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Available
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Publication
Washington Square Press (2002), Edition: copyright 1963, 272 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:The novel about an aimless young man in 1960s America that inspired the classic film: "Moves with the speed and drive of a runaway locomotive." �??Chicago Sunday Review When Benjamin Braddock graduates from a small eastern college and comes home to his parents' house, everyone wants to know what he's going to do with his life. Benjamin has no idea. Feeling empty, embittered, and adrift, he stumbles into an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner. But then he falls in love with a woman closer to his own age: Mrs. Robinson's daughter. A scathingly entertaining tale of idealism and materialism, corruption and conformity, The Graduate is both a darkly comic love-triangle tale and a sharp look at postwar suburbia. "He contrives some ludicrously funny situations and he keeps his story racing." �??The New York Times Book Review "His novel makes you want to laugh and it makes you want to cry." �??The Plain De… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member tealightful
Basic Summary: Benjamin Braddock is an ivy league graduate who comes home to his rich parents with a terrible attitude. He is seduced by the wife of his father's business partner [the infamous, Mrs. Robinson], who tells her daughter that he raped her, then he runs off with the daughter of Mrs.
This book was awful. The dialogue reminded me of, a slightly more intelligent, Twilight. Not in plot, obviously. Strictly in the horrid writing. Now don't get me wrong, I understand what a risque and taboo book this must've been in 1963 when it was published; perhaps that made up for its wretched writing.
Verbatim dialogue example, punctuation and all:
Oh, his father said. 'Did you talk to some of the Indians?
'Yes Dad'
'They speak English, do they?'
'They try.'
'Well what else did you -'.
'Dad, the trip was a waste of time and I'd rather not talk about it.'
'Oh?' his father said. 'What do you say that.'
'It was a bore.'
Oh, but you say, perhaps the writing got better and there were only a few spots that were rough. Let me squash that for you:
Elaine?
'What.'
'Will you marry me?'
She shook her head.
'You won't?'
'I don't know', she said quietly.
'But you might?'
She nodded.
'You might, did you say?'
'I might?'
'Is that so? You might marry me?'
'What time is it.'
The entire book is written in this dry, stilted mess. As if the scene were being delivered by some defect-ridden robots. Pish-posh, this is one classic you can skip the book and watch the movie instead. The worst part is that this book doesn't even have an ending. It ends in the middle of a scene, no - seriously, it does. Not in a fun, cliffhanger, edge-of-your-seat way either. In an 'are you serious, I just read this whole book for nothing' way.
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Robinson, right as she's about to marry someone else. (The daughter, by the way, is just as much of a loon as he is. One minute telling him that she better never see him again and the next that she loves him)This book was awful. The dialogue reminded me of, a slightly more intelligent, Twilight. Not in plot, obviously. Strictly in the horrid writing. Now don't get me wrong, I understand what a risque and taboo book this must've been in 1963 when it was published; perhaps that made up for its wretched writing.
Verbatim dialogue example, punctuation and all:
Oh, his father said. 'Did you talk to some of the Indians?
'Yes Dad'
'They speak English, do they?'
'They try.'
'Well what else did you -'.
'Dad, the trip was a waste of time and I'd rather not talk about it.'
'Oh?' his father said. 'What do you say that.'
'It was a bore.'
Oh, but you say, perhaps the writing got better and there were only a few spots that were rough. Let me squash that for you:
Elaine?
'What.'
'Will you marry me?'
She shook her head.
'You won't?'
'I don't know', she said quietly.
'But you might?'
She nodded.
'You might, did you say?'
'I might?'
'Is that so? You might marry me?'
'What time is it.'
The entire book is written in this dry, stilted mess. As if the scene were being delivered by some defect-ridden robots. Pish-posh, this is one classic you can skip the book and watch the movie instead. The worst part is that this book doesn't even have an ending. It ends in the middle of a scene, no - seriously, it does. Not in a fun, cliffhanger, edge-of-your-seat way either. In an 'are you serious, I just read this whole book for nothing' way.
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
“The point is I don't love your wife. I love your daughter, sir.”
Benjamin Braddock returns home after finishing at college where he had been a brilliant and successful student with seemingly the world at his feet and a brilliant career ahead of him. However, on his return he realises that he no
Benjamin has not returned from college as some sort of revolutionary; he doesn't want to change the society about him, in fact he seems quite happy to just loaf about and sponge off it, (I can only assume that the money that he uses to pay for his trysts with Mrs Robinson comes from an allowance from his parents) . Instead he realises that it bores him and he cannot find a place within it. This realisation baffles Benjamin as much as it does his parents. This confusion can be seen in Benjamin's language, much of what he says is said in the form of questions, questions that are never answered. Benjamin is able to have sex with Mrs Robinson but he is unable to have a conversation with her. This is quite astutely done by the author. In the end however, Benjamin despite his attempts at rebellion pretty well fulfils the expectations put upon him if if by a rather circuitous route.
Unfortunately Mrs Robinson also comes across as the only real character within the book. She is the only one whom seems to transcend the humdrum. On one level she appears a monster. She is a smooth and confident seductress who merely uses Benjamin for sex whilst revealing very little about herself using her experience as a weapon against him. She in no way regards Benjamin as an equal. But in many respects she is more a victim of society than Benjamin is. She is also trapped in a loveless marriage as well as being an alcoholic. She neither hates nor loves her husband, their marriage has just become a habit that she cannot or will not break. This also seems to be the case with Mr Robinson even after he learns of the affair.
This book is supposed to be about some sort of rebellion of the young against the norms of society but rather it seems to suggest that marriage is habit forming, it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. This is a quick read and there were elements of the story that I enjoyed but I have to say that overall this is one of those rare occurrences where, for me, the adaptation outshines the original.
Benjamin Braddock returns home after finishing at college where he had been a brilliant and successful student with seemingly the world at his feet and a brilliant career ahead of him. However, on his return he realises that he no
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longer wants what he is supposed to want and what is expected of him. Only the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs Robinson, seems to understand him and can get through his apathy which leads to them having an affair. Meanwhile, Mr Robinson, the cuckolded spouse, is trying Benjamin to live a little, to sow a few wild oats whilst at the same time trying to encourage him to date his daughter, Elaine. However, when Benjamin tries to get close to Elaine things begin to turn nasty.Benjamin has not returned from college as some sort of revolutionary; he doesn't want to change the society about him, in fact he seems quite happy to just loaf about and sponge off it, (I can only assume that the money that he uses to pay for his trysts with Mrs Robinson comes from an allowance from his parents) . Instead he realises that it bores him and he cannot find a place within it. This realisation baffles Benjamin as much as it does his parents. This confusion can be seen in Benjamin's language, much of what he says is said in the form of questions, questions that are never answered. Benjamin is able to have sex with Mrs Robinson but he is unable to have a conversation with her. This is quite astutely done by the author. In the end however, Benjamin despite his attempts at rebellion pretty well fulfils the expectations put upon him if if by a rather circuitous route.
Unfortunately Mrs Robinson also comes across as the only real character within the book. She is the only one whom seems to transcend the humdrum. On one level she appears a monster. She is a smooth and confident seductress who merely uses Benjamin for sex whilst revealing very little about herself using her experience as a weapon against him. She in no way regards Benjamin as an equal. But in many respects she is more a victim of society than Benjamin is. She is also trapped in a loveless marriage as well as being an alcoholic. She neither hates nor loves her husband, their marriage has just become a habit that she cannot or will not break. This also seems to be the case with Mr Robinson even after he learns of the affair.
This book is supposed to be about some sort of rebellion of the young against the norms of society but rather it seems to suggest that marriage is habit forming, it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. This is a quick read and there were elements of the story that I enjoyed but I have to say that overall this is one of those rare occurrences where, for me, the adaptation outshines the original.
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LibraryThing member lsh63
The Graduate is a great movie; the book not so much. It was a short, easy read which read more like a script or play than a novel.
Young Benajmin has graduated from college, is not sure what he wants to do and and becomes involved with the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs. Robinson.
I suppose I never really figured out what happened to disillusion Benjamin from going forward with his goals. There is an "anti-establishment" tone, but it is never explored.
There are parts of the book that were funny, but not nearly as hilarious as the looks on Dustin Hoffman's face, Anne Bancroft's portryal of Mrs. Robinson, and maybe the best of all, the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack. This is one of those cases where the movie surpasses the book.
Young Benajmin has graduated from college, is not sure what he wants to do and and becomes involved with the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs. Robinson.
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Benjamin later decides that he is now in love with Elaine Robinson, who he believes will marry him after she finds out that he and her mother had an affair.I suppose I never really figured out what happened to disillusion Benjamin from going forward with his goals. There is an "anti-establishment" tone, but it is never explored.
There are parts of the book that were funny, but not nearly as hilarious as the looks on Dustin Hoffman's face, Anne Bancroft's portryal of Mrs. Robinson, and maybe the best of all, the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack. This is one of those cases where the movie surpasses the book.
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LibraryThing member BraveNewBks
I am sure I can write a review in the style of this book. I read most of it on a subway and then on a bus. I stopped and stared at the words on the pages sometimes. Then I would talk to myself.
"Self, are you enjoying this book?"
"Why? Are you trying to seduce me?"
"I have no idea what you're talking
"Not really. I mean it's interesting in the way that truly awful things are always interesting. But it must be better than I think because it's so famous. But no, I guess I'm not really enjoying it."
"What are you going to do about that?"
"Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?"
"I mean nothing. I'm just going to sit here and keep reading."
"How can you do nothing? Why would you read a book you're not enjoying? What's wrong with you?"
"I just can, that's all."
"Well I don't see how you can. You need to do something. You should have a plan. A definite plan. I'm going to worry about you until you have a definite plan."
"If I come up with a definite plan to do something other than nothing, will you marry me?"
"Well I used to think you raped my mother and five minutes ago I never wanted to see you again. So I guess my answer is maybe."
"Great, let's go get our blood tests in the morning."
"Maybe. But I might have decided to marry someone else by then."
I almost gave it two stars because it was interesting in a very awkward way. But then I realized how much the above dialogue summed up the book for me. I had to take away the second star.
"Self, are you enjoying this book?"
"Why? Are you trying to seduce me?"
"I have no idea what you're talking
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about. I just want you to unzip my dress because I can't reach the zipper. But really, are you enjoying this book?""Not really. I mean it's interesting in the way that truly awful things are always interesting. But it must be better than I think because it's so famous. But no, I guess I'm not really enjoying it."
"What are you going to do about that?"
"Nothing."
"What do you mean nothing?"
"I mean nothing. I'm just going to sit here and keep reading."
"How can you do nothing? Why would you read a book you're not enjoying? What's wrong with you?"
"I just can, that's all."
"Well I don't see how you can. You need to do something. You should have a plan. A definite plan. I'm going to worry about you until you have a definite plan."
"If I come up with a definite plan to do something other than nothing, will you marry me?"
"Well I used to think you raped my mother and five minutes ago I never wanted to see you again. So I guess my answer is maybe."
"Great, let's go get our blood tests in the morning."
"Maybe. But I might have decided to marry someone else by then."
I almost gave it two stars because it was interesting in a very awkward way. But then I realized how much the above dialogue summed up the book for me. I had to take away the second star.
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LibraryThing member TimBazzett
I read Charles Webb's THE GRADUATE back when it was new, and I loved it. His dialogue was cinematically good, which explains why it translated so well into film. I still remember the advice the newly graduated Benjamin Braddock got from a friend of his parents: "Ben, one word. Plastics." It was
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emblematic of the materialistic world he was entering. No wonder he succumbed so numbly to the advances of Mrs. Robinson, drifting aimlessly. I've read the book a few more times in the ensuing decades, and, personally, I think it holds up well, not only as literature, but as a document of those times. It could be interesting and useful supplementary reading for sociology classes today. And just as a footnote, I kinda liked Webb's subsequent novel too, MARRIAGE OF A YOUNG STOCKBROKER, which also became a film, starring Richard Benjamin, I believe. I wonder what Webb is up to these days. In any case, THE GRADUATE is still good minimalist fiction, and will probably be around for a very long time. At least I hope it will be. Show Less
LibraryThing member librookian
I thought if I read the book, after only seeing the movie, I might be able to understand The Graduate better. It's easy for me to associate myself with Benjamin, working hard all his life and then being told by his parent's generation to relax for awhile. He just falls into relaxing and the affair
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with Mrs. Robinson as his avocation and never looks back. Until Elaine. I don't understand the Elaine part of the story at all. Why would she ever agree to a second date with him after he treated her so terribly on the first one? When Benjamin comes to Berkely, what makes her decide she loves him? They don't have interesting conversations or even discuss what they do and don't have in common. I could've understood her falling in love with Benjamin and agreeing to marry him if she had had good feelings and experiences with him before she found out about his affair with her mother but their relationship just doesn't ring true to me. I recently read that Charles Webb has written a sequel to The Graduate and Benjamin and Elain are married and have a child. I'm interested to see what it takes to make that marriage work and if there's genuine love and affection between them or just a general malaise. Show Less
LibraryThing member sanddancer
The film is one of my all-time favourites, and the book really doesn't differ that much. It is nearly all dialogue so makes for a quick and easy read.
LibraryThing member Sean191
I'm not a fan of this book. Even knowing it was written by an individual who had recently graduate from college and it was supposed to be something fighting against the establishment does little to increase its standing in opnion. Reviewers of the time called it heartbreaking and hilarious. I would
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lean towards calling it hilarious - hilarious that a novel which is absolutely chauvinistic, misanthropic, lacks plot, character development or witty dialog, could have received this much recognition. Show Less
LibraryThing member ecantulv
Just plain horrible writing. Yeah, I know it was mostly dialogue and that didn't bother me one bit. It was just the overall flow and direction he chose with his mostly dialogue written excuse of a book. I'm surprised I even manage to finish this book actually.
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
I found this novel intriguing because of its style: it was almost like reading a play. All of the subtleties are in the dialogue, either by the words chosen or by the silences. The obvious misunderstandings in the generations, the young adults naivete, the old adults cruelty all come together to
I'm not sure I truly understand Mrs. Robinsons' motivation for evil (I don't think she was much interested in Benjamin) and the ending has a goofy optimism which clashes with the rest of the novel, but overall I very much enjoyed the break in tradition, questioning of values and triumph of the young. Definitely representative of an epoch.
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create tension-filled relationships where lies, mislaid good intentions and disillusion dominate. I'm not sure I truly understand Mrs. Robinsons' motivation for evil (I don't think she was much interested in Benjamin) and the ending has a goofy optimism which clashes with the rest of the novel, but overall I very much enjoyed the break in tradition, questioning of values and triumph of the young. Definitely representative of an epoch.
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LibraryThing member otterley
I would recommend sticking to the film. Over educated and under employed Benjamin Braddock starts an aimless affair with the wife of his father's work colleague, and then ditches her for her daughter. Cue surprise all round when Mrs Robinson exacts the best revenge she can. It's not just that the
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book has dated - the story is just not plausible or well written enough to rescue it as anything more than the most period of pieces Show Less
LibraryThing member TurtleCreekBooks
Can you like a book yet hate the protagonist and everything he stands (or in this case, slouches) for?
Let’s start with the positive. The book is a quick and easy read (yes, that can be a good thing) and is well written. We’re not talking Shakespeare well-written, but certainly engaging.
Considered ground-breaking and seminal, The Graduate was written in 1963 and was called “brilliant, sardonic, ludicrously funny” by the New York Times. This was the first work of author Charles Webb, who went on to write other books of considerably less fame. Actually someone could write a fascinating book about Charles Webb – his life seems strange and quirky to say the least (check it out chez Wikipedia).
So far, so good.
Webb’s character, Benjamin Braddock, has just graduated college and he’s emotionally and spiritually lost. He’s also a spoiled rotten child of what was then the brave new world of suburbia, financially pampered, emotionally and materialistically indulged. He seems to want to project an air of edginess, modernity (at least in terms of modern angst), and wants to reject traditional values.
So how does our hero go about this? He mopes around the house after graduating, lolls around in Mommy and Daddy’s swimming pool, drives about in the sports car given to him by Mommy and Daddy, and has a sordid and meaningless affair with the (much older) wife of a long-time friend of the family.
Our hero is also breathtakingly misogynistic – so much so that I don’t even know where to start. His treatment of the object of his shallow affections, the famous Mrs. Robinson, is reprehensible. Mrs. Robinson, despite being an adulterous wife, is actually the more likeable of the pair. She is witty, relatively urbane, and is perhaps more pitiable for being forever trapped in her suburban prison.
Mr. Robinson, unaware of the relationship between his wife and his best friend’s son, thinks it would be great to have Benjamin go on a date with his daughter, Elaine.
Not having a good reason to reject this, Benjamin will go on ONE date with Elaine.
Mrs. Robinson has only a single request – and a perfectly understandable one. She tells Benjamin that he must not continue dating her daughter (well, duh!). Of course our hero, apparently unused to being told not to do anything that might flit through his mind, decides that he must have a relationship with Elaine and stop seeing Mrs. Robinson.
Regular dating begins and Benjamin is quite taken with Elaine – he has nothing in common with her but she’s young, pretty, smart, compliant … and forbidden. Anyway, Elaine discovers the truth about Benjamin’s affair with her mother, and naturally doesn’t want to have anything more to do with him. Elaine then moves on with her life, goes to college, meets another man and decides to marry someone who hasn't slept with her mother.
Benjamin, still obsessed with Elaine, now begins stalking her and finally barges into the wedding ceremony. The author now has Elaine ditching her fiancée at the altar and running off with Benjamin on a city bus (the bus was a nice touch I think).
Well, I despised Benjamin, disliked Elaine, and had a mild distaste for Benjamin’s parents. Neutral on Mr. Robinson. Rather liked Mrs. Robinson.
So if the goal of a written work is to evoke an emotional response, this book scores high for me. But I really hated every engaging minute of it.
Let’s start with the positive. The book is a quick and easy read (yes, that can be a good thing) and is well written. We’re not talking Shakespeare well-written, but certainly engaging.
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Presented primarily in dialogue, the book reads almost like a play. Considered ground-breaking and seminal, The Graduate was written in 1963 and was called “brilliant, sardonic, ludicrously funny” by the New York Times. This was the first work of author Charles Webb, who went on to write other books of considerably less fame. Actually someone could write a fascinating book about Charles Webb – his life seems strange and quirky to say the least (check it out chez Wikipedia).
So far, so good.
Webb’s character, Benjamin Braddock, has just graduated college and he’s emotionally and spiritually lost. He’s also a spoiled rotten child of what was then the brave new world of suburbia, financially pampered, emotionally and materialistically indulged. He seems to want to project an air of edginess, modernity (at least in terms of modern angst), and wants to reject traditional values.
So how does our hero go about this? He mopes around the house after graduating, lolls around in Mommy and Daddy’s swimming pool, drives about in the sports car given to him by Mommy and Daddy, and has a sordid and meaningless affair with the (much older) wife of a long-time friend of the family.
Our hero is also breathtakingly misogynistic – so much so that I don’t even know where to start. His treatment of the object of his shallow affections, the famous Mrs. Robinson, is reprehensible. Mrs. Robinson, despite being an adulterous wife, is actually the more likeable of the pair. She is witty, relatively urbane, and is perhaps more pitiable for being forever trapped in her suburban prison.
Mr. Robinson, unaware of the relationship between his wife and his best friend’s son, thinks it would be great to have Benjamin go on a date with his daughter, Elaine.
Not having a good reason to reject this, Benjamin will go on ONE date with Elaine.
Mrs. Robinson has only a single request – and a perfectly understandable one. She tells Benjamin that he must not continue dating her daughter (well, duh!). Of course our hero, apparently unused to being told not to do anything that might flit through his mind, decides that he must have a relationship with Elaine and stop seeing Mrs. Robinson.
Regular dating begins and Benjamin is quite taken with Elaine – he has nothing in common with her but she’s young, pretty, smart, compliant … and forbidden. Anyway, Elaine discovers the truth about Benjamin’s affair with her mother, and naturally doesn’t want to have anything more to do with him. Elaine then moves on with her life, goes to college, meets another man and decides to marry someone who hasn't slept with her mother.
Benjamin, still obsessed with Elaine, now begins stalking her and finally barges into the wedding ceremony. The author now has Elaine ditching her fiancée at the altar and running off with Benjamin on a city bus (the bus was a nice touch I think).
Well, I despised Benjamin, disliked Elaine, and had a mild distaste for Benjamin’s parents. Neutral on Mr. Robinson. Rather liked Mrs. Robinson.
So if the goal of a written work is to evoke an emotional response, this book scores high for me. But I really hated every engaging minute of it.
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LibraryThing member ague
Spawned the hit movie, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman. "Plastics!" The book has little description and is heavy on short snappy dialogue. Could be re-edited and released again as a better book.
LibraryThing member jmoncton
I enjoyed seeing this movie years - more like decades - ago. The combination of Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddock and the fantastic score performed by Simon and Garfunkel, made this a hit for me and I was looking forward to revisiting this story in audio. The book closely follows the movie. Ben,
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a recent college graduate who has many offers of full scholarships at prestigious universities, is disenchanted with life and chooses to laze around his parents' house and have an affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's law partner. It seems like Ben's life is on a downward spiral when he meets and falls in love with Elaine, the Robinson's college aged daughter. When I saw the movie, I was rooting for Ben. It was both a love story and a conflict between a young idealist and the Establishment. Maybe it's because I'm older, but I didn't find myself liking Ben that much in the book. He came across as self-centered and entitled. I definitely didn't like the older generation either, but I didn't have that same feeling of satisfaction at the end of this story. Show Less
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
I confess to have seen the movie first. This is a coming of age story, and a descendant of "Catcher in the Rye", IMHO. The film was better than the novel, but each has its charms. I'd rather re-watch the film, though.
LibraryThing member Kristelh
This is the story of a young man who has just graduated from an eastern college and has everything before him including a grant to go on for his graduate degree. He is smart, good looking and in an existential crisis. His parents are wealthy (obviously) and indulgent and proud until they realize
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their son is a lazy slob doing nothing then they get a little concerned. I disliked Ben from the beginning of the book and nothing changed at the end. I didn't like his parents and found it hard to believe that his parents would behave the way they did in the early sixties. If you think about 1963 and the author writing this story which was the post war era and perhaps the beginning of changes in family life then maybe the work deserves recognition but I really don't get why it was included as one of the 1001 books. The author's writing is sparse and reminded me of Hemingway a bit. It really was a book made for the movie even though it wasn't the author's intent. Show Less
LibraryThing member GlennBell
Interesting story line and witty interplay. I enjoyed the story but it is not truly clear whether one can obtain anything worthwhile from the story. The character of Elaine appears without self will and Benjamin seems largely disenchanted with life.
LibraryThing member nikon
So I watched the movie and now, at long long last I've you've read the book! When I finished it I could see why it was so ripe at the time to be made into a film and it's mostly because the book is so short. Short in length short in detail, detail of characters scenes and discriptions there is so
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much detail missing from the book that when you watch the movie it all comes together but then again if you wanna fly through a book in no time at all then this is one for you. It's reasonably good - not the greatest read ever but readable all the same. Show Less
LibraryThing member edwinbcn
The story of The graduate, an American novel by the author Charles Webb, published in 1963, is simply ridiculous, and if it had not been as funny, would be easy to dismiss. The plot is not so very unlikely, except that the hap-snap, abrupt sequence of events is startling. It gives the impression
This is actually what the novel is very much about. Benjamin feels he has been pushed through school and college, but that his achievements are somehow disconnected from him, and that any choices in life were not his. After graduation, and on the evening of his twenty-first birthday, he seems to want to change that. A rebelliousness emerges, but strain of habit, listening to his parents, and social conventions seem to form such a straight-jacket that he cannot determine on his own what to do that evening. The climax of the evening is his being nearly seduced by Mrs Robinson, a friends of his parents.
Since everything is his life seems to be prepared and laid out by his parents, Benjamin wants to break free. A road trip lasts but three week, and is little more than a failure. To break conventionality, he starts an extra-marital affair with Mrs Robinson. After the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine returns home after graduation, Benjamin ends up in a tug and pull of feelings for her. Initially he rejects dating her, because it seems a pre-arranged match by their parents, but later he irrationally falls in love with Elaine head over heels.
While the story can be told in a straightforward manner, Benjamin's conduct is ludicrous, but however ridiculous plot elements seem to be, they are also very recognizable, if only perhaps as a hyperbole.
The graduate is almost pure dialogue, with a minimum of narrative. Being very humourous, it is a very easy read. Large parts of the novel are complete slap-stick, but if you are willing to get along, it is a very funny comedy of manners.
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that the main character, Benjamin Braddock is tossed around, without any volition of himself.This is actually what the novel is very much about. Benjamin feels he has been pushed through school and college, but that his achievements are somehow disconnected from him, and that any choices in life were not his. After graduation, and on the evening of his twenty-first birthday, he seems to want to change that. A rebelliousness emerges, but strain of habit, listening to his parents, and social conventions seem to form such a straight-jacket that he cannot determine on his own what to do that evening. The climax of the evening is his being nearly seduced by Mrs Robinson, a friends of his parents.
Since everything is his life seems to be prepared and laid out by his parents, Benjamin wants to break free. A road trip lasts but three week, and is little more than a failure. To break conventionality, he starts an extra-marital affair with Mrs Robinson. After the Robinsons' daughter, Elaine returns home after graduation, Benjamin ends up in a tug and pull of feelings for her. Initially he rejects dating her, because it seems a pre-arranged match by their parents, but later he irrationally falls in love with Elaine head over heels.
While the story can be told in a straightforward manner, Benjamin's conduct is ludicrous, but however ridiculous plot elements seem to be, they are also very recognizable, if only perhaps as a hyperbole.
The graduate is almost pure dialogue, with a minimum of narrative. Being very humourous, it is a very easy read. Large parts of the novel are complete slap-stick, but if you are willing to get along, it is a very funny comedy of manners.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
Benjamin graduates from university but doesn't know what to do with his life. He drifts along, upsetting his parents with his lack of direction, and somehow, and one feels inevitably, begins a steamy love affair with a married woman, the eponymous Mrs Robinson.
Then he falls in love with her
The movie is far more famous than the book; many people, I am sure, are surprised to learn that the novel preceded the dramatisation. Webb's is written almost like a prose screenplay anyway, so the translation is quite obvious. The book itself is entertaining if a little pop-corny, but then what more can be expected? Deep and meaningful insight?
Then he falls in love with her
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daughter.The movie is far more famous than the book; many people, I am sure, are surprised to learn that the novel preceded the dramatisation. Webb's is written almost like a prose screenplay anyway, so the translation is quite obvious. The book itself is entertaining if a little pop-corny, but then what more can be expected? Deep and meaningful insight?
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
Benjamin Braddock returns home from a prestige college on the East Coast with many opportunities, including a work scholarship, in hand. However, he finds himself wondering about the point of anything and simply lazes about his parents' home. Things go from bad to worse when he starts a sexual
In the past, I had often heard of (but not seen) the popular movie of the same title without realizing it was a book. When I saw this title was also on the list of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, I decided I had to read it. It is a quick enough read -- not terribly long and filled mostly with dialogue. However, I really not sure why this story (in either book or film form) is so popular.
Benjamin is easily one of the most annoying characters ever written. His indecision about what to do with his life after graduating college is in fact relatable for many folks. But his inability to truly say that coupled with his lack of basic etiquette, decency, and gratitude are just not acceptable. Some authors can write a story about an unlikable character and make it work, but that's not really the case here.
The latter part of the book where Benjamin basically stalks Elaine after having had one date with her is even less appealing than when he doesn't know what he wants. He claims to be in love with her and want to marry her, but he makes no solid plans beyond that and struggles to face her, let alone have a conversation with her. Elaine is no better with her constant indecision and quite frankly the idea that she would ever consider him after he slept with her mother is laughable. She has other options than this guy with zero personality.
In terms of writing style, the sentences are short and quick with little time given to descriptions of anything beyond the bare bones. As mentioned earlier, its mostly dialogue but there's nothing especially witty or interesting there either. Probably the most common line spoken by all the characters is "What?" followed by a lot of "I don't know."
Again, I really don't know why this book is considered a must-read. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly good either. I would not recommend it to others.
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affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner. And it gets even worse when he meets the Robinson's daughter Elaine and decides she's the woman he wants to marry!In the past, I had often heard of (but not seen) the popular movie of the same title without realizing it was a book. When I saw this title was also on the list of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, I decided I had to read it. It is a quick enough read -- not terribly long and filled mostly with dialogue. However, I really not sure why this story (in either book or film form) is so popular.
Benjamin is easily one of the most annoying characters ever written. His indecision about what to do with his life after graduating college is in fact relatable for many folks. But his inability to truly say that coupled with his lack of basic etiquette, decency, and gratitude are just not acceptable. Some authors can write a story about an unlikable character and make it work, but that's not really the case here.
The latter part of the book where Benjamin basically stalks Elaine after having had one date with her is even less appealing than when he doesn't know what he wants. He claims to be in love with her and want to marry her, but he makes no solid plans beyond that and struggles to face her, let alone have a conversation with her. Elaine is no better with her constant indecision and quite frankly the idea that she would ever consider him after he slept with her mother is laughable. She has other options than this guy with zero personality.
In terms of writing style, the sentences are short and quick with little time given to descriptions of anything beyond the bare bones. As mentioned earlier, its mostly dialogue but there's nothing especially witty or interesting there either. Probably the most common line spoken by all the characters is "What?" followed by a lot of "I don't know."
Again, I really don't know why this book is considered a must-read. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly good either. I would not recommend it to others.
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Subjects
Awards
BAFTA Award (Winner — Best Adapted Screenplay — 1968)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1963
Physical description
8.25 inches
ISBN
0743456459 / 9780743456456
Similar in this library
DDC/MDS
| 813.54 |