Ren xing wu dian =

The human stain

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Philip Roth: Ren xing wu dian = (Chinese language, 2005, Mu ma wen hua shi ye gu fen you xian gong si, Fa xing Yuan zu wen hua shi ye gu fen you xian gong si fa xing)

385 pages

Chinese language

Published July 15, 2005 by Mu ma wen hua shi ye gu fen you xian gong si, Fa xing Yuan zu wen hua shi ye gu fen you xian gong si fa xing.

ISBN:
978-986-7475-46-6
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4 stars (15 reviews)

In 1990's America, the Human Stain is the story told by Nathan Zuckerman, a writer who lives a secluded life until the aging classics professor Coleman Silk becomes his new neighbor.

16 editions

Review of 'Der menschliche Makel' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Am Anfang fand ich das Buch zäh, kam nicht leicht rein, auch später kam es mir manchmal etwas in die Länge gezogen vor.

Aber irgendwann hatte mich die Geschichte. Weil es um Leben (Plural) geht, mit allem was dazugehört: Identität, Familie, Tod; me myself and I, die Zweierkiste, die Gesellschaft; Macht und Ohnmacht, Denken und Fühlen, Zivilisation und Animalität. Das Ganze auch auf der Ebene Gesellschaft: Doppelmoral, Politik, Skandalisierung, Milieus, Konflikte.

Und immer wieder Ambiguität: Opfer und Täter, dumm und schlau, Identität und Zuschreibung. Was ist – was andere sehen. Wie das Leben ist – wie Leben sein könnten. Eine Perspektive gegen eine andere. Dazwischen riesige Lücken, die aber immer wieder überwunden werden. Und wie wir mit den Symbolen jonglieren, uns etwas zusammenkonstruieren, Geschichten erfinden, Leben erzählen.

Postmodern aber handfest. Fand ich gut.

Nicht ganz klar ist mir, wie die Kritik an politischer Korrektheit gemeint ist. Ich lese es als …

Review of 'The human stain' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Not a book I would have read on my own, but I think it is a great subject for a book club discussion (which is why I read it): So many thought-provoking themes about identity; class; the ways our own selfish actions reverberate through the lives of our loved ones, even many years later; and what our responsibility to our ancestors and society should be. I've never read a Roth novel so I'm not sure how it compares to his other works, but I would recommend it.

Review of 'The human stain' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Roth is so thorough! He delves deeply into characters other authors might pull in to play their part and then quickly dismiss, but he explores them only insofar as they contribute to the answers to the questions. Deep background and psyche.

The Human Stain's questions are all about identity: the limits society foists upon individuals as they try to chart their course and how one acts within those constraints or shakes them off entirely. Even when the chosen paths are disastrous and obviously so from the start, Roth provides a foundation for the decisions. It takes pretty deep sympathy for widely divers characters for Roth to make his creations relateable.

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Subjects

  • Passing (Identity) -- Fiction
  • African American men -- Fiction
  • Jewish men -- Fiction
  • College teachers -- Fiction
  • Newark (N.J.) -- Fiction

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