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Title: Herzog by Saul Bellow, Philip Roth ISBN: 0-14-243729-8 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.59 (39 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A satisfying American masterpiece
Comment: From the opening line, "If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me," the reader becomes ensnared by Moses Herzog's churning mind, the mind of a man who sits on the border of of a new period in his life. He sways on the precipice, constantly looking backwards in order to make his next step forward. He worries if he is crazy--and so will the reader, as he or she picks through pages of unsent letters that Herzog composes on a whim. Addressed to people ranging from his ex-wives to God, the letters span various topics, and in doing so, they give the reader an amazing insight into Herzog's situation.
Bellow remains a masterful storyteller, though if you're looking for an action-filled novel, this isn't the one for you. His descriptions are impeccable, and I don't know of any modern novelists who can depict characters in such a masterly fashion. As you read, the images flow into your mind seamlessly; there are very few times that you have to stop reading in order to compose a mental image of what is depicted. Despite Herzog's academic rants, Bellow manages to create a character so familiar in Americana: constantly moving, constantly disappointed, and constantly searching for his or her next step. Bellow's novels are among the most satisfying reads; while difficult, they leave you with the feeling that you have eaten a large yet nonfilling meal, and while your stomach acknowledges that you've eaten a lot, you're still hungry for more.
Rating: 5
Summary: A comic masterpiece
Comment: I was prompted to write this because most of the reviewers published here miss the plain fact that Herzog is extremely funny. Herzog writes letters. He writes manic, crazy, poignant, inspired letters to people both living and dead: to his friends, to his shrink, to his divorce lawyer, to the President of the United States, and to Heidegger, to Schrodinger, to Nietzche and to Willie Sutton. It is, of course, one of Saul Bellow's best novels, written at the height of his carrer, which would place it somewhere on the list of the Top 10 or 20 best American novels of the 20th century. Herzog is worth both reading and re-reading, but the book is clearly not for everyone. It is as personal, realistic, and autobiographical as The Adventures of Augie March, but it is significantly more difficult to read in terms of both style and content. It is probably less accessible than Augie, the work of a maturer artist. Readers should expect neither a conventional plot or a chronological narrative, although the book is highly structured and is brought to a very satisfying and almost inspirational resolution as Herzog regains his equilibrium, which he loses to such comic effect in the early going.
Rating: 5
Summary: Herzog
Comment: Moses E Herzog is going mad. He's aware of this, doesn't seem to bother him too much, though he can sense that it worries his friends and families. He begins to write letters, first to people he knows, then to celebrities, dead philosophers, himself; letters he never intends on sending but that act as a therapeutic activity for his troubled mind. By the end of the novel, we know Herzog, understand him, sympathise with him, even love him.
His second wife Madeleine recently ran away with his best friend, taking their young child with her. Herzog is filled with hatred towards her, but, strangely, it is an oddly amiable hatred. He recognises her good qualities, wishes her well in life, and generally doesn't want to ever see her again no matter what. The breakup with her is certainly the pivotal point for his madness, most of the events and thoughts in the novel surround her or the marriage.
Through his letters, Herzog explores his past and previous relationships. A letter to an old school friend will trigger memories of his failed crook of a father, a letter to a favoured philosopher will trigger memories of sleeping late with Madeleine and making love. We are rocketed back and forth, from Europe to America, childhood to adulthood with ease and skill, it never jars, but flows naturally.
Herzog is a very complicated character. He is aware of his own weaknesses, but only some he tries to fix. Others he is comfortable with, safe in the knowledge of what they are. He is a man who, while lacking confidence in some areas, has supreme confidence in who he is as a person. He does come off as arrogant sometimes, but he is aware of it, and to an extent enjoys the mild prestige of being the wise, in-print professor.
The narrator is mostly separate from Herzog, but he follows the professor's erratic, excited, jumpy speech. Occasionally the narrator will slip into the first POV, referring to Herzog as 'I', but this is rare. For the most part, the narrator is fresh, exuberant and in love with life - much like Herzog himself.
By the end of the novel, Herzog is complete. He breathes, lives and walks among us. There is no problem with believing that this is a real person. He has flaws, he has problems, he perhaps philosophises a little too much to be of any practicable use (his words), but by the end of the book, I wouldn't have him any other way.
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Title: The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow ISBN: 0140189416 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Humboldt's Gift (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Saul Bellow ISBN: 0140189440 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: June, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Ravelstein by Saul Bellow ISBN: 0141001763 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Mr. Sammler's Planet (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) by Saul Bellow, Stanley Crouch ISBN: 014018936X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: March, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Collected Stories by Saul Bellow, James Wood, Janis Bellow ISBN: 0142001643 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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