RIP Philip Roth

[seekingferret]

"Oh, what a race we are, fans! What a radiant, raffish, raggedy, rakish, rambunctious, rampaging, ranting, rapacious, rare, raucous, raunchy, ravaged, ravening, realistic, rebellious, receptive, reckless, redeemable, refined, reflective, regal, regimented, regrettable, relentless, reliable, religious, remarkable, remorseful, repellent, repentant, repetitious (!!!!), reprehensible, repressed, reproductive, reptilian, repugnant, repulsive, reputable, resentful, reserved, resigned, resilient, resistant, resistible, resourceful, respectable, restless, resplendent, responsible, responsive, restrained, retarded, revengeful, reverential, revolting, rhapsodical, rhythmical, ribald, rickety, ridiculous, righteous, rigorous, riotous, risible, ritualistic, robustious (adj. Archaic or Humorous [pick 'em], meaning "rough, rude or boisterous," according to N.W.), roguish, rollicking, romantic, rompish, rotten, rough-and-ready, rough-and-tumble, rough-housing, rowdyish, rude, rueful, ruined, rummy (chiefly Brit. don'cha know. Slang odd; queer), rundown, runty ruthless race!"

~Philip Roth, The Great American Novel


There are repulsive things in the writing of Philip Roth, and they sometimes tarnished the luminous beauty that was otherwise there, but nobody could write a sentence like him.

Comments

[kass]

You are not alone in that sentiment.

Baruch dayan emet.

[seekingferret]

Yeah, on facebook me and one of my college roommates were trading favorite quotations from American Pastoral when we heard the news. It's an amazing book from end to end, so incredibly dense with beautiful sentences and stunning ideas.

[batdina]

somewhere in the ashcan of history there are photographs of me sitting on a couch near Mr Roth. My father says this happened at a going away party for him, which was attended by Roth. I was 6.

even if there aren't any photos, I appreciate the story. yet another of my father's friends, no longer on the planet. z'l

and yes to the sentences. I've definitely read more than most females my age, because the writing ...

[seekingferret]

Yeah, there are definitely moments, like one I recall in The Human Stain where he dedicates nearly a full page to a soldier ogling a walking woman's legs from behind, that... it's hard to put in words. Part of me wanted to throw the book across the room, but the rest of me just admired the incredible physicality of the way the sentences were put together and wished he were using that superpower for good instead.