Ravelstein

Rating:
Summary: Well-written,
Review: entertaining, and, unfortunately, symbolically true. Why? Because it's a pseudo-biography of Alan Bloom, neo-con author of the fascinating, infuluential,and confused book "The Closing of the American Mind." Bellow was his friend and admirer, and has painted an interesting portrait of the man who taught students like Paul Wolfowitz. A Wolfowitz-like character appears several times in the book at the other end of a telephone line. Ravelstein is well-connected in DC. Unfortunately for people who love peace and freedom.

Rating:
Summary: It's only alive while Ravelstein is
Review: In this faux memoir, Bellow gives us Abe Ravelstein, a fascinating, infuriating and ultimately delightful character. This is the book's problem. Being so much larger than life, Ravelstein's presence overwhelms all the other characters so that they totally disappear into the background. When Ravelstein dies, the book for all intents and purposes ends as an interesting read. It limps along with Chick's own brush with death which just feels tacked on. I am aware that this book has a basis in reality, but it just doesn't hold together well. The character that Bellow has created in Ravelstein; regardless of his origin, deserved better.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bellow's Best
Review: Near the end of this novel the narrator, Chick, life-long friend of Ravelstein (presumably Allan Bloom of the University of Chicago), describes a serious episode of heart failure. These pages are remarkably well-done, but like much of this novel, it's hard to find much on Ravelstein in these pages. Mr. Bellow somewhere in effect admits that his medical problems may be a bit of a departure from the main story line. Fair enough. Unfortunately, the story is a rambling set of recollections; it is difficult to discard anything, and just about everything is fair game in this novel that manages, despite its inclusiveness, to give short shirft to its central character, Ravelstein. When we do meet him, we find precious little exceptional. His materialism is right out of the GQ "central casting" department. We're assured he studied the classics, but when is beyond me, given his propensity to shop. If you want to know about Professor Bloom, you would do much better going directly to the source, particularly his translation of Plato's Republic. You won't learn much about Bloom's apparent weakness for tailored, crisply laundered (wrapped, not on hangers, Bellow assures us) shirts, but you'll get much closer than Ravelstein can bring you to understanding his exceptional mind.

Rating:
Summary: not a good place to start
Review: This is the third book by Saul Bellow that I have read, starting with Henderson the Rain King, Humbolt's Gift, and now Ravelstein and I have to say that I feel like I am going downhill fast. I have also noticed too many similarities between the main characters in all of these books to make me think each one is strikingly original.
I don't understand why Bellow is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. There are moments of poetic brilliance, no doubt about it, but not enough to sustain a whole work. Ravelstein meanders around a thin plot and jumps between locations and times much to rapidly for me to follow. This book seems to be more of a short history of each character with more details than needed rather than a traditional story. After reading other reviews I now understand this is a biography of sorts, unfortunately I didn't know that when I started reading it. All in all I think this will be the last Bellow book that I read. It wasn't all bad but it sure wasn't genius as some people claim.

Rating:
Summary: Of Chick and Ravelstein
Review: Ravelstein is about a lopsided Platonic love affair between Chick and Abe Ravelstein that is more than friendship with mutual ethnic backgrounds, interests, tastes, etc. The heart of the matter is that Chick is very attached to Ravelstien from which his thoughts rarely stray, whether it is to his wife, girlfriend or anybody else. Ravelstein is the confident, egotistical, know-it-all - a bon vivant savant -- and, perhaps, a good character study of Alan Bloom. Despite Ravelstein's flaws, which are many, Chick sees something admirable in him: a zest for life, brilliance, a well formed and informed Platonic mind, the qualities of a magnanimous personality, etc. But the down side of it is that Ravelstein always leads and Chick is left only to follow, admire, absorb, and be something of a spongy handmaiden to his personality, insights and philosophy. Sad. Though Chick may benefit at times, he is the weaker personality and he knows it. As the name Chick implies, he is more the woman in the relationship. Ravelstein is placed on an high pedestal and is admired by Chick like some male Greek god who has descended to earth.

In many ways Ravelstien is also a deformity of nature and modern society: one foot three times as large as the other, gay, a leader of a cult of student disciples who have given up their families, a man with ancient esoteric knowledge and principles, etc. He is a man uncomfortable with his times but he makes the best of it by writing a book that is a searing critique and indictment of liberal education in America and, ironically, the book becomes a best seller. Chick, the second fiddle, is given the task to write about Ravelstein's life, once it is known that Ravelstein is dying of AIDS. Again, Chick who likes footnotes, becomes exactly that in comparison to the larger than life but dying Ravelstein. Chick doesn't mind for he realizes that he is good at some things and he sees it as an honour to try and capture, in words, the character of this great man.

Ravelstein is a great book which addresses many themes. Love and death are central to it. The sad part of it is that Chick, the poet, is by Ravelstein's admission, a lesser human being than a philosopher -- just as women are lesser than men. Not that Chick can't crudely be loved by him, but there is a pecking order after all. The poet is always below the philosopher. For me this principle always gets in the way of true human love with Ravelstein. There is a condition placed on human love that is foreign to it. It seems that Ravelstein is always curious about human love and it may be that his Eros is always directed to the great ideas and texts. This is where he feels whole. Regular human beings are another story. So much for ancient gods who lived in the 20th century.