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American Pastoral

By Philip Roth

(152)

| Audio CD | 9781597771122

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Book Description

Symbolic of turbulent times of the 1960s, the explosion of a bomb in his own bucolic backyard sweeps away the innocence of Swede Levov, along with everything industriously created by his family over three generations in America. Unabridged. 14 CDs.

Critics

American Pastoral

This great novel, the first of Roth's Zuckerman trilogy, begins with the narrator, Skip Zuckerman, bumping into his boyhood idol at a baseball game. The 'Swede' seems to Skip to embody everything that is wholesome, decent and heroic in American life. ... (read full critics)

bookgroup published on Tue, 14 Sep 2010

American Pastoral

American Pastoral Philip Roth Vintage Paperback 432 pages September 2005 Philip Roth won the Pulitzer prize for this riveting, quietly horrifying novel that shatters the idyllic illusion of America that its inhabitants once harbored. A commentary on ... (read full critics)

curledup published on Tue, 7 Sep 2010

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7 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

contemporary american fiction rarely draws my attention. most of the american writings i've come across are bascially news or business stuff. and there's always one thing in which i find quite funny. it seems to me they are so capable of writing longer than enough and recurring narration like extend ... (continue)

contemporary american fiction rarely draws my attention. most of the american writings i've come across are bascially news or business stuff. and there's always one thing in which i find quite funny. it seems to me they are so capable of writing longer than enough and recurring narration like extending a 500 words text to a 5000 ones. i was amazed to find the phenonmeon in the book.
in some online forum i was told philip roth is a great writer the greatest american writer ever. american pastoral is the one i decided to start with. there's something special with the narration and it is kind of captivating. but, but i just couldn't stop asking myself why i'm still reading the book in the course of reading the book. why should i be familiar with the political scene like 30, 40 years ago in another side of the world? why should i know so much so detailly about the misery and disappoinment of *that* generation in particular? seriously i try to grasp the universal sentiment in between the lines but i dun thk i was succeeded. i mean, u can always highlight something to talk about like what you did in your term paper. but i'm not doing my term paper so i won't stress this and highlight that and tell u how great i find the book is so as to align with what the critics suggest. i dunno if philip roth is anew to you, if so and u'd like to read his work, i won't suggest it as your first.

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fruit said on Jan 2, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

I loved the background of the story more than the story of the Levov family itself. I had a hard time to keep on reading about the Swede, his wife, and his daughter. Nevertheless, the background tells of a pivotal moment in US history, when the old world with its certainties crumbled and everything ... (continue)

I loved the background of the story more than the story of the Levov family itself. I had a hard time to keep on reading about the Swede, his wife, and his daughter. Nevertheless, the background tells of a pivotal moment in US history, when the old world with its certainties crumbled and everything changed.

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Doppelganger said on Sep 8, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Finished!

It's hard work to read it, but it's worth it!

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Bedo said on Jun 9, 2010 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

So brave. Roth's writing is unwavering.

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Halfadrop said on Oct 30, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

Boring!

This is one of the most boring books I have ever read. Couldn't even finish it; after struggling to read the first two sections, I gave up and got to the end reading one paragraph every ten or so to just get some idea of what he was talking about. Why people like and rate highly this book is beyond ... (continue)

This is one of the most boring books I have ever read. Couldn't even finish it; after struggling to read the first two sections, I gave up and got to the end reading one paragraph every ten or so to just get some idea of what he was talking about. Why people like and rate highly this book is beyond me. A very great disappointment.

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RumDoodle said on Oct 20, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback