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Book Description
A chronicle of success and failure, this work is Bellow's tale of the writer's life in America. When Humboldt dies a failure in a seedy New York hotel, Charlie Citrine coping with the tribulations of his own success, begins to realize the significance of his own life.
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- English Books
- Paperback 496 Pages
- ISBN-10: 0141188766
- ISBN-13: 9780141188768
- Publisher: Penguin Classics
- Pub date: Sep 27, 2007
- Also available as: Hardcover, Audio Cassette and Others
- In other languages: other languages
Prices Change currency & sellers
| ISBN | Edition | List | Sale | Seller |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9780141188768 | Paperback | $19.32 | $10.37 | The Book Depository |
| Other editions → | ||||
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*** This comment contains spoilers! ***
The strange legacy
Charlie Citrine and Humboldt are friends, until the second one dies, after getting mad. Humboldt is jealous, obsessed by money and sex, but (and?) a great poet, a person for whom Life is full of meaning and in need of explanation, and who believes in the Mission of the poet to lead the society to th ... (continue)
Charlie Citrine and Humboldt are friends, until the second one dies, after getting mad. Humboldt is jealous, obsessed by money and sex, but (and?) a great poet, a person for whom Life is full of meaning and in need of explanation, and who believes in the Mission of the poet to lead the society to the Promised Land. Citrine is a poet as well, who spent a lifetime with Humboldt and learned part of what being a poet means from his friend, he "comes from the sticks" (while Humboldt is like a big-city animal), and becomes successful in the same period when Humboldt loses it.
Humboldt is a shadow, since the first pages of the book. His description comes from Charlie's memory, and more details emerge as the story develops, every time an event hints at the episodes of their twisted friendship. Citrine reflects on his example, on their mission, trying to understand where his friend failed, and where he can succeed (if he actually did it). But life is extremely distracting for him: his ex-wife is suing him to get all the money he earned during his career, his current, sensual girlfriend is trying to convince him to marry her, a minor gangster persecutes him, his friends lose him a lot of money. Charlie feels that Life and Poetry and the Destiny of the Universe all demand his attention, but at the same time his personal problems drain all his energy. The path to his discovery of a way to pursue his mission as a poet follows intricate deviations, but eventually leads to a context (only a potential) where he can probably accomplish what he feels like his real task.
Bellow/Citrine observes everything, absorbs meaning from the details, and continually re-interprets them to find new insight about our condition.
Note: Some elements recur both in this novel and in Herzog: the success writer overwhelmed by the neurosis of modern times, with much money but about to lose it all, surrounded by women who either want to ruin him, or try to marry him; these women are all very sexy, and the description of their body, and of the ways they have sex with him, are lengthy and detailed, but always put in the right context, and thus important for the illustration of the development of the main character.
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