Monday, August 08, 2005
keeping you abreast of the situation
This article in the NY Times is so fucking sad I can't stand it. Don't read it. Unless you are too happy this morning and you need something to bring you down. I feel so guilty about Israel. My aunt and great grandma were always doing Hadassah fundraisers to send money to Israel. So in some small way this is my fault, too. Actually that sounds too flip like I'm joking. I really do feel bad. I think soon I'll re-read the Philip Roth book, The Counterlife (which may be my favorite) because he really thoughtfully explores the issue of Israel by speaking through characters on both sides of the fray. It's clear his heart is with the anti-Zionist character in the end though. Speaking of Philip Roth, when the fuck is he going to get the Nobel Prize already? He better get it while he's still alive, or...I'll do something. Did anybody read The Dying Animal? You can finish it really quick but I only recommend it for Roth fans. Hoo boy is it sexist. And it will surely clear up any remaining controversy over whether Roth is a tit man. At points I felt like I was reading Russ Meyer's autobiography. I guess since the guy has already written a book called The Breast in which a character is turned into a giant breast I shouldn't be surprised.
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10 comments:
Well, if you don't want to read about self-conscious sexists, you won't be crazy about any Roth book. But if you get over the typical objections to Philip Roth, Counterlife is an excellent book. It's such a great discussion of what's going on in Israel, and the whole impotence issue is fascinating and poignant!
I also recommend Operation Shylock for more Roth on Israel.
-michele
P.S. But my fave is still Letting Go.
P.P.S. Grad school seems like the wrong forum for enjoying Philip Roth anyway.
I LOVED the part that was set in Israel. I felt that he was articulating all my thoughts on how violent, militant Jews do not fit within my perception of the Jewish character. That's a naive view, sure, but I'm clinging to it. I think he says something like "a Jew with a gun is not a Jew" or something along those lines. Also, I totally agree with Michele that the impotence thing was poignant, not just another penis metaphor. Roth himself I believe had prostate surgery and I'm sure has grappled with these issues. I had no idea that a side effect of prostate surgery can be almost total nerve damage, and the idea of someone as sexy as Roth losing all sexual feeling is very sad. Philip Roth's writing at its best is just, there's no other way to put it, bursting with life...and sex, and wit and intellect and, now I'm just getting mushy. I really want to go home and read!
I think you can't be nominated for the Nobel Prize posthumously, so you should get someone to nominate him.
His name has been bandied about for years (I wonder how you actually bandy a name?) and I'm sure he's been nominated before. He just has to win!
For more on Roth and his flacid penis obsession, you can also read "American Pastoral" or "The Human Stain". He claimed in some "Fresh Air" interview that his prostate is just fine- he just "had lots of friends" with that problem. You can find the transcripts of his last few interviews on Fresh Air on Ebsco. They're pretty great. I actually stopped A.Pastoral when he went on for 70 pages about how gloves are made. Fucking old dudes and their encyclopedic hobbies. "The Human Stain" was fucking rad too, though. Even the movie was sorta good, in spite of Nicole Kidman doing her damndest to ruin it. It's ridiculous to me how Dude can create other people's personalities that just couldn't be his own. The Vietnam Vet character in "The Human Stain" alone should win him a Grammy. I mean Pulitzer? Top five Philip Roth Books:
1. Letting Go
2. The Counterlife
3. Portnoy's Complaint
4. Deception
5. The Human Stain
Don't bother with "Sabbath's Theater", "When She Was Good" or "The Breast (it's just 'The Metamorphosis' for people who like to read and rock it at the same time. Hey, if that's your thing... I prefer eating strawberries...) -Danny
I like boobs, so I shall read the book. Know anyone who needs a room? Stories about me don't live to the expectations anymore. Brain death does a number sometimes.
Don't forget about "Professor of Desire"? That's my favorite.
B
The Professor of Desire is great. That's the first one I read!
-BR
I haven't even read that yet, but I will. That's a promise.
I had to decide Buy Cialis to keep abreast my marriage and sexual life.
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