Herzog

Rating:
Summary: humane, witty, and a painfully funny plunder of intellect
Review: Herzog is one of those books that works as fiction due to its absorbency of the fallibility of the human as well as its intellectual dynamism and humanity. Moses Herzog is a professor of Romantic literature who plays victim to forerunning intellectual precepts, a vicious and psychotic ex-wife, and so on. He is perpetually writing letters that will never be sent in order to exorcize any and all forms of anxiety attached to his life of blundering love and blinding intellectual pursuit. Herzog is ultimately a character that places the human on the pedestal next to the Olympian gods, however, he does so with oftentimes painfully humourous deliberation and gut-wrenching despair. He loves his children as well as his literary forebears. Yet he can't seem to find any solace for his stalled life in either(the reason being he can't actually possess either). So, he finds himself. Herzog gradually comes to terms with who he is: a professor, a Jew, a degenerate, a bleeding heart, a contemplative, a man. That's enough. Applause all around for Saul Bellow's absurdly harrowing account of a man in search of scholarship and the intangible foundations of the human heart.

Rating:
Summary: humane, witty, and a painfully funny plunder of intellect
Review: Herzog is one of those books that works as fiction due to its absorbency of the fallibility of the human as well as its intellectual dynamism and humanity. Moses Herzog is a professor of Romantic literature who plays victim to forerunning intellectual precepts, a vicious and psychotic ex-wife, and so on. He is perpetually writing letters that will never be sent in order to exorcize any and all forms of anxiety attached to his life of blundering love and blinding intellectual pursuit. Herzog is ultimately a character that places the human on the pedestal next to the Olympian gods, however, he does so with oftentimes painfully humourous deliberation and gut-wrenching despair. He loves his children as well as his literary forebears. Yet he can't seem to find any solace for his stalled life in either(the reason being he can't actually possess either). So, he finds himself. Herzog gradually comes to terms with who he is: a professor, a Jew, a degenerate, a bleeding heart, a contemplative, a man. That's enough. Applause all around for Saul Bellow's absurdly harrowing account of a man in search of scholarship and the intangible foundations of the human heart.

Rating:
Summary: Cannot touch Augie March
Review: I agree with the negative reviews of this book. Herzog never becomes a fully realized character and it's impossible to care about him or, ultimately, this novel. Herzog seems, to me, a vehicle for the author to spout; at times he is just a mouthpiece to show off how much the author has read. That makes the main character almost literally paper-thin. The end happens so abruptly that one would think that he missed something somewhere, or that 20 pages were cut out. But by that time, anyway, we've stopped caring. I maintain that, had this book not been written by Bellow, it would no longer still be in print. I would say that this is a minor work by a somewhat overrated author. If you haven't read The Adventures of Augie March or Seize the Day, do so. If you have, then skip this book.

Rating:
Summary: Bellow an Excellent Wordsmith but...
Review: I can't get over the fact that there's nothing compelling about Moses. What is the rational behind him doing all these stupid acts? Why should I care?

In case you're wondering I've been over Herzog twice. Once when I was a kid and my dad listened to it on tape. I remember one night, after listening to a particularly banal middle passage in the book, turning to my father and asking in an annoyed tone, "dad, why are you listening to this? " He shrugged his shoulders, unable to answer himself. Several minutes later he mumbled something to the effect that this had one a Nobel prize. I laughed, because I thought he was mistaken. This? This whiny, self-centered/deprecating rant against the unfairness of being a "renaissance" man won the Nobel? I've written more compelling literature on the insides of birthday cards (and much shorter I might add).

Later, as a college student, I decided to give a Nobel Laureate another try. I began to piece together the reasons for popularity. Bellow tapped into a market that was starving for literature that represented a particular group of people.

What is it with authors like Cheever, Bellow and Roth that draws out all the suburbanites. Is it the vapid caricatures pawned off as real people? Is it the pathetic attempts at dissecting frivolous dialogues as Shakespearean prose? Perhaps it's the fact that all these writers dramatize the pointlessness of everyday life to the hilt, making us think it's a Greek tragedy? These writers make a slip look like the collaspe of the Roman Empire.

Herzog is beyond pathetic. And Bellow's attempt at making us love this phantom character by stuffing him with references to literature and philosophy fails.

If I ever have to write a blow-off novel I'll be sure to make it about wandering professors and cram the text with various references to classic literature and music. Then, I too, will be heralded as a genius of staggering insight. Who knows, maybe even a Nobel. If this wins, anything is possible.

Rating:
Summary: Bellow is the Master!
Review: I don't think any other contemporary writer can write with the realism or conviction of Saul Bellow. While most writers these days are going for the absurd and black humor, Bellow tells tales of people dealing with issues that threaten to tear them apart and he can do it in a way that makes the book a fascinating and entertaining read.

Herzog is, of course, no exception. Moses Herzog is a likable fellow who really doesn't deserve all that happened to him, but still has his flaws (he ponders killing his ex-wife and finds that he wouldn't have any problem doing it, although he doesn't), and that makes him, and his problems, all the more real. The way he tears his heart out in his letters, letters that are never sent, in a strange and interesting way to look into the soul of a man baring himself to the world.

Along with Mr. Sammler's Planet, this book forms some of the pillars of modern literature and are written in a style that is often emulated, but never equalled. Don't read those copying Bellow's style, read the man himself. Start here, start anywhere. Just read the book already.

Rating:
Summary: America's Greatest Living Writer
Review: I read Herzog after The Adventures of Augie March and am now reading Henderson the Rain King. I'll probably follow it with Humboldt's Gift, which awaits on my night table. In my humble opinion America currently simply doesn't possess a more gifted living writer than Saul Bellow. Herzog's letters to both the living and dead are brilliant epiphanies that showcase the depth of his genius. His writing style is simple, straightforward and captivating for a sensitive reader,who seeks a true literary experience. Bellow draws full,round portraits of characters and they come alive. Moses Herzog is a misfit, an intellectual whose preoccupation with his aesoteric life produces maddening, comic and sometimes tragic conflicts with the realities of everyday existence. I wish America read less Stephen King and John Grisham, and more Saul Bellow: long after American best-sellers are dead,buried and forgotten, Bellow's legacy to American literature will be remembered and treasured.

Rating:
Summary: A comic masterpiece
Review: I was prompted to write this because most of the reviewers published here miss the plain fact that Herzog is extremely funny. Herzog writes letters. He writes manic, crazy, poignant, inspired letters to people both living and dead: to his friends, to his shrink, to his divorce lawyer, to the President of the United States, and to Heidegger, to Schrodinger, to Nietzche and to Willie Sutton. It is, of course, one of Saul Bellow's best novels, written at the height of his carrer, which would place it somewhere on the list of the Top 10 or 20 best American novels of the 20th century. Herzog is worth both reading and re-reading, but the book is clearly not for everyone. It is as personal, realistic, and autobiographical as The Adventures of Augie March, but it is significantly more difficult to read in terms of both style and content. It is probably less accessible than Augie, the work of a maturer artist. Readers should expect neither a conventional plot or a chronological narrative, although the book is highly structured and is brought to a very satisfying and almost inspirational resolution as Herzog regains his equilibrium, which he loses to such comic effect in the early going.

Rating:
Summary: Herzog
Review: Moses E Herzog is going mad. He's aware of this, doesn't seem to bother him too much, though he can sense that it worries his friends and families. He begins to write letters, first to people he knows, then to celebrities, dead philosophers, himself; letters he never intends on sending but that act as a therapeutic activity for his troubled mind. By the end of the novel, we know Herzog, understand him, sympathise with him, even love him.

His second wife Madeleine recently ran away with his best friend, taking their young child with her. Herzog is filled with hatred towards her, but, strangely, it is an oddly amiable hatred. He recognises her good qualities, wishes her well in life, and generally doesn't want to ever see her again no matter what. The breakup with her is certainly the pivotal point for his madness, most of the events and thoughts in the novel surround her or the marriage.

Through his letters, Herzog explores his past and previous relationships. A letter to an old school friend will trigger memories of his failed crook of a father, a letter to a favoured philosopher will trigger memories of sleeping late with Madeleine and making love. We are rocketed back and forth, from Europe to America, childhood to adulthood with ease and skill, it never jars, but flows naturally.

Herzog is a very complicated character. He is aware of his own weaknesses, but only some he tries to fix. Others he is comfortable with, safe in the knowledge of what they are. He is a man who, while lacking confidence in some areas, has supreme confidence in who he is as a person. He does come off as arrogant sometimes, but he is aware of it, and to an extent enjoys the mild prestige of being the wise, in-print professor.

The narrator is mostly separate from Herzog, but he follows the professor's erratic, excited, jumpy speech. Occasionally the narrator will slip into the first POV, referring to Herzog as 'I', but this is rare. For the most part, the narrator is fresh, exuberant and in love with life - much like Herzog himself.

By the end of the novel, Herzog is complete. He breathes, lives and walks among us. There is no problem with believing that this is a real person. He has flaws, he has problems, he perhaps philosophises a little too much to be of any practicable use (his words), but by the end of the book, I wouldn't have him any other way.

Rating:
Summary: Seeking future purpose in the entrails of the past
Review: Moses Herzog, the central character of the book, is the ultimate in-action hero. This book, sublimely written in places, over- written in others, spends a lot of time looking through Herzog's rear view mirror of his life, piecing together his childhood, his marriage and latterly its collapse. Herzog tries to reconstruct his life by writing letters, some to his old enemies, others to his colleagues and friends. While many of these letters add a further dimension to the book, others appear rather to showcase the author's intellectual range than highlight the central character's struggle with the world and his place in it. The actual dialogues within the book illustrate the real dichotomy in Herzog's life; his words and deeds do not do justice to his thoughts and hopes: finally when he does act the result is tragi-comic.

The book is a finely crafted analysis of the anatomy of failure. Moses undergoes a lengthy examination of his decline, and his gradual realisation of the really important things in his life; there is no ultimate closure at the end of the novel, only a general feeling (for the reader) of Herzog transcending his mortal problems and being ready to face the future.

"Herzog" is a thoroughly lucid and engaging work, yet for me the book has too many cuts, inserts and digressions, for it to have the zest, verve and momentum to be a real masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: A lesson in closure.
Review: Saul Bellow is a brilliant writer, yet I must admit "Herzog" did not capture me as I had hoped it would. Bellow's mastery of prose is stunning, yet "Herzog" seemed to be a bit lacking in just that extra something that separates a really good book from a masterpiece. Moses Herzog seems to be a man who lives a great deal in his own mind, and is filled with inaction fraught with contemplation. He writes letters to persons living, dead, famous and obscure which are never sent, mostly in an attempt to purge his own soul of all the things he sees wrong in the world and his own life. Just as Eugene Henderson was a man of constant action with very little forethought,Herzog, conversely, is a man of too little action and paralyzed with overcontemplation. His letters show the brilliant mind of the man, yet some become quite heady and can quickly lose the attention of a reader who is not familiar with the particular subject which he is speaking about. Plot and action seem to take a back seat in this piece to masterful character development, and it is safe to say that anyone who has gone through an ordeal such as Herzog has will be able to understand and appreciate his feelings and what he's going through. The facts are cut and dried; his wife left him for his best friend, so he attempts to put himself back together and remain a part of his daughter's life. This book is about the journey as much as it is about the destination. It is highly autobiographical with a thin veneer of "fiction" attached to it, as the whole premise of the book echoes the events of Bellow's life at the time it was written, and not suprisingly, the point of view often switches from first to third person almost subconsciously. This work strikes me as a personal catharsis for the author, and a chance for him to indulge the audiences' voyeuristic side. It is clever, masterfully written, and is certainly a heart rending ride through not only Herzog's but also Bellow's life. It is a piece which has the ability to speak volumes to some, yet is without meaning to others. If you can appreciate the purpose the letters serve and the artful way the piece is constructed, you can forgive the sometimes sluggish plot. For those who have read this book as an introduction to Bellow and were turned off from his work by it, I suggest reading "Henderson the Rain King". Perhaps it will give you a greater appreciation of this fine author. "Herzog" can be very powerful to the right reader, and if nothing else, speaks volumes about the author himself.