http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/american-pastoral-by-philip-roth-a-review/ Reflections of a working writer and reader Sat, 19 May 2012 08:23:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/american-pastoral-by-philip-roth-a-review/comment-page-1/#comment-134852 danny thorpe Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:07:24 +0000 http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/american-pastoral-by-philip-roth-a-review/#comment-134852 I first read 'Portnoys Complaint' about twenty five years ago. I was impressed. I re-read it two months ago (still impressed) and realised I hadn't delved into anything else he had written, not even Goodbye Columbus.. And so seeing 'American Pastoral' had been deemed worthy of a Nobel Prize I didn't resist. I wish I had. Verbose almost to extinction, he seemed too pleased with the sound of his own word processor. I ploughed on not really wanting to know that much about tanning, or the glove industry. Yes, I understand what you are telling me, but why not do it in a tenth of the time. Have you forgotten that the first rule of any writer is that you must make sure your readers turns the page. When I got to the conversations with daughter, I skipped. When it got to Rita,I deleted it. I could not stand it any more. How this was worthy of a Noble I do not know. Pretentious nonsense. In the film Tootsie Bill Murray's character say's " I want to write a play, for only people who come in out of the rain" Philip Roth has managed the book. I first read ‘Portnoys Complaint’ about twenty five years ago. I was impressed. I re-read it two months ago (still impressed) and realised I hadn’t delved into anything else he had written, not even Goodbye Columbus.. And so seeing ‘American Pastoral’ had been deemed worthy of a Nobel Prize I didn’t resist. I wish I had. Verbose almost to extinction, he seemed too pleased with the sound of his own word processor. I ploughed on not really wanting to know that much about tanning, or the glove industry. Yes, I understand what you are telling me, but why not do it in a tenth of the time. Have you forgotten that the first rule of any writer is that you must make sure your readers turns the page. When I got to the conversations with daughter, I skipped. When it got to Rita,I deleted it. I could not stand it any more. How this was worthy of a Noble I do not know. Pretentious nonsense. In the film Tootsie Bill Murray’s character say’s ” I want to write a play, for only people who come in out of the rain” Philip Roth has managed the book.

]]> http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/american-pastoral-by-philip-roth-a-review/comment-page-1/#comment-108127   American Pastoral by Philip Roth - a review — IRA 401k Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:01:15 +0000 http://johnbakersblog.co.uk/american-pastoral-by-philip-roth-a-review/#comment-108127 [...] Patrick wrote an interesting post today on Here’s a quick excerpt Nathan Zuckerman, Roth’s narrator, decides to imagine the Swede’s life by inhabiting the man’s mind. And the Swede really does have everything, Dawn, his wife, the former Miss New Jersey, his lovely home in the conservative suburbs of … [...] [...] Patrick wrote an interesting post today on Here’s a quick excerpt Nathan Zuckerman, Roth’s narrator, decides to imagine the Swede’s life by inhabiting the man’s mind. And the Swede really does have everything, Dawn, his wife, the former Miss New Jersey, his lovely home in the conservative suburbs of … [...]

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