- Hardcover
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0517693054
- ISBN-13: 978-0517693056
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
The Counterlife
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"'No other writer combines such a surface of colloquial relaxation with such a dense load of mediating intelligence...Roth has never written more scrupulously or, in spots, more lovingly' John Updike, New Yorker"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
'No other writer combines such a surface of colloquial relaxation with such a dense load of mediating intelligence-Roth has never written more scrupulously or, in spots, more lovingly' John Updike, New Yorker
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'The Counterlife' doesn't really 'fit in' to the Roth canon in the same way that a lot of his books do, which is probably one of the reasons it ranks among his best. But let's try...
"Kicking off with a slice of doomed sexual adventure that recalls the abrupt, majestic realism of 'The Human Stain', the novel ends up nearer the manic playful energy of 'Operation Shylock', with a dollop of the character-study astuteness of 'Sabbath's Theatre' thrown in. Oh, and don't forget the cunningness of 'Deception'.
It's odd- as dense as it undoubtedly is, it can also serve as a good all-round introduction to Roth's work."
Confused? I'll try a less referential approach:
"The real genius of 'The Counterlife' lies in its subversive rendering of fiction as biography. 'Operation Shylock', a later novel, takes the idea of the double and takes it to the limit of comic absurdity, whereas 'The Counterlife' multiplies itself indefinately, ending up as an anarchic mess that refuses to be pinned down, that refuses to 'tell it straight'. Yet, somehow, it holds together. It works.
However, this is not a novel for those seeking a linear plot line with stable character and tidy storylines. This is a frustrating novel, a maddening novel. A novel that demands you take it seriously- then laughs at you for doing so. Which isn't to say its without pathos, or richly-drawn characters, or that it simply careers from extreme to extreme. Its playfulness is the consequence of its sense of frustration at the insufficiency of a simple, linear series of events. And the novel's wariness of 'truth' masks a structure as clinical and precise as the operation that becomes its core event."
Both of my attempts may sound like so much literary waffle, but there's no easy way to describe this novel- nothing stable enough to fix praise on. But surely there can be no higher recommendation than being as lost for words as the book itself is lost in them?
Whatever- it's amazing, read it.
"Kicking off with a slice of doomed sexual adventure that recalls the abrupt, majestic realism of 'The Human Stain', the novel ends up nearer the manic playful energy of 'Operation Shylock', with a dollop of the character-study astuteness of 'Sabbath's Theatre' thrown in. Oh, and don't forget the cunningness of 'Deception'.
It's odd- as dense as it undoubtedly is, it can also serve as a good all-round introduction to Roth's work."
Confused? I'll try a less referential approach:
"The real genius of 'The Counterlife' lies in its subversive rendering of fiction as biography. 'Operation Shylock', a later novel, takes the idea of the double and takes it to the limit of comic absurdity, whereas 'The Counterlife' multiplies itself indefinately, ending up as an anarchic mess that refuses to be pinned down, that refuses to 'tell it straight'. Yet, somehow, it holds together. It works.
However, this is not a novel for those seeking a linear plot line with stable character and tidy storylines. This is a frustrating novel, a maddening novel. A novel that demands you take it seriously- then laughs at you for doing so. Which isn't to say its without pathos, or richly-drawn characters, or that it simply careers from extreme to extreme. Its playfulness is the consequence of its sense of frustration at the insufficiency of a simple, linear series of events. And the novel's wariness of 'truth' masks a structure as clinical and precise as the operation that becomes its core event."
Both of my attempts may sound like so much literary waffle, but there's no easy way to describe this novel- nothing stable enough to fix praise on. But surely there can be no higher recommendation than being as lost for words as the book itself is lost in them?
Whatever- it's amazing, read it.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this book, Roth still writes interesting fiction after all these years, if you like him you will like this
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've read and loved many Philip Roth books, The Human Stain, American Pastoral etc. But this book was disappointing because it was so confusing and "clever". As you read you are never sure if you are reading the invented story or a brother about another brother or the confessions of one brother to another, or lies lies lies.
Which means that, in the end, you don't care what happens.
Which means that, in the end, you don't care what happens.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
