Rating: 
Summary: Not for somebody with a short attention span
Review: I really didn't like this book. It's very long and wordy, and it describes things of no importants. Henderson goes off in long stories that mean nothing, and then expects people to remember what he was talking about in the first place. I guess if you like books that have first person narratives and long stories, you'd like it. But if you want action and suspense, this is NOT the book for you.
Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ
Review: Henderson is a character that almost everyone can relate to. He is driven by a voice that says I want ,I want I want and he has everything. It is the one of the only book's which has made me laugh. Everyone should be given a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Book!
Review: This book will keep you interested from start to finish. It is written in a style that anyone can appreciate. I truely enjoyed the main character Henderson and his frank thinking and ideas throughout the book.
Rating:
Summary: Leaving the existance of becoming for existance.
Review: One of my personal favorites. An inspiring novel that will strike a chord in the heart of anyone who has felt in need of something greater in their lives than themselves, Henderson the Rain King is a hectic journey of one man through not only the world, but life and, perhaps most importantly, his own soul. Henderson is constantly in a process of becoming in his own mind, and in his fervor to try and metamorphasize into a type of finished being, he fails to notice that through his evolution he is achieving his goal of simply existing. He is lovably egocentric; existing as the sun of his own universe while striving to gain an orbit of his own. He uses his wives to try to fill some empty spot in his existance, professing over and over again his love for his current wife, with little notice or mention of any real depth or desire that she may possess, speaking only of her beauty and creating a view of the female gender that smacks of Hemingway. Henderson's deficiency is one of the soul, and enlightenment is the only path which will bring him peace. He possesses a jaded love of life, in so much as he has experienced enough horror in the world that he cannot look upon it in wide-eyed wonder, but is struck profoundly by the sights and moments in life which are filled with rough hewn and genuine beauty which do inspire in him a sense of awe. It is these moments and spaces of depth within his soul which make his dark optimism for life so endearing. He is, as he himself says, a creature constantly becoming, yet it is through this constant evolution that he reaches his goal, finds peace, and fulfills the "I want"s. He is a man not of thought but of action, and it is only from within himself that he may realize that it is only through perpetual becoming that Henderson the Rain King may exist
Rating:
Summary: Capacity for greatness
Review: Although I did not loathe this book, neither did I love it. The prose is fair, even brilliant at times, but the main character is ...well, a jerk. It is very hard to watch a jerk go through what is supposed to be a spiritual awakening, when, in the end, he just seems like... a sentimental jerk.There is alot of talk from Bellows about Henderson's capacity for deep feelings: great joy, great sorrow...a capacity in his soul for greatness. But where is it? True, we can't get into Henderson's mind, but Henderson seems more a sentimental fool than a lost romantic...sort of a strange mixture of King Lear and his fool. The intriguing people in the book and the secondary characters who surround Henderson. Henderson himself is capricious, overbearing, and well...stupid. I'm hesitant to read more of Bellow's books after this one. Great ideas...slightly pathetic execution.
Rating: 
Summary: An engaging look at the quest for identity.
Review: As an expression of the timeless nature of Western angst, "Henderson the Rain King" takes us on a rollicking journey of self discovery. The irony of the title alone struck me as synonymous with T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock"; and on some level, there is a similarity. Both men desire to want, both feel they are inept in the world, and both hold a fascination with the depths of the ocean. But what makes "Henderson the Rain King" stand on its own is the sheer joy with which you are taken onto his journey. Henderson is ludicrous, yet enchanting. His reality is depicted through the inner workings of his mind when faced with the despair and lack of meaning in his world. (We clearly perceive that world to be far more fascinating than he does.) But through his bold attempt at answering the "I want...", he sets off to Africa, and through his stays with two tribes, he experiences a series of disasters, which are as hysterical as they are tragic. His bond with the king of the Wariri tribe, Dahfu, is a particularly poignant exploration into the nature of identity, and the power of losing one's self in order to find one's true nature. Henderson flies through the air at the novel's end, gazing down at his depths in the form of the ocean, upon returning from Africa. Once he's landed,we witness him "leaping, leaping, pounding and tingling", and we sense that he's finally learned how to be a lion; how to transcend the "I want"; how to become. He's finally internalized the lost idea that "The forgiveness of sins is perpetual and righteousness first is not required."
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad book, but disappointing given his reputation.
Review: Had this book been written by someone less well-regarded than Saul Bellow, I would have said that it was pretty good, enjoyable and ambitious if occasionally flat-footed. But, knowing Bellow's reputation, I was disappointed by it.I had expected something subtle and finely crafted. Instead I found the character of Henderson uninteresting and underdeveloped --- Bellow asserts Henderson's need for something more in life rather stridently but never really shows it; the prose very good but nothing to write home about; and the novel's treatment of its theme pedestrian. And for reasons I can't quite put my finger on, I felt the novel to be dated --- very much a book of 40 years ago and not one that can speak clearly to today's readers.I haven't read anything else by Bellow. I'm still curious about what Herzog and the Adventures of Augie March are like; that is, I'm still curious about the basis of Bellow's reputation. But after Henderson the Rain King I'm not enthusiastic about investing time in them.
Rating:
Summary: Bellow's best
Review: The novel sets out to remedy one's fear of Death. This Henderson, a big suffering screw-up of a man, has an immense desire for more life. The novel has a certain gut-power--an intense vitality--that I find greatly inspiring, life-breathing. Certainly an imaginative, humorous, well-crafted work that could send the sensitive reader "running--leaping, leaping, pounding and tingling over the pure white lining of grey Arctic silence."
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book that's Fun to Read
Review: This book proves that great writing can be readable. I read this novel for the first time over twenty years ago, several times in between, and it was just as wonderful last week. You laugh, you cry, you empathize. If you're tired of beach books, but also weary of pseudointellectual book snobs who tell you that prose must be labyrinthine to be literature, and that laughable isn't laudable, take this book on vacation and share it with a friend.
Rating:
Summary: And it is hilarious!
Review: Not only does Eugene Henderson's journey of discovery touch and teach the reader, but he is an unbelievable buffoon. This is one of the funniest books -- period. Bellow makes Henderson so self-centered, he can't be bothered by details... such as which of his children are in the custody of his ex-wife. She's got one of them, well fine, she can have it, God bless the both of them (or something like that)! Really, Henderson is capable of something great (including great suffering) because he's human, only honest -- plus a few pounds and nose-size. The Counting Crows' _August and Everything After_ includes songs based on this book.
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