Herzog (Penguin Classics)

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(1 stars) - It Stunk. And Yes, I Read Every Miserable Page.
For an exercise in intellectual pretentiousness, it would be tough to beat Saul Bellow's writing of the literary monstrosity entitled HERZOG. What a stupendous waste of time and paper. The book is essentially unreadable. Though, like the mountain climber who just has to finish what he starts, I hung in until the, very welcomed, last word.

There is nothing necessarily wrong with the main character, at least as a work of fiction. Yes, Herzog is apparently so infatuated with himself that he thinks others may actually care about his 'observations' and 'insights' about the world and various people. And yes, Herzog is so lacking in maturity as to fail to recognize (until perhaps the very end) that maybe his own personality deficiencies might be the reason why his life has gone so far off track. In real life, I would not want to associate with such a person. But, for a work of fiction, such a character might actually have been an entertaining conduit to an interesting novel.

Instead, Bellow treats us, in HERZOG, to a book significantly less interesting than a scholarly dissertation on the history of Javanese shadow puppets. Perhaps Bellow realized that he would be awarded the Nobel Prize a dozen years after this book's publication and did not want to upstage the writings of the chemistry winner that same year. I cannot say.

Don't believe the hype. This is a book for those who like to think of themselves as smart and who want to demonstrate to others how brainy they are without actually saying so. But you, reader of this review, should instead be smart enough to not read an author just because authority figures tell us how great he was. You should read something else - anything else - instead.

(4 stars) - Compassionate fool
Herzog is a compassionate fool, analyzing his life looking for the problem, when his self-analysis (self-absorption, really) IS the problem. Though Bellow portrays him as absurd, comical, foolish, and sometimes trivially hypocritical, the author never fails in his own compassion for Herzog.

This novel is brilliantly characterized, with lovely details that make my spine tingle. But it is a little too long - I think Bellow could have painted this portrait of Herzog in half the pages if he had really been inspired. Thus many folks will find it too long or pointless. It's a pity, because it's worth sticking with to the end.

(5 stars) - Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow's classic novel "Herzog" is a complex novel of the mental life of a modern man
Herzog was published in 1964 and has never gone out of print. The novel by Canadian-Chicagoan Jewish author Saul Bellow has become a modern classic. I reread the novel in the Penguin edition which contains an insightful introduction to Bellow's novels by the famous novelist Phillp Roth. This introduction is a bonus to the reading of an excellent work of fiction.
The chief character is Moses Herzog. Herzog possesses a PH.D in English Literature and is noted for his work on Romanticism as a literary movement. He is recently divorced from his mercurial and sexy wife Madeline. She was his second spouse. He has two children by first wife Daisy and a girlfriend named Ramona. Ramona is a kind woman who owns a flower shop in New York.
The novel is set in New York City, the Berkshires of Massachusetts and Chicago were Moses grew to manhood during the Great Depression. Herzog grew up in an immigrant Jewish family mired in poverty and interfamilial conflicts. Throughout the nonlinear novel we see him musing upon people and family members from his past; old flames and remembrances of his World War II service. We also are invited in to his musings upon his failed marriages and difficulties with children.
Bellow reads slowly. He jumps from one situation and time frame with ease making the reader sit up and pay attention. This style is difficult as there are so many characters to follow. The novel is character rathern than plot driven. The novel is most famous for the letters Herzog writes to famous people such as Adlai Stevenson, Nietzche, Spinoza and even God! Herzog is a liberal academic who has a rough private life culminating in a car crash and an arrest for carrying a loaded gun. The novel ends hopefully as the middle aged Herzog returns to the loving arms of the fetching Ramona.
Bellow is a challenging novelist who deals with the hassles, heartaches and challenges of modern living. He is able to probe with insight into the mind of a brilliant man Moses Herzog. The book is autobiographical as are all of Bellow's major fictions. Herzog is one of his best novels.

(1 stars) - Book was misrepresented as in good condition when it was in POOR condition!!
This book, represented as in GOOD condition, was in terrible condition. The jacket was in tatters, missing a huge chunk out of the front. there was writing all inside the book, the spine was broken and the book was covered in mould on the outer edges of the pages. It has numerous glued places inside the back cover which were covered in glue and ripped places where verious libraries or schools had stuck ther card holders. Someone also apparently did their math homework on the inside of the front and back covers, judging from all the penciled in numbers The library I purchased this book for would not even accept it, as they said teh condition was just too horrible and not fixable. I would like a refund but I know that will never happen. Company name was Seashell Books.

(3 stars) - Endless introspection, weak plot
I read Herzog I must admit because it was written by a Nobel Laureate; I figured there must be something of value in a work by someone so highly regarded. Other reviews of Herzog have not been flattering and I admit it is rambling and as another reviewer has stated, the disjointed thoughts could have served their purpose better in a series of essays rather than being forced somehow into the novel.

And yes, Herzog is a self pitying fool who can't see the hypocrisy of his lament. He engages in extra-marital affairs with no thought of the effects of his actions and yet is angered that Madeleine (his second wife) has now decided to turn the tables. His descent into near insanity is not pitiable and nor are his thoughts (really Bellow's lectures incognito) inspiring or profound.

The resolution at the end of the novel is far from satisfying, there are too many loose ends and I suppose it was too much to hope that a novel of this length would have resolved anything when the bulk of it was mired in self-pity and pointless introspection.

I must grant that Bellow does have some interesting psychological insights and these alone carried the novel for me. I can't recommend this book, especially for those with a limited concentration span.

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