Religion and Ethics Forum

General Category => Literature, Music, Art & Entertainment => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on May 23, 2018, 07:18:03 AM

Title: Philip Roth dead
Post by: Nearly Sane on May 23, 2018, 07:18:03 AM: Undoubtedly a significant writer but I am not sure quite how he will be thought of in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44220189
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: Walt Zingmatilder on May 23, 2018, 08:35:16 AM: Quote from: Nearly Sane on May 23, 2018, 07:18:03 AM
Undoubtedly a significant writer but I am not sure quite how he will be thought of in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44220189
I am reminded of the person who said they would have liked to have met Philip Roth but wouldn't have wanted to shake his hand.
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: Robbie on May 23, 2018, 12:50:25 PM: I read 'The Human Stain' some years ago and thought it was so excellent I read it again more than once & recommended it to others, apart from that I knew nothing much about Philip Roth so the link you posted NS is quite a revelation to me. I intend to read more.
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: Nearly Sane on May 23, 2018, 01:06:28 PM: It is a wide spread of work. If you enjoyed it the Human Stain, then the other Zuckerman novels would be a good place to start. Portnoy's Complaint is where I started with its scabrous reputation, many many years ago.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Roth
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: wigginhall on May 23, 2018, 02:43:29 PM: His reputation has gone up stratospherically, often spoken of as the greatest American novelist, period. I don't know him well enough to comment really, but generally, you get a further rise after death, and then a crash. I think Hemingway has crashed. Seems incredible he didn't get the Nobel.

Just a week after Tom Wolfe died, help, I feel old.
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: Robbie on May 23, 2018, 07:30:16 PM: Quote from: Nearly Sane on May 23, 2018, 01:06:28 PM
It is a wide spread of work. If you enjoyed it the Human Stain, then the other Zuckerman novels would be a good place to start. Portnoy's Complaint is where I started with its scabrous reputation, many many years ago.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Roth

I've made a note, thanks.
Title: Re: Philip Roth dead
Post by: wigginhall on May 24, 2018, 04:46:20 PM: Interesting comment in the Guardian today that one reason that Roth didn't win the Nobel, was that his portrayal of women was poor, i.e. wooden and objectified. As I said, I don't know enough. The same criticism has been made made of Lawrence Durrell, who I do read quite a lot, but then most of his characters seem bizarre and implausible, which adds to the fun and insanity of it. But then he is a ravishing prose writer, which some people say of Roth.