Seize the Day (Penguin Classics)

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(3 stars) - a pleasure to start, a pain to finish
I really enjoyed the first half of this novella, but the second, dominated by the annoying Dr. Tamkin, was harder to like. Tamkin is not only profoundly distasteful himself, but he manages to make the already pathetic protagonist Wilhelm even more unappealing. Still, Bellow is able to create a kind of relentless downward spiral that is admirable in its effect.

(5 stars) - Elegant and Precise
Saul Bellow needs little introduction. This slight book, however, is not his most well known. It may be the most accessible, a sip before diving into larger, more daunting works. Despite its brevity, this story of a day in the life of Tommy Wilhelm packs punch.

Bellow is a master stylist. He writes a paragraph as aesthetically pleasing as anyone:

"A long perfect ash formed on the end of the cigar, the white ghost of the leaf with all its veins and its fainter pungency. It was ignored, in its beauty, by the old man. For it was beautiful. Wilhelm he ignored as well."

Three characters are most central to the story: Tommy Wilhelm (formerly Wilhelm Adler), his father (Dr. Adler), and Dr. Tamkin. Other characters are interesting and relevant, but the relationships between Wilhelm and his father and between Wilhelm and Dr. Tamkin are the focus. When the story opens, Wilhelm has no job, an estranged wife who will not give him a divorce, two sons he rarely sees, more debts than he can pay, a strained relationship with his father, and three orders of lard.

The orders of lard are Wilhelm's first foray into the commodities market. Wilhelm knows nothing about the market and so suffers considerable anxiety when the price for lard drops and the choice is between selling at a loss or waiting for a rebound. "The psychologist, Dr. Tamkin, had got him into this." Tamkin and Wilhelm first met at a nightly gin game where Wilhelm "had never won. Not once." Dr. Tamkin proceeded to convince Wilhelm that there was easy money to be gotten on the commodities market. Wilhelm explained that he did not want to get rich, he just wanted "a little steady income". Dr. Tamkin agreed to show him the ropes:

"Sure I will. I do it regularly. I'll bring you my receipts if you like. And do you want to know something? I approve of your attitude very much. You want to avoid catching money fever. This type of activity is filled with hostile feeling and lust. You should see what it does to some of these fellows. They go on the market with murder in their hearts."

Of course, Wilhelm's cold father had, vaguely, warned him from taking Dr. Tamkin's advice, telling Wilky, as he calls the 40-something Wilhelm: "He's interesting to talk to. I don't doubt it. I think he's pretty common but he's a persuasive man. However, I don't know how reliable he may be."

Wilhelm is preoccupied for most of the rest of the novel with precisely the question of how reliable Dr. Tamkin's advice is and with Wilhelm's relationship with his father, Dr. Adler. Dr. Tamkin has Wilhelm's last $700.00, which Wilhelm desperately needs, in those three orders of lard. Dr. Adler apparently does not have much love for Wilhelm. If he does love his son, the love is outweighed by his disappointment in how Wilhelm has turned out. If the commodities speculating does not work out, Wilhelm will have to ask his father for money, but he is not at all sure his father will oblige.

Bellow unfolds these plot lines with always sufficient narrative tension to pull the reader along, but leaving enough room for some excellent prose in service of some lofty ideas. Wilhelm is trying to find his footing in the world as it crashes around him. Bellow, in placing Wilhelm in this situation, raises the question of the place, of even the worth, of an ordinary man who makes mistakes. Wilhelm's musings regarding his life purpose raise one of the more profound questions of the novel:

"Maybe the making of mistakes express the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being here. Maybe he was supposed to make them and suffer from them on this earth. And though he had raised himself above Mr. Perls and his father because they adored money, still they were called to act energetically and this was better than to yell and cray, pray and beg, poke and blunder and go by fits and starts and fall upon the thorns of life. And finally sink beneath that watery floor -- would that be touch luck, or would it be good riddance?"

I cannot speak for Wilhelm, but for readers it would be tough luck if his character ever disappeared. This is an easy read in that the characters are engaging, the prose is excellent, the narrative is interesting, and the pages are few. However, Bellow does demand something of his readers, so attentive readers are particularly rewarded. Bellow's is a writing to be savored rather than gulped. I am sure most palates will find the novel pleasing, some will find it superbly so.

(3 stars) - Good, deep movie.
The acting is great. The story, by Saul Bellow, is not for one suffering
from depression. It is heavy! Good movie/book for a discussion group.
The vocal quality is poor. Very worthwhile.

Barbara Hacker Berman

(5 stars) - The Great American Novella
Tommy Wilhelm, the protagonist of SEIZE THE DAY, has many problems. He is a mid-career salesman who is out of a job and desperate for money. The demands of his estranged and icy wife, in combination with his own guilt, are close to crushing him. And, the people he can turn to in his time of need have their own agendas. These are Dr. Adler, his aloof and elderly father who wants no part of his son's confusion; and Dr. Tamkin, a money-short beguiler whose crazy presence and conversation occasionally pops with insight.

In most of SEIZE THE DAY, Bellow illuminates Tommy's difficult situation with playful philosophical humor ("Maybe the making of mistakes expressed the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being.") and great characters. Here, for example, is Tommy considering Dr. Tamkin, who presents himself as a psychologist, deep-thinker, and commodities expert: "So many questions impossible to answer could not be asked about an honest man. Nor perhaps about a sane man. Was Tamkin a lunatic, then? That sick Mr. Perls at breakfast had said that there was no easy way to tell the sane from the mad..."

Then, in the final few pages, Tommy's impression of Tamkin clarifies and he has confrontations with his father and wife. And, the pain held at bay with the humor ("You can spend the entire second half of you life recovering from the mistakes of the first half.") emerges. The novella ends with a great scene, profound and affecting, that exposes the needy Tommy.

Bellow has amazing touch in SEIZE THE DAY and is able to examine serious issues and real characters with humor and warmth. At the same time, Bellow has a wonderful break-all-the-rules style. Many paragraphs, for example, begin with omniscient narration, jump to first-person, and then back to third, whatever suits him. And, Bellow writes to capture energy, insight, and humor, which sometimes exist only because he writes in fragments or his sentences don't parse perfectly. His style demonstrates that grammar, and a fear of mistakes, can be the enemies of expression.

Highly recommended.

(5 stars) - The loser in all of us...
While this book is technically a "novella", it packs a lot of punch for its 114 pages. If you're looking for a light, fun read, I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

The plot is almost incidental to the internal dialogue. After all, nothing much really happens. We're introduced to "Tommy Wilhelm" as he buys his morning newspaper. Then he goes to breakfast with his father. Then he meets an aquaintance and and they go to the stock market. Then he helps an old man find a cigar store. Exciting stuff, right?

Well, yes it is actually--because of what's going on underneath. Our man, Wilhelm, is facing financail ruin and a crushing, emotional crisis, and nobody can really help. Moreover, he can't even pinpoint what the crisis is about. Somehow, things just didn't turn out right. So he's adrift, without an anchor. His father holds him in contempt, and won't help financially or paternally. His wife, likewise, is equally unsympathetic. She's also unrelenting in her demands, and patently unable to understand Wilhelm's despair. Thing is, Wilhelm is mired to his predicament. Despite his long, illustrious career of mistakes, he is not an impulsive mistake-maker. He'd be well aware of the risks. He'd know every reason by heart why he shouldn't do it. But then...every time, torpedoes be dam--d, full steam ahead!

An occasional source of comfort (and constant unease) to Wilhelm's worried mind is Dr. Tamkin, a "psychologist" of dubious credentials, and questionable intentions, who offers occasional nuggets of insight, along with truckloads of bullsh--. He's got a get-rich-quick scheme that of course Wilhelm falls for. Do they make a killing on the market? You'll have to read to find out! Tamkin, for all his sliminess, almost has a redeeming quality. I think that he really wanted to help Wilhelm, even as he wantonly took advantage of Wilhelm's financial gullibility. You get the sense that Tamkin has had more than one crisis of his own.

To Bellow, human compassion is much more important than slavish money-grubbing. The rich folk in this novel are portrayed as fundamentally lacking that most important quality. Wilhelm observes the futility of riches. His father is well off, but consumed by thoughts of death and the inevitable fragmentation of his wealth. Old Mr. Rappoport, the wealthy chicken merchant, is pathetic, shrunken, greedy, and utterly oblivious to other peoples feelings. Hooray for wealth! Maybe one day you'll turn into Rappoport. But still, one must make a living in this world, so Wilhelm limps along, playing the game because he has to.

Bellow's writing has a winningness to it that is hard to describe. There is certain energy, an exuberance bubbling just below the surface, that occasionally bursts unapologetically out. This may throw some people off. They want something more sardonic, detached and ironic. But Bellow's style won me over. Sure, there's lots of depressing stuff here, but there's also a lot of humor. The constant doubts and insecurities swirling through Wilhelm's head had me chuckling in self-recognition. The scene where Wilhelm tries to rip the phone box from the wall had me laughing out loud.

Some of his descriptions are down right odd-- sounding like they were hatched by free association. But hey--it works. Bellow has the perfect amount of control.

Bellow's world is complex and shrouded from complete understanding, just like the real world. It is a world of alienation and silent despair. All Wilhelm needs from others is compassion, but somehow that's so hard to come by! In this real world, there are no easy answers. An angel from heaven doesn't beam down and miraculously blaze the way for Wilhelm. No, he'll have to slug it out, just like the rest of us...

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