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Editorial Review:
As the American century draws to an uneasy close, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all our century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Swede Levov, a legendary athlete at his Newark high school, who grows up in the booming postwar years to marry a former Miss New Jersey, inherit his father's glove factory, and move into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.Philip Roth's 22nd book takes a life-long view of the American experience in this thoughtful investigation of the century's most divisive and explosive of decades, the '60s. Returning again to the voice of his literary alter ego Nathan Zuckerman, Roth is at the top of his form. His prose is carefully controlled yet always fresh and intellectually subtle as he reconstructs the halcyon days, circa World War II, of Seymour "the Swede" Levov, a high school sports hero and all-around Great Guy who wants nothing more than to live in tranquillity. But as the Swede grows older and America crazier, history sweeps his family inexorably into its grip: His own daughter, Merry, commits an unpardonable act of "protest" against the Vietnam war that ultimately severs the Swede from any hope of happiness, family, or spiritual coherence.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
Pulitzer?:
The characterization in this book is admirable, but it flounders in the plot and narrative departments. Much time is spent in pondering ontological and deterministic questions, as well as explaining in great detail the intricacies of glove-making. Roth dwells on the emotional inner torment of his characters to an almost maudlin degree.more info
Mundane suburbanality, complete with anxiety disorder.:
So there's this guy who is a naturally gifted athlete with male model looks. He joins the Marines, then goes to college, inherits his fathers successful factory, and marries a beauty queen. They buy a 20 acre estate out in the country, and dabble in a semi-rural farm type life. Oh yeah, he's also got an anxiety disorder. And big Rothy devotes his considerable literary abilities to describing a lifetimes worth of neuroses.more info An American Tragedy - 1968:
American Pastoral is the story of Swede Levov , a Jewish All-American hero from Newark, NJ in post WWII America. A three sport athlete and superstar at Weequahic High, everything seems to come easy for Swede. After graduation, he does a hitch in the Marines, returns home to New Jersey, attends college, and marries Miss New Jersey. He takes over his father's successful glove making business, moves to the Jersey suburbs and lives in the house of his dreams. Appearances, however, are not as they seem. The... more info One of Roth's best novels:
I understand that a movie version of AMERICAN PASTORAL is in production. Great novels are difficult to make into great movies. Roth, who has written several great novels does not translate well to the screen. Interior action has primacy in a book and is near impossible to replicate in a movie. Roth is a wordsmith of the highest order. Each sentence is crafted with a flair and precision that raise the novel not merely through thematic content, but in terms of aesthetics, to a high artistic standard. A major... more info Similar Products:
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