The Ghost Writer

Two-thirds of the way through Roth's insular novel, his now-legendary narrator admits the following: "If only I could invent as presumptuously as real life! If one day I could just approach the originality and excitement of what actually goes on!"Encountering this classic piece of Roth's canon in this day and age, it is easy to find excuse to dismiss it for its flaws: a writer narrator inhabiting the home and ideas of another writer to comment upon the predicament of being a writer; the escapism from reality being an imagined reworking of Holocaust memory; the flatness of its female characters, embodying the misogyny Roth's critics love to devour.Except, it is these very "flaws" that injected this novel with life for me. Its insularity gave it a precision, and even a permission, to be honest without falling prey to the ambiguities of universalism that are far too often characterized by blandness more than any particular flavor. Its borderline-ridiculous escapism is, at broader view, the logical conclusion to one desiring so much to eclipse his reality as a writer--and the resulting indictment is indeed more universal than we give it credit for. And its misogyny is, if nothing else, honest, a clear look into the mind not only of a successful man but the successful male artist. And the consequences that follow.This book is mesmerizing in its layers, indeed.

This small novella has many interesting features that will be delightful for those who enjoy Philip Roth's incredibly clear, elegant writing. The Ghost Writer does not have the power of his great novels, as language is relatively plain and without any stylistic digression, but as part of the evolution of Roth's creative thinking, it is clearly a first step towards the masterpiece American Pastoral. Roth here also sort of cathartically exorcizes some of his anxieties of influence (to use Harold Bloom's lingo), as he strives to surpass his predecessors, Liev Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Saul Bellow and... Anne Frank, and this is just fantastic imho...

Philip Roth has published steadily since the 1950's and attracts new readers all the time, who enter his world in media res. For those not as familiar as others, allow me to provide context: Nathan Zuckerman is a character who first showed up in Roth's fiction in the 1970's, and ever since has been considered the author's alter ego. In 1979, Roth published THE GHOST WRITER, which takes Zuckerman back to his days as a young up and coming writer of literary fiction in the 1950's. This is a terrific stand alone read, and it is also an excellent introduction to Zuckerman.Roth knows how to tell a story. He knows where the bones of structure go, he knows how to order his information, deploy a flowing rhythm, adjust perspective and fashion a remarkable voice. He knows how to be funny ha-ha and how to be funny, hmmm. He is a writer of great economy who fits a lot of vision into a cleanly told story. In this book, the young worshipful Zuckerman arrives at the Berkshire retreat of his idol, the famous writer E.I. Lonoff, for an evening of literary conversation over dinner and drinks. Across the span of the evening, Zuckerman learns what a career of nothing but writing can do to a man and, more importantly, to his marriage. He recalls his own family issues that have sprung up now that he has begun to write stories that portray middle class Jewish Americans in the glare of reality. When it becomes late and Lonoff insists he stay the night, Zuckerman learns a lot more about Lonoff than was expected, and contemplates the mysterious graduate assistant who also stays, who inspires in the third movement of the book, an alternative history about Anne Frank. Several different variations of meaning are wrung out of the term "ghost writer" in the course of less than 24 hours.

Roth's always brilliant prose is here in spades. But this is not a fully realized novel. Chunked in four short sections, the book offers a tenuously connected series of riffs dealing with a "what if" history scenario. The story features many of Roth's favorite themes: strained family relationships, masks worn to hide true feelings and identity, and the tangled, hero worship, and the intricate conflict inherent in the question of what it means to be a "good" Jew. It's an absorbing read. But for a more fully realized Roth offering where he reimagines history, I would suggest "The Plot Against America."

Best book I have read in a long time. I laughed out loud several times. Roth has an endearing style of describing things as they are without being corny.

This novella is not just a Herculean exercise in the form and voice of the novel, it is thematically as important as any novel. This story evokes Joyce, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, James, and of course the kind soul we know through the diary writings of Anne Frank. Read "Goodbye Columbus", then "The Ghostwriter".

I'm trying to read the major themes of Roth's corpus.

This is the fourth novel by Philip Roth I've read. I enjoyed, for the most part, though I did think it wasn't long enough. I would have given it five stars, except that the plot twist I thought was coming didn't happen. If it had happen, I would have gladly given it five starts.I have the feeling I will have to read it again to understand it.

The low ratings here may be from thriller aficionados who demand a plot, a mystery, and a murder. So the deep introspection becomes "navel gazing" and "pointless meandering" for them, but fascinating for me, who doesn't demand a plot that "goes somewhere". For them, the literary references become "showing off", but for me reveal fascinating struggles with literary forbears, like Kafka, I.B. Singer, and Henry James. Such readers want the simple pleasure of a racy plot and a mystery to solve, nothing wrong with that, on occasion I want that to. But, in stating "I read for pleasure", Bodie seems to imply that those who love this book can't find pleasure in it. This is incorrect, this book gave me extreme pleasure. Not that I'm knocking thriller writers or readers, I read Harlan Coben recently with enjoyment. Interestingly, Coben has said, "My favourite writer is Philip Roth." Indeed there is a mystery in this novel which, if you remain alive to it, gives it the propulsion of a detective novel. So there is more than just the literary values of beautiful writing, three dimensional characterisation, and deep meaning. Also, as I don't like modernism, I enjoyed the clarity and straightforwardness of the writing. Besides being great literature, it's also a page turner. There are only a couple of paragraphs where understanding, or at least my understanding, became opaque. But I can see that Roth might have been wanting to maintain the mystery, and create a Kafkaesque spin, so I can let him off these minor lapses. I will not spell out the mystery, to avoid spoilers, but will just leave you with some questions: "What was going on in the bedroom? Is she? Could she be...?" I'll have to read all the Zuckerman novels to try and find out.

I liked everything about it.

Bought for my daughters English literature course at uni

From the title I imagined something different, but it was a short strange comelling read.

It was an interesting story. Short, which is good. Didn't go where I expected it to.