- Paperback: 202 pages
- Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (April 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679752943
- ISBN-13: 978-0679752943
- Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 1.5 x 20.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,251,223 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Deception
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
Book Description
'This swift, elegant, disturbing novel...stands at the extreme of contemporary fiction.' New York Times Book Review
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
"With the lover everyday life recedes," Roth writes—and exhibiting all his skill as a brilliant observer of human passion, he presents in Deception the tightly enclosed world of adulterous intimacy with a directness that has no equal in American fiction. At the center of Deception are two adulterers in their hiding place. He is a middle-aged American writer named Philip, living in London, and she is an articulate, intelligent, well-educated Englishwoman compromised by a humiliating marriage to which, in her thirties, she is already nervously half-resigned. The book's action consists of conversation—mainly the lovers talking to each other before and after making love. That dialogue—sharp, rich, playful, inquiring, "moving," as Hermione Lee writes, "on a scale of pain from furious bafflement to stoic gaiety"—is nearly all there is to this book, and all there needs to be.
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
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Good or bad? Well, if its going to come down it good - a clever thought provoking book covering some key themes; anti Semitism, relationships and how the sexes approach them, the art of the writer, the native living abroad. Given that's its entirely dialogue its difficult at times to follow who is saying what. Although spread out over some 200 pages its not dense type and can be read quickly; this helps as you feel it's worth holding what you know in a puzzled haze until it unravels towards the end. I can't say this is a great Roth book in the class of American Pastoral, Portnoy's Complaint etc - they for me have much more about them in content and depth of quality. That said such is the quality of Roth's writing there is still plenty to ponder in these pages. If this is to be your first Roth you might be better going for a Roth "classic" If it isn't well, it's enjoyable and thought provoking but you might think you could have spent your money and time on something altogether meatier from this quite superbly gifted writer.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`Deception' would doubtless make a good radio play because it comprises wholly of reciprocating dialogue although this would probably be unbroadcastable for it is X rated stuff. I read it in a flash but this was not because I was taken particularly by the book and the unusual composition. Strangely it was compelling because it seemed inspired but made little sense. Only towards the end did it all come together to make perfect sense. I expect lots of people think it is a clever little book and perhaps the underlying appeal is to `understand it' - maybe once one has `understood it', it is so gratifying and enlightening. It really would be too simple to say it is basically about infidelity and tolerance/intolerance of infidelity. There are taboos covered too, which are seemingly irrelevant to the whole for it is debatable whether these are intrinsic to the story. Maybe the taboo element is part of artistic licence or just a commercial necessary unnecessary ingredient. If you think that is a contradiction - well `get' this - I actually quite liked the book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
22 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Distilled Roth - a fine vintage
30 May 2000
Format:Paperback
"Happy Birthday" "Thanks." "It's Deception by Philip Roth. You'll love it" "Sure?" "Yes" "Why?" "Because it's Philip Roth, and it's clever, and it's humane, and it's about love and about trust and about sex." "Like Portnoy's Complaint and Sabbath's Theater?" "Well, no. You see it's written completely in dialogue" "Completely?" "With one or two stage directions, but otherwise completely in dialogue" "and what's it about?" "A writer called Philip" "Philip?" "Yes, Philip. Roth doesn't bother with Zuckerman here" "So, what does Philip do?" "He talks. Just talks. To his wife. To his mistress or mistresses." "Plural?" "Yes, plural." "So he talks." ... "Just talks?" "Yes. Although it's cleverly done. In some sections you don't know if it's Philip, or a woman talking at first. Your whole perception can be changed depending on how you read these scenes." "And you liked it?" "Of course. I loved it. It's up there with American Pastoral and Sabbath's Theater. But it's distilled Roth. There's nothing unnecessary."
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Far from vintage Roth
17 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
I'm a big Philip Roth fan. I love his lush prose, the endless sentences that wind their way around an idea and bring the reader effortlessly along. I love how he can recreate a time and place in meticulous detail. I love the sense of history he weaves into his work.
Having said all that, you'll find none of it in "Deception." I haven't read all Roth's work--was this a literary experiment? This book is far form lush, far too much effort to read. I quickly became tired of going back and rereading, trying to figure out who was speaking, who the characters were, even where events were taking place. It did get better after awhile, and the layers of deception revealed at the end were clever indeed. But ultimately I was disappointed. My next step is to get another of Roth's novels that I can really sink my teeth into.
Having said all that, you'll find none of it in "Deception." I haven't read all Roth's work--was this a literary experiment? This book is far form lush, far too much effort to read. I quickly became tired of going back and rereading, trying to figure out who was speaking, who the characters were, even where events were taking place. It did get better after awhile, and the layers of deception revealed at the end were clever indeed. But ultimately I was disappointed. My next step is to get another of Roth's novels that I can really sink my teeth into.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
A stylish feat of literary legerdemain
3 Jun 1997
Format:Paperback
Philip Roth's Deception is a whirlwind of voyeuristic visits with two witty, articulate adults engaged in an adulterous affair. In this swift novel, Roth has performed a stylish piece of literary legerdemain: no word is written outside of quotation marks. The flowing rivulets of conversation between the couple give the reader such a strong sense of proximity one almost feels he or she is eavesdropping. It speaks to Roth's authorial prowess that, despite this lack of background and description outside the characters' conversations, the reader is seldom left uninformed (and, if the reader can't always keep up, Roth sweeps them along anyway!). This cinematic technique lends a strong sense of immediacy and vitality to the characters. Roth's ear for spoken language is keen: nothing sounds contrived. The lovers' bantering undulates around the theme of deception -- deceiving one's spouse, deceiving one's self. Ultimately, we wonder if Roth himself is deceiving us. Roth also gives us glimpses, through the couple's banterings, of his important themes, such as nationality, Anti-Semitism, and love. After this compelling novel, the first-time Roth reader is inspired to tackle his longer, more epic works, such as Portnoy's Complaint and Sabbath's Theater. Our brief visit with Roth's world entices us to come again
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.
