List Books To Letting Go
| Original Title: | Letting Go |
| ISBN: | 0671736167 (ISBN13: 9780671736163) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Gabe Wallach, Paul Herz, Libby Herz, Mordecai Wallach, Levy, Korngold, Maury Horvitz, Doris Horvitz, Leonard Herz, Martha Reganhart, Sid Jaffe, Theresa Haug, Cynthia Reganhart, Mark Reganhart |
Philip Roth
Paperback | Pages: 630 pages Rating: 3.7 | 1380 Users | 134 Reviews
Point Based On Books Letting Go
| Title | : | Letting Go |
| Author | : | Philip Roth |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 630 pages |
| Published | : | March 1st 1991 by Simon & Schuster (first published 1961) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Literature. American. Literary Fiction. Novels |
Chronicle Supposing Books Letting Go
This was the fifth of books published in 1962 I read in August. I had set out to read 10 but a couple were as long as two or three books put together including this one. I enjoyed every page and found it easy to read. Letting Go was Roth's first novel, preceded by Goodbye Columbus (a novella and story collection.)I know there is a contingent of readers who balk at reading novels by "old white men" and I sort of get it. But the fact is these old white men are still read because they could write well.
In Letting Go we again get a picture of life in 1950s America. This novel is from the perspective of two non-practicing Jewish men in their 20s and 30s who are carrying the weight of their upbringings including the expectations of their parents, and are perhaps the first generation from Jewish immigrant families to be moving into social assimilation in what was a deeply antisemitic society.
Gabe Wallach is a comfortably well off young man, teaching English on the faculty of the University of Chicago, though he has enough money left to him by his mother that he would not really need to work. He feels guilty about his relative good fortune, guilty about not wanting to spend much time with his aging father back in New York City, guilty about being attracted to the wife of his colleague Paul Herz; guilt is his driving force. Because of that, he keeps getting himself into ill-advised situations.
Paul Herz, another tormented character, is a Jew who married a Christian woman, though neither of them are religious in the least. Both sets of their parents cut off all support and connection due to the interfaith marriage. The couple is struggling financially and emotionally so Gabe tries to help them with devastating results.
I was reminded of Stoner by John Williams, especially by Paul's wife Libby, who in her own way is as neurotic as Stoner's wife was. Letting Go however has quite a bit more humor in between the pathos.
My favorite character is Martha Reganhart, the woman Gabe considers as a prospective wife. She is by far the strongest person in the story. While Roth is often charged with misogyny, I would say that he presents believable female characters from the viewpoint of a man who is clearly trying to figure them out.
All in all, one of the best novels I have read from 1962.
Rating Based On Books Letting Go
Ratings: 3.7 From 1380 Users | 134 ReviewsCommentary Based On Books Letting Go
This is the least enjoyable book I've ever read to the end. A story of drab, unlikeable people getting stuck in drab situations, I hung in only because I have so much enjoyed many other Roth novels.Belated: This was really good, and Id read it again. 600 pages and nary a dull moment. Sense of place was great. Psychologies were perfect.
So far as I can see I am the only one who thinks that this is the best book by Roth. I read it at least four times and I will read it ar least four times more.
Apparently I'll enjoy reading anything by Philip Roth, because I liked this and I can't even make the plot sound interesting to myself. It's about a group of graduate students and their awkward and painful relationships. It had the added benefit of making me feel good about myself.
Another book about philandering academics, but at least a well written one (3.5).
This is my favorite Roth, be it early and unpolished and full of flaws. Maybe because of all these. I fell into it and couldn't put it down, whereas I keep trying to slog through American Pastoral and get annoyed with the overly self-aware quality of the prose, where I feel more Roth than I do character. These couples are fascinating and flawed and very real.
This 1962 novel is set in the 1950's and was the first one published by the author. It certainly impressed me, as an amazing debut. The story deals with a very rich web of interesting relationships between people of various backgrounds. Learning how the relationships evolve was fascinating. The only minor weakness of the book is that the ending seems a little hurried. Perhaps the author was keen on getting the job done.
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