Everyman
Philip Roth
Presents a human story of the regret and loss and stoicism of a man who becomes what he does not want to be. The terrain of this novel is the human body, and its subject is the common experience that terrifies us.
Posted by Avocatore (1 year ago ) At one point, Roth talks about litanies of the body, and this is one. I know that's what it's meant to be about; the gradual, inevitable breakdown. But to me it reads like a good long whine. I can't say I got much more out of this than I would have by listing the medical woes of my own family - and the list is long.
Moreover, the dialogue tends to lapse into extremely false constructions where characters tell each other things like: 'you were a vivid man, once, I saw you striding like a powerhouse lion...'- which would never happen in a real convesation because a) people are always much more likely to talk about themselves or gossip about someone else than you, and b) you'd get laughed at.
It's not a howlingly bad book, and it filled my lunchtimes up nicely for a few days, but I wouldn't spend eight quid on it.
*quotes are demonstrative samples only, and are not verbatim or accurate.
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I've read all of Pauline Rowson's books... said tego