Seize The Day, by Saul Bellow

[eolian_sprite]

First off, I must admit that this wasn't a book that I'd have picked out for myself just from the back jacket blurb, unless I was in the mood for a flaxseed-on-raw-carrot-sticks-sandwich type of book, which is what I'd consider this book to be. My first reaction to this book was that people who liked it were likely "... privileged people who can

Comments

[inverarity]

Thank you for the review. I've never read Saul Bellow, but he sounds like the quintessential "urban white dude angst" writer.

I went ahead and assigned you a new book as requested.

FYI (to you and everyone else): if you want a new book after posting a review, it's easiest for me to keep track of people waiting for new assignments if you post in the sign-up thread. Thanks!

[swissmarg]

Doesn't exactly sound like my cup of tea either, although it gets points for being short. Maybe a quick way to expose oneself to a Nobel Prize winning author.

I do think that there's something to the point you make about the "Historical Completion in Literature" award. I think that many of the books on this 1000 books list are there because they were influential or groundbreaking for their time, although they may not be 'classic' in the sense that they could hold their own today.

[super_me]

When I have read books from the list that have been less than impressive, or just annoying, I try to remember that someone did put them on such a list for what I trust to be a good reason. That allows me to find some merit even when I really hate what I'm reading. An example is Finnegans Wake, a book I really hated and thought was terribly pretentious but which I can understand as a hallmark contribution to the history and development of literature.

And of course, different criteria would yield very different lists; surely there is a set that would place Harry Potter in the top 1,001.

[bricktor]

Hah. Thanks for being so honest about it! Helps me a lot to know what to expect if for some reason I ever read it (as you put it, most likely to be some sort of completion thing, which I don't really have time for anyway).

[coritiacus]

Sounds (almost exactly) like Herzog. I struggled through Herzog and Henderson the Rain King and then decided I can't be bothered with Saul Bellow any more.

[iluvsockz]

Oh dear, I've been assigned another of the 7 (!) books by Bellow on the list. After quizzing my father, who admitted to never having been able to finish a book by him, and reading this review, I am steeling myself for the experience!