Rating: 
Summary: I pity the tree that died to make paper for this book
Review: I'm hesitant to give this book a poor review because it will, in turn, affect my rating negatively. However, I cannot in good conscience suggest to the average reader that s/he waste good money on this book. If you want to read it, support your local library. If you want to buy a book, I suggest you look elsewhere.Nathan Zuckerman, a friend of the protagonist, Coleman Silk, narrates "The Human Stain". In the story, Coleman approached Nathan to tell his, Coleman's, story. Most of the story that Nathan tells is based on his conjecture. He discusses a diary to which he's never given access. He discusses events that may or may not have happened. Coleman's parents and siblings play but a small role in the book. With the exception of them and of Faunia, Coleman's lover, none of the characters is likeable. Indeed, many were downright despicable. Maybe some readers will find this true to life. I did not. I only finished the book because I continued to hope that it would get better. It did not. If this is a good book, then I wasted several years in school. Remember diagramming sentences? If I gave a typical sentence from "The Human Stain" to a class to diagram, the class would collectively walk out. I don't know to what audience the book was geared, but it often came off as quite pretentious. I love to read, and was horribly disappointed by this book. The bare bones of the story were good. Fleshed out, it wasn't.
Rating: 
Summary: "Unknowable" Characters?
Review: Reading the reviews of "The Human Stain" on this site reminds me of Roth's dictum that everyone is unknowable -- we're each always wrong in our interpretation of another's motives and story. Reviewers' responses to Roth's characters may not be "wrong,' but they're multitudinous. To one, the time spent inside the head of the traumatized Vietnam vet is an astonishing tour-de-force; to another, it's a sorry patchwork of Vietnam-literature cliches. To one, Fawnia's lyrical internal response to her life's tragedies is photorealism; I myself found her a bit of a literary construct at times (though the revelation that she's not illiterate provides some cover). I don't know that we need worry whether Roth's characters are "real": to me the bottom line is that they are all alive -- with rage, lust, tenderness, sheer verbal exuberance. I think that in recent years Roth has penetrated to a region where, though he may recognize that he cannot "understand" anyone, he can *imagine* anyone with an intensity that leaves an indelible impression -- or stain.
Rating: 
Summary: Roth is a Literary Genius When Revealing Human Rage
Review: This book had a minor plot which stunned me. I expected the book to be solely about Coleman Silk - the Black man "hiding out" as a White man so he could have his dream career, as a professor of Classics. But Roth had a big surprise in store for us with this book - his depiction of Les Farley, the Vietnam Vet, who is the ex-husband of Silk's girlfriend. As usual, there is no better writer than Roth when it comes to revealing deep-seated human rage. Farley barely speaks in most of the book, but Roth takes us on a journey way beneath the surface of this man. Roth shows us that Vietnam took out this man's guts, unraveled them slowly in the most painful way possible, and then just stuffed them right back in. The passage that most took my breath away was one in which Farley, who is in a therapy group made up of ex-Vets, is lead by the group to have dinner in a Chinese restaurant. I have never served in Vietnam, and naively, didn't understand at first, why Roth was writing about some minor character's trip to a Chinese Restaurant, which is an everyday event for most of us. But as Roth reveals each and every thought this man has, we see that he was so traumatized by having fought in Vietnam, that he can barely even enter the restaurant. (The group forces its members to go, thinking this trip will help them heal their traumas.)Every Asian face, the sight of chopsticks, even the cooking smells, bring back the worst of the worst memories of Farley's experiences. I was especially amazed at Roth's ability to capture a person's detailed memories and, in particular, such appalling ones, when Roth, himself, never fought in Vietnam. I would love to hear from any Vietnam Vets re: whether Roth really hit it on the money with this piece of writing. The rest of the book was fine; although sad. It seems that the best part of Coleman Silk's life was when he had to hide whom he truly was; but I expected this to be the case. The truly unexpected piece of genius was the depiction of the Vietnam Vet; when I finished the book, it was this character that I will never forget. I have read several of Roth's books; he is the absolute master at displaying deepseated individual human rage.
Rating:
Summary: great reading
Review: Being a european from Holland and not excactly the ultimate intellectual- non the less a regular reader of anything that catches my mind- I must say I really like this book. It sort of agrees whith what I have been thinking all along. About human nature sure, but also about the unimpeacheble states of America. It is very well written, full of imagination and I don't need a dictionary to understand it. But this is not all. The man actually explains his views in a manner that is understandable. This he does by storytelling and so it should be. Sure, in Dutch I would write a semi-intellectual nonsense review, but happily now I just have the possibillity to say as I feel. And let me tell you, I like the book. Read it in no time. Gave me a lot. And what more could you want? From a book I mean. So thank you. Mr Roth. L.
Rating:
Summary: This one won't be made into a "Major Motion Picture"
Review: As a Roth fan I wanted to love the book. I couldn't wait to start it after reading about the incident that sets the story in motion---Protagonist Coleman Silk, a 70+ year-old college prof, makes an innocent yet thought-to-be racist remark about two absent students who happen to be black. He's fired and this causes his melt down and fuels his desire to seek revenge for the wrong that's been done to him. Add to this the secret Coleman's been hiding---that he himself is actually black but has passed himself off as white for 50 years, even disowning his mother. This is all intriguing stuff with plenty of conflict promised, but after this wonderful set-up I found the story didn't hold my interest. Though wronged, Coleman is an arrogant, unsympathetic character who has lied about his life, abandoned his mother, and has an affair with an illiterate cleaning woman. Complex character, yes, but pretty pathetic and frankly I didn't care about him. And there's too much backstory about Coleman's life which slowed the story's momentum for me. Perhaps this explains why I didn't like the book--I thought one of the "best" parts (that is, when my interest was piqued) was when Coleman overhears a lenghty conversation about the Monica-Clinton affair. It's funny and titilating; however, has only a thematic tie to the story, nothing to do with the acutal plot. It's unfortunate that this peripheral tidbit was most interesting passage. (I'd tell you the page # so you can just flip to it at the bookstore, but that would be wrong.....)
Rating: 
Summary: A Student on Stain
Review: There is no reason to hate this book, but there is no reason to love it either. Forget the occational sex scene (and you most likely will) and all that's left is Roth's characteristic judgement-at-a-distance writing style. Human Stain is relevant, although not poignant.
Rating:
Summary: The Human Stain: Slowly Paced Yet Methodical and Extensive
Review: Phillip Roth's The Human Stain demonstrates some of the most dynamic characterization that I've ever witnessed. Each of Roth's creations carry with them all of the pain, grief, shame anguish, and humanity that I am beginning to recognize, as I grow up, in each and every person in my life. Moreover, all of these elements are marvelously displayed through Roth's highly adroit use of the omniscient point of view. As the author leaps from one character's voice to another, the reader is allowed to peek intimately into damaged psyche of each character. Nearly all of the novel is devoted to acquainting the reader with each character's history, and desires; in this sense, the plot is slow moving and, at times, nearly non-existent. To counter the sometimes-overwhelming effects of the vast expanses of character minutia, Roth included a narrator. The narrator is attempts to recollect the development of his relationship with the protagonist as it developed in his own experience. That is, through a great deal of investigation, interaction with people surrounding the protagonist, and finally an analysis of the protagonist's own suggestions. The book deals mainly with privacy in our society and the obstacles that race, sexuality, and politics present to it. Overall, I found The Human Stain to be good read.
Rating:
Summary: Overblown and Pretentious
Review: Rejoice! Another Great Writer is in our midst! The great Philip Roth, no less, and he is proclaiming it to the world! Note the page-long paragraphs! Note the tortured sentence structure! Note the lack of such fundamental techniques as the use of the semicolon! But he doesn't need that! No! He's an American original! A treasure! Or so he thinks. The story is about Coleman Silk, a classics professor at a tiny eastern university, who at the apex of his career is falsely accused of making a derogatory comment about two black students he has never even seen. An academic feeding frenzy ensues which destroys his career, and which he believes causes the stroke which kills his wife. The irony is that Silk, a black man, has passed himself off as a white man for the last forty years. An interesting idea, particularly in our current society with its suffocating political correctness. It is a promising theme: the Human Stain of the title referring not only to the central character's skin color, but also to the blemish on our soul which enables us to be so petty and cruel to one another. But it is just horribly executed. Roth presents what we know to be true without any freshness or originality, and strains our credulity with things that we may not have known. The Viet Nam vet is a perfect example of this: his experience in the war is a patchwork of things such as we've witnessed in literally hundreds of novels and films; yet he's still exorcising these demons 26 years after his return, and part of the cure is learning to eat at a Chinese restaurant. Huh? I've never heard of this; perhaps I missed something, but this seems like a real stretch to me. The black family in 1940's New Jersey is another one. Silk is valedictorian of his high school class, a track star and an unbeaten boxer. Everything comes easy to him, and his race seems to be only a very minor impediment to both he and his family. But remember, this is the forties, and all good little Americans have been taught that black people suffered horribly in these times. So what is it? No, I'm not saying that their lives as they are presented are impossible, or even improbable, but it is certainly unusual, and the sister's explanation towards the end is too little, too late, and tacked on. All of the characters are flawed, grossly or slightly, from the loony French professor to the unbelievable cowgirl, but the worst sin is in the narrative itself. I will confess that I haven't read any Roth since Portnoy's Complaint, and I don't remember that much about it, but I do remember that it was a well-told, compelling story. This one is turgid, with its run-on sentences, page-long paragraphs, and mind-numbing narrative and character summaries. Nothing happens in this book. Ever. But it grinds on, utterly devoid of humor or wit. Even his comments on the Clinton scandal, disguised in an overheard conversation, are not only dull, but vulgar, and completely unnecessary. In fact, nothing from this bloated mess is expurgated. Mr. Roth, critically acclaimed, seems to be suffering under the delusion that his legions of fans can't bear to be without even his idlest or most mundane little thoughts. I have news for him: we can.
Rating:
Summary: Big themes and great characters
Review: Coleman Silk, the central character of The Human Stain, is a classics professor at Athena College who is forced into retirement as a result of a comment in the classroom which is misinterpreted as a racial slur (readers will be reminded of the real-life Washington D.C. bureaucrat who in 1999 was briefly forced from his job for saying the word "niggardly"). Silk in some respects brings to mind David Lurie, the protagonist of J.M. Coetzee's Booker Prize winning novel Disgrace. Both men hurl themselves into a sort of self-imposed exile from academia by stubbornly abandoning pragmatism and refusing to bend to the politically correct forces that confront them. There is a lot going on in The Human Stain. Roth takes on academia, political correctness, race, identity, the Vietnam War, and family, all against the backdrop of Clinton's impeachment proceedings and our country's headlong rush into a culture of puritanical condemnation. In the end Roth asks some big questions. What is an individual's responsibility to community? What is the community's responsibility to the individual? When these links fail, Roth asks the reader to challenge his or her beliefs about where the blame lies. The non-linear style of Roth's storytelling is captivating, but I found the change of viewpoint to be at times distracting. Sometimes the reader is inside the head of the characters, tracing his or her thoughts and motivations. Other times we're an outsider looking purely through the eyes of the narrator (Roth's alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman). It's not until the end of the novel that we understand why this is. In my opinion some of the big questions are convincingly addressed, and most of the elements tie together. Some don't. The novel is set in 1998, which makes one wonder why Roth decided to incorporate post-traumatic stress of Vietnam veterans as a competing plotline, given that Saigon fell some 23 years earlier. In the end Roth leaves some strings dangling, and I suppose it's a testimony to the richness and depth of the characters that we read the last page wanting to know a bit more.
Rating:
Summary: The Unknowable and Elusive Truth
Review: The Human Stain completes Philip Roth's thematic American trilogy, a meditation on the historical forces in the latter half of the twentieth century that have destroyed many innocent lives. In this trilogy, Roth takes devastating aim at the "American dream" and its empty promises of prosperity, freedom and everlasting happiness. The trilogy began with American Pastoral, which some believe to be the high point in Roth's career. American Pastoral explored the effects of late-sixties radicalism on the idyllic life of Swede Levov and his family. I Married a Communist, the second book of the trilogy, was somewhat of a disappointment after the near-perfect American Pastoral, but it was still an engrossing story about the McCarthy era, a portrait of a country in which paranoia had displaced reason, allowing rumor and innuendo to run rampant and ruin lives. The Human Stain closes the trilogy and brings us to the year 1998. The United States is awash in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and citizens feel the "ecstasy of sanctimony;" they are ready to accuse, blame and punish a very good president for what amounts to nothing more than the sexual peccadilloes almost every person becomes involved in at some time during his life. On its surface, The Human Stain condemns the political correctness of McCarthyism that effectively turns college campuses away from creative thought and toward middle-aged, white, male oppression at any cost. Does this make The Human Stain a campus satire? Yes, but it is so much more and those who think it is not are simply missing the book's deepest level. It is, at its heart, a sad and poignant statement on the very essence of human nature, a statement that, in Roth's talented hands, becomes utterly convincing. It reminds us of our very unpraiseworthy proclivity to condemn, sully and even find some secret and voluptuous joy in ruining the name of others and delivering their lives into the hands of misery. The real truth, Roth tells us, is both "endless" and unknowable, no matter how much we may wish to label it with our petty accusations. Most of us, however, find this unknowability unacceptable, and so, we leave our own unmistakable "human stain" in our wake. Coleman Silk, Roth's protagonist in The Human Stain, understands truth's unknowablility all too well. This seventy-one year old professor, who was once a beloved classicist of Athena College, now faces a scandal much like the one faced by President Clinton. And, like Clinton, Silk has done a very good job; his efforts as dean have left their mark of excellence. Athena College is all the better for his having been there, just as the United States is all the better for the Clinton years. Nevertheless, Silk finds himself accused of being both a racist and a misogynist. Shamed publicly, Silk does exact revenge, but revenge for what? What exactly is the truth in this matter? While those in Silk's community want to see "truth" as a matter of black and white, the novel's narrator, Nathan Zuckerman tells us that "truth," at least in this case, if not in every case, is something that is more nuanced, more grey. And, in a delightfully ironic twist, we learn that Silk has a secret to share, one that makes his accusers turn beet-red with embarrassment rather than with exhilaration. Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's own alter-ego, has appeared in eight of his novels, including the first two of this trilogy. He is the man in whom the reader must place his trust, or his mistrust. Zuckerman willingly admits that he knows only certain facts about his protagonists, that he must rely on his own innate gift for storytelling to convince us of the things that he, himself, sees so clearly, and that we are certainly free to accept or deny his version as we will. Roth could have chosen to tell his story from the vantage point of an objective, omniscient narrator and thus allowed us access to the thoughts and feelings of all the characters involved. At first glance, this might seem to have been the wiser choice. A second glance, however, will show us it would have been a travesty, an audacious claim to actually know what the elusive and unknowable truth really is. Telling the story from the point-of-view of the highly subjective Zuckerman is tantamount to an admission of the elusiveness of truth; it is allowing us to form our own opinions without manipulation from either the author or from any of his characters. It is, genius. If there is any blemish, however slight, in this wonderful literary achievement, it is the character of Les Farley. Les is the now-cliched Vietnam veteran; a man suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the weary, misunderstood and maligned soldier who has been abandoned by a country for whom he was willing to give up his very life. Roth uses Farley as a plot device only, and he is one that fails to convince in an otherwise overwhelmingly convincing book. Roth's prose is, as always, without rival. His Jamesian sentences twist and turn with a vitality and energy that, at times, can seem almost frantic. But Roth never jeopardizes his lucidity; he is a linguistic master who can take us on the most tumultuous ride with an ease and smoothness that other authors can only dream about. The Human Stain is Philip Roth at the top of his form. It is also American fiction at its very finest and a book that is definitely not to be missed.
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