction of the American Dream, the disintegration of what was gained through the hard working generation that brought the US through WWII, encapsulated in the tale of how the great 'Swede' was leveled by a bomb set off by his daughter. Given that it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1997, I feel almost guilty giving this book three stars. However, I don't feel it was an exceptional novel, but a good book that I would recommend reading. It has some wonderfully written narratives and Roth plays to his strong suit, describing the psyche of the story's protagonist. The biggest weaknesses of the book are the multitude of digressions about the glove industry and the plight of his beloved Newark. I felt as though he was repeating himself on these subjects throughout the novel. Roth's 'Swede' is a modern day Job, and the story serves as an allegory for post-WWII America. It is depressing as hell and I could not help but feel sorry for 'the Swede'. In the end, the final shreds of Swede's American Dream are cast away by those he loves most in what turns out to be a memorable description of the day where his worst fears are realized.
Rating:
Summary: American Tragedy
Review: Phillip Roth has written a follow-up to "Sabbath's Theater". This time the protagonist is the "anti-Sabbath". "Swede" Levov is a man who just wants his share of the American Dream. He is a Jew who looks like the Aryan ideal, a sports hero in school, a successful businesman who marries an all-American beauty queen and lives in a perfect house in the exurbs. As his carefully crafted life smashes headlong into the radicalism of the 60's, and his daughter commits an unspeakable act, Swede is left to wonder how he could have done everything right and had it all go horribly wrong. This book is way up there on my list of depressing novels. You're not going to feel good after reading it, but the book will stay in your mind for a long, long time. Swede's trials rival those of Job. They are truly biblical in their scope. Swede hasn't the vitality, juice and life-force of Roth's Sabbath. Unlike Sabbath, Swede lived by the rules and the rules let him down. A book you won't soon forget.
Rating: 
Summary: depressing but excellent
Review: Maybe The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich was more depressing than American Pastoral. There are some sections toward the end which it seems are unnecessary, but for the most part this is an important book with a message that stays with the reader. Is it inevitable that--no matter how perfect one may be in terms of physical gifts, intelligence, responsibility, and character; no matter how wisely we make choices--is it inevitable that we will all be victims of unavoidable problems that are part of life. Will we all be visited by an incubus that messes with our conscious and conscience? If carcinogens pervade the being of Swede Levov are we all doomed to suffer from the same form of cancer? A real laugh a minute is American Pastoral, but I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Stays with you
Review: When I began this book, I was fascinated by the extreme reactions of other Amazon reviewers, who gave it everything from 1 star to 5 stars. When I finished the book, I immediately felt closer to a 1-star reviewer. About 10 minutes later, I suddenly switched to 5 stars. And now, were it an option, I'd give it 6 stars. "American Pastoral" is structured so that the reader truly becomes a participant in the storytelling. This results in the story and its all-too-human characters getting incredibly under one's skin, as we share and relate their dilemmas to our own lives. I believe it is a true masterwork.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I so, so so much wanted to like this book, and find something profound within it. But I didn't. poor old Swede. poor fellow me. What a humbug. Even the radicalness of his daughter was humbug. Or is that the point and I missed it? I find Roth's writing boring and self-absorbed. And condescending towards the working class, as depicted in the glove factory employees. A man without empathy is the voice I hear from this author. Still looking for the Great American Novel....
Rating:
Summary: American Pastoral
Review: American Pastoral is a uniquely fine book with a sharp mental edge throughout. The author is not without his eccentricities-e.g., Roth has some of the longest paragraphs I've ever seen-and the reading can be laborious, but the payoff is significant. The literary trip alone is a major joy, and I would highly recommend the journey.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly shows how events beyond our control shape us
Review: I have to admit, I am one of those people who often looks at people who are tremendously successful in various areas of their lives and think to myself how nice it must be to have all the fortune that those people have. In this novel, Philip Roth illustrates how truly little control we have over our destiny, how events that we are incapable of controlling can profoundly effect us, no matter how good or honorable a life we try to lead. Seymour Levov, the main character in this novel, starts off as one of those ultra-fortunate individuals, who is the object of envy to many, but has his life completely shattered because of circumstances he couldn't control or forsee. What impressed me most about this novel was how well-developed not only the main characters were, but also the care that Roth took to fully develop even the most minor of characters, so that we really get a sense of each characters personality, motivation, and perception of the world. I took one star away because some of the middle portions of the novel I found rather slow. Some of this slow portion was probably neccessary to make the novel as richly detailed as it was and to fully develop the characters. Some portions however, particularly the immensely detailed description of the glove manufacturing process, did little to add to the novel except to prove that the author did a lot of research, none of which makes for very interesting reading unless you happen to be planning on starting your own glove factory. The novel is definitely good enough to make these occasional dull moments worth stuggling through, though.
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