Herzog

Rating:
Summary: A satisfying American masterpiece
Review: From the opening line, "If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me," the reader becomes ensnared by Moses Herzog's churning mind, the mind of a man who sits on the border of of a new period in his life. He sways on the precipice, constantly looking backwards in order to make his next step forward. He worries if he is crazy--and so will the reader, as he or she picks through pages of unsent letters that Herzog composes on a whim. Addressed to people ranging from his ex-wives to God, the letters span various topics, and in doing so, they give the reader an amazing insight into Herzog's situation.
Bellow remains a masterful storyteller, though if you're looking for an action-filled novel, this isn't the one for you. His descriptions are impeccable, and I don't know of any modern novelists who can depict characters in such a masterly fashion. As you read, the images flow into your mind seamlessly; there are very few times that you have to stop reading in order to compose a mental image of what is depicted. Despite Herzog's academic rants, Bellow manages to create a character so familiar in Americana: constantly moving, constantly disappointed, and constantly searching for his or her next step. Bellow's novels are among the most satisfying reads; while difficult, they leave you with the feeling that you have eaten a large yet nonfilling meal, and while your stomach acknowledges that you've eaten a lot, you're still hungry for more.

Rating:
Summary: Don't give up half way through
Review: Half way through this book. I shared some of the doubts expressed by other reviewers. Yes it is well written, but it appeared to be too narrow in its focus. A book whose sole topic is the protagonist's ego is hard to sustain for 340 pages. It cried out for social or political contexts into which the eccentric character could be absorbed. However all my early doubts were dealt with as the book progressed. His love for his daughter, brother and mother give Herzog greater depth and the reader starts to realise that Moses is not just a self-pitying, self obsessive. He is a man out of his depth , an intellectual in an anti-intellectual age. He is a Jew with a long family history of suffering, a "schooling in grief" yet even this proud history of struggle seems trivial because as Herzog notes: "What happened during the War abolished Father Herzog's claim to exceptional suffering". This is one of many aspects of personal history that troubles Moses

The early chapters lay the foundations for the wonderful latter parts of the book. Herzog is one of the most extraordinary literary creations of modern times. Bellow has created a multi-layered madman, pathetic yet loveable, a man of great intellect; solipsistic, moving, pedantic, gentle and above all believable. One moment he is plotting to murder the wife he loathes; the next he is showing the depth of his love for his daughter; then he writes to Nietszche telling the long dead philosopher that he is lying in a hammock in rural Massachusetts. He also writes to God, Heidegger, Eisenhower, ex-lovers and many of the personal and professional rivals he wishes to settle scores with. These letters (never posted), like the wife's one legged lover and Herzog's monkey kissing friend add much dark humour to what is often a very serious and moving narrative. This is a difficult, intense novel, but well worth the effort.

Rating:
Summary: Fall through a Mad Heart
Review: Herzog is a story of a modern man's strugge to withstand fate. He craves for explanations, reasons, tries to retro-fit justice in his world disfigured by failure and tragedies. Fall, disillusionment, jealousy gnaws at him, he suffers, yet cannot forsake the desire to transcend, by deriving a world view which he understands and explains his fate. Liebnitz preached the doctrine of 'sufficient reason' for all that is good and evil, Volitaire ridiculed this in a tiring tale of human suffering in Candide. Herzog is a victim, like Candide, mired in personal tragedies, seeks transcendence through intellectual theorizing, and ultimately finds refuge in the stalemate of Peace.

Fiction typically delights in rich content and the beauty of its telling. That way, Seul Bellow's Herzog, is not a smooth book to read, it is full of haphazard incisions and brooding. But then it is not a pretty fairy-tale either! Its the story of a 'mad heart' tormenting a middle-aged, sophisticated and sensitive mind. I wouldn't say this is a "must read book", for I didn't find too many flavors the reader would cherish to remember or ponder over. There are bits of philosophy, for example, Herzog's rejection of pseudo intellectualism for solace, appeals. It is strewn with unsent letters to all the shadows haunting his fatigued-consciousness; his children , lovers, psychiatrist, friends, lawyer, brother, estranged wife, the President, Nietzsche. If read in the right light, these letters reflect the storm raging in his mind. For the suffered reader, this is a delightful free fall through hell, with a safety chord of objectivity, often precariously tenuous, owing to Bellow's mastery.

Rating:
Summary: Stalemate at transcending suffering through intellectualism
Review: Herzog is a story of modern man's strugge to withstand fate. He craves for explanations, reasons, tries to retro-fit justice in his world disfigured by failure and tragedies. Fall, disillusionment, jealousy gnaws at him, he suffers, yet cannot forsake the desire to transcend, by deriving a world view which he understands, which explains his fate. Liebnitz preached the doctrine of 'sufficient reason' for all that is good and evil, Volitaire ridiculed this in a tiring tale of human suffering in Candide. Herzog is a victim, like Candide, mired in personal tragedies, seeking transcendence through theorizing, and ultimately finding refuge in the stalemate of Peace.

Fiction delights in the richness of its content and the beauty of its telling. Herzog, is not a smooth book to read, it is full of haphazard incisions and brooding. But then it is not telling a pretty fairy tale either! Its the story of a 'mad heart' tormenting a middle-aged, sophisticated and sensitive mind. I wouldn't say this is a "must read book", for there aren't too many flavors in it the reader would cherish to remember or ponder over. There are bits of philosophy, for example Herzog's rejection of pseudo intellectualism for solace, is poignant. It is strewn with unsent letters to all the shadows haunting his consciousness; his children, lovers, psychiatrist, friends, lawyer, brother, estranged wife, the President , Nietzsche. If read in the right light, these letters become reflections of the storm raging in his head. For the suffered reader this is a delightful free fall through hell, with a the safety chord of objectivity, which is often precariously tenuous, owing to Bellows mastery.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Herzog is a sustained character study of an engaging, thoughtful man in the midst of a personal crisis. Bellow's writing never fails to delight and surprise, but ultimately there's something missing from this novel. Perhaps the lack of a strong narrative, life-changing event, or any other particular denouement ultimately prevents this novel from reaching the literary heights that you always believe it can. In that sense, then, it is a disappointment, but nothing like a total loss for the reader.

Read it, savor Bellow's prosody, but don't expect to be totally blown away.

Rating:
Summary: Bellow's best novel
Review: Herzog is Bellow's best novel. It is a work tremendously alive . Moses Herzog who is suffering something like a breakdown after being betrayed and left by his beautiful and impossible second wife, who takes with her their daughter takes to writing letters to the world, to the living to the dead, to family to the famous to whoever he has a message for . This device gives the work a special intellectual liveliness and humor. .The work has remarkable characters including Herzog himself his best friend and betrayer Valentine Gersbach, the second wife Madelaine and her successor Bellow's mistress, the spectacularly sensual Ramona.
Herzog is an intellectual and part of his task is figuring it all out. And so the book is filled with meditations on the state of Western Civilization , meditations which at one hand can be taken ironically but are often strangely profound. The great connecting device of the novel is in the letters because they connect Bellow's personal state and breakdown with his perception and attempt to understand the Civilization as a whole.
This is a thinking man's novel, a philosophical novel in the best sense. And a funny and moving one.
It is simply one of the best books I know.

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: A testament, condemnation and acceptance of suffering
Review: I am stunned by those who read this book and found it "trite and tedious." Perhaps they were expecting to identify with Herzog, but that misses the point, I think. Particularly through the letters he writes but never sends, Herzog reveals himself to the reader in a rather objective manner. You will know the character, even if you don't identify or sympathize with him. His struggle with his own past and imperfections, nicely symbolized in the ancient Russian gun of his father's that he carries with him, loaded with two bullets, leads to both immediate and real trouble, jarring him into the present, and eventual freedom, when he returns to the old house for rest, and has no compulsion to continue writing impotent letters. Reconciliation on all levels is critical to the book, and I think the distance Bellow keeps between the reader and the character signals the importance of the objective understanding of Herzog's situation, while allowing empathy through the display of Herzog's universal emotions, thoughts, and actions. A fabulous book that MUST be read to completion for understanding.