The past few days have found me shnozz-deep in what I am already concluding to be an amazing book.Saul Bellow's Herzog.
Published in 1964. I was a few months old then.
You know, you "discover" an author like this, and you just have to wonder where you've been in the interim.
You realize, the world's been spinning.
Clocks have been ticking.
Calendar pages have been flipping, torn aside, replaced entirely, every January.
Niagara Falls has been... falling.
Wallpaper's been peeling.
And I have not read this man, until now?
What the HELLOW is wrong with me?
SAUL BELLOW IS AMAZING!
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2 comments:
absolutely agree with you here although I did discover him earlier in my life than you have. http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?p=28 is my review of Herzog if you want a read after you're done with it. I've also reviewed Seize the Day which I thought was one of the best books I've ever read... particularly for middle-aged men.
Yes, I love this book too. Herzog and his continually surfacing phobia against "potato love." He is a wonderfully complex, funny, erudite, changing character! The way he tries to sort out things by writing brilliant and mixed-up letters and then not ever mailing them!
Cip, since you are a faithful blogger, I will share one of my favorite quotes from this same book.
It is this:
"What can thoughtful people and humanists do but struggle toward suitable words? Take me for instance. I've been writing letters helter skelter in all directions. More words. I go after reality with language."
I never knew if "go[ing] after reality with language" was to be considered a good thing or a bad thing or just a thing!
The book is filled with such provocative passages.
Nice blogs here. Keep up the good work.
Cassie
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