I’m about a third of the way through Everyman, by Philip Roth. I’ve heard of this guy before and I’m starting to think he’s kind of a big deal… pulitzer prizes and all! I also have another book by him called “the plot against america” but I haven’t read that yet (and may never depending on how I like the current one.
The book starts at a guy’s funeral, and then gets into all his other health complaints throughout his life. Happy! My first feeling about this book was that is was very masculine. I don’t know what that means, but I know it’s not the type of book I usually read – which is not a bad thing – I’m all for expanding my literary horizons. Death seems to be a major theme in this book. At one point it says “Should he ever write an autobiography, he’d call it ‘the life and death of a male body” since he is not religious at all and sees life as simply the life of a body. Women seem to be peripheral characters.
It’s really just the story of what appears to be an everyday guy – hence the title? Maybe the point is that we’re all just nothing special but we all have our stories nonetheless. Or we should get off our butts and do something worthwhile? I dunno… I’ve never been great at finding the meaning in books. However, I remember from my Medieval Literature class in college that there was a morality play called Everyman. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it is about a guy who is called by Death and he tries to avoid it – calling his family and friends, and material goods to help him. In the end, the only thing that will help him are his good deeds. So, let’s see how that ties in.
So far, quite depressing, but I will persevere!
2 Comments
July 7, 2008 at 12:07 pm
From what you write, it reminds me of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Have you ever read that? I read it back in high school and it’s basically 2 guys sitting around waiting for some guy that never comes. I saw it as a metaphor for all of our lives, waiting for something to happen that never does, when we ought to be taking action and actually doing something. I don’t remember particularly liking it but it was a long time ago. I keep hearing about Philip Roth too, but I’ve never read anything by him and don’t know about his work.
I think you’d like In Defense of Food – I’ll send that to you after the challenge.
I had a dream last night that I was in back in college and that you were one of my roommates.
July 8, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I think maybe I read that in college. Yes, this book is very depressing. It’s basically a guy’s life story about his health and his phsyical body. I wonder if there is going to be a message at the end.
Weird – I had a dream last night that I was riding a horse on the highway, very slowly.