American Pastoral takes a look at the 1960's in America from the perspective of Philip Roth's alter-ego main character, Nathan Zuckerman. Zuckerman meets the brother of Seymour "Swede" Levov, recenly deceased, at a high school reunion. The brother shares the Swede's sad tale of the ruin of his conventional upper middle class life by the turmoil of the sixties.
A story within a story. I liked how the frame story flows seamlessly into the actual narrative, which in turn is a completely fictionalized biography by the narrator about an acquaintance about whom he actually knows very little, except that his daughter (presumably) committed a terrorist attack. As if the author is taking a double distance, a very unreliable narrator, very postmodern.
Along the way, you also learn all about how leather gloves are made.
A great book.
An epic is a long narrative poem that uses heightened, dignified language to tell the story of a heroic figure. The Iliad, Paradise Lost, things like that. It's a good definition, but after reading [a:Philip Roth|463|Philip Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399886959p2/463.jpg]'s Pulitzer Prize winning 1997 [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650.SY75.jpg|598119], I felt I had read an epic, though maybe it would be more accurate to call it a family saga. (Yes, I know I'm being dumb because the title states its literary genre and that pastorals portray life in the countryside, particularly that of shepherds, in a simple and idealized way, but the title is meant to be ironic.) I have way too many unread books lying around, and I could have chosen easily from a dozen that I'd enjoy reading as much as this one, but I chose this because it the horrible terror attacks had recently been carried out in Israel, …
An epic is a long narrative poem that uses heightened, dignified language to tell the story of a heroic figure. The Iliad, Paradise Lost, things like that. It's a good definition, but after reading [a:Philip Roth|463|Philip Roth|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1399886959p2/463.jpg]'s Pulitzer Prize winning 1997 [b:American Pastoral|11650|American Pastoral|Philip Roth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504801263l/11650.SY75.jpg|598119], I felt I had read an epic, though maybe it would be more accurate to call it a family saga. (Yes, I know I'm being dumb because the title states its literary genre and that pastorals portray life in the countryside, particularly that of shepherds, in a simple and idealized way, but the title is meant to be ironic.) I have way too many unread books lying around, and I could have chosen easily from a dozen that I'd enjoy reading as much as this one, but I chose this because it the horrible terror attacks had recently been carried out in Israel, and Roth wrote so brilliantly about American Jews. I'm not Jewish and other than having a few friends who are, I have no stake in Jewish affairs in America or elsewhere, but Roth's writing is so good that it doesn't matter. You will learn a lot by reading this book, which takes place during the turbulent times of the 60s and 70s. We seem to think that current times are the most divided, violent, and dangerous ever. American Pastoral reminded me that they are not. You'll also learn about American manufacturing and Jainism. 18:07
Grindingly depressing...and really? The last third of the book takes place over the course of one evening and builds up to nothing? I guess I am a philistine
