Eduardo Santiago reviewed Nemesis by Philip Roth
Review of 'Nemesis' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Such an interesting exercise to read in May/June 2020, in the midst of COVID19 and #BlackLivesMatter, having just finished [b:For The Love Of Men|43263540|For the Love of Men From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity|Liz Plank|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548887843l/43263540.SY75.jpg|67142358] and its assault on toxic masculinity, having spent the last two years consciously reading books by women of color and twenty years reading and thinking deeply about morality. I think the context detracted from my enjoyment of what might otherwise have been a book I'd enjoy.
I found the protagonist unsympathetic, and sharply increasingly so as the book progressed. The setting, unbearably whitemale and then, in Part 2, even depressingly so. The dialog stilted, characters flat. The writing was lovely, I'll admit: beautiful evocative sentences, but there just was no real author's voice until the very end, and then it's crammed into so little space that he comes off as sermonizing.
Maybe …
Such an interesting exercise to read in May/June 2020, in the midst of COVID19 and #BlackLivesMatter, having just finished [b:For The Love Of Men|43263540|For the Love of Men From Toxic to a More Mindful Masculinity|Liz Plank|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548887843l/43263540.SY75.jpg|67142358] and its assault on toxic masculinity, having spent the last two years consciously reading books by women of color and twenty years reading and thinking deeply about morality. I think the context detracted from my enjoyment of what might otherwise have been a book I'd enjoy.
I found the protagonist unsympathetic, and sharply increasingly so as the book progressed. The setting, unbearably whitemale and then, in Part 2, even depressingly so. The dialog stilted, characters flat. The writing was lovely, I'll admit: beautiful evocative sentences, but there just was no real author's voice until the very end, and then it's crammed into so little space that he comes off as sermonizing.
Maybe at twenty I would've found material to ponder. Where I am today, not so much. But I'm a crotchety old man, what do I know about great literature?
