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Available
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Publication
Holt Rinehart and Winston (1973), Edition: 1st, Hardcover, 382 pages
Description
Gil Gamesh, the only pitcher who ever literally tried to kill the umpire. The ex-con first baseman John Baal, "The Babe Ruth of the Big House," who never hit a homerun sober. If you've never heard of them -- or of the Ruppert Mundy's, the only homeless big-league ball team in American history -- it's because of the Communist plot and the capitalist scandal that expunged the entire Patriot League from baseball memory.Philip Roth's richly imagined satiric narrative, The Great American Novel, turns baseball's status as national pastime and myth into an unfettered farce featuring heroism and perfidy, lively wordplay and a cast of characters that includes the House Un-American Activities Committee"Roth is better than he's ever been before....The prose is electric." - The Atlantic… (more)
Media reviews
Es gibt Grenzen der Übersetzbarkeit literarischer Werke, aber der Ehrgeiz der Verlage und auch der Übersetzer scheint größer zu sein als die Achtung vor einem Kunstwerk. Mit einem solchen Fall haben wir es bei dem neuen Roman von Philip Roth zu tun. Aus gutem Grund ist dieses 27 Jahre alte Werk
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bisher nicht auf Deutsch erschienen, denn es handelt von einem betagten Journalisten, der ein eigenwilliges Faible bis zum Exzess pflegt: Alliterierende Überschriften für seine Artikel.
Dem großen Romancier Philip Roth, der in den letzten Jahren im deutschen Sprachraum mit seinen Romanen "Mein Mann, der Kommunist" (1999) und "Amerikanisches Idyll" (1998) große Erfolge feierte, hat man mit dieser späten Veröffentlichung einen Bärendienst erwiesen. Hätte sein Protagonist Word Smith das letzte Wort, er würde urteilen: ganz gelinde gesagt - gescheitert.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
The Great American Novel is a satire about baseball as not just America's national pastime, but the national religion. Coupled with the paranoia of Communism, Roth paints a ridiculous picture of the panic and frenzy gripping our country fifty years ago.
Sadly, the plot never really comes together
There were some amusing parts, and no lack of colorful characters, but other portions of the book just dragggged. I'm not sure it was worth 400 pages and the time I spent on it.
Sadly, the plot never really comes together
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for the book (probably partly because of the...dubiousness of its claims, and we're supposed to understand the narrator as addled anyway). The story instead is framed in biographies and anecdotes about the Patriot League's (the *third* baseball league which the Communists destroyed) most memorable players.There were some amusing parts, and no lack of colorful characters, but other portions of the book just dragggged. I'm not sure it was worth 400 pages and the time I spent on it.
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LibraryThing member nohablo
At times screamingly funny with a razor-lined sardonic edge, but overwhelmed by, you know, the screaming racism and misogyny that never entirely subsides! You spend a lot of time wondering how much of it is intentional and tongue-in-cheek, especially given Roth's reputation for being an equal
So, yes, the wondering subsides because, really, when something is that mean and that petty in order to get a laugh? Well, fuck the author's original intentions, because we're reading it NOW, and it reads incredibly ugly, and - basically!- no, Grandma, please don't tell your joke about the five Negroes again.
Also, my affection for the good bits (and they are good! and there are insights! and some of it is achingly great!) tempered by the fact that I couldn't give a rat's ass about baseball. So. Yeah. Mixed feelings?
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opportunity smart-ass without any ties to, you know, the Aryan Brotherhood! But then you reach the part where Mister Fairsmith ventures into the black heart of Africa to spread the gospel of baseball (Really.) and it is basically like watching BIRTH OF A NATION narrated by a cackling David Duke and your eyes roll into the back of your head and you want to go back in time and punch Roth in the throat and/or drop him into Compton and wash your hands of his bullshit. So, yes, the wondering subsides because, really, when something is that mean and that petty in order to get a laugh? Well, fuck the author's original intentions, because we're reading it NOW, and it reads incredibly ugly, and - basically!- no, Grandma, please don't tell your joke about the five Negroes again.
Also, my affection for the good bits (and they are good! and there are insights! and some of it is achingly great!) tempered by the fact that I couldn't give a rat's ass about baseball. So. Yeah. Mixed feelings?
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LibraryThing member AliceAnna
I loved this book 30 years ago. Now, not so much. So much ugly misogynism and racism. I'm glad I've grown past my apathy and detachment as it pertains to gross caricatures. What I do love about this book is the better use of language, particularly the orgy of alliteration in the early pages of the
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book, and the over-the-top satire on baseball. But I just couldn't get past calling women "slits." Call me too PC. I'm OK with that. Show Less
LibraryThing member PlaidApple
For me the entire story of this book is that it ultimately fails as a satire. While there are certainly jabs at American sports culture and capitalism, it overall comes off as ugly, unfocused and unwilling to stake a declarative stance on much of anything, preferring to couch and coddle any true
(I also agree with other reviewers on the racist and sexist language, and being unable to entirely untangle that as a satirical element within this text.)
I'm a sports fan and a reader of a fair few postmodern books, but this is a non-starter from me. Flashes of intrigue do not make the 400-odd pages worth it. I understand that Philip Roth is a highly decorated writer, but this is the first book of his I've read and I will not be picking any more of his writing up until I can wash the taste of this out of my mouth. Wish I'd started on reading his works with something better.
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satirical criticism in borderline unreadable "baseball" writing. (I also agree with other reviewers on the racist and sexist language, and being unable to entirely untangle that as a satirical element within this text.)
I'm a sports fan and a reader of a fair few postmodern books, but this is a non-starter from me. Flashes of intrigue do not make the 400-odd pages worth it. I understand that Philip Roth is a highly decorated writer, but this is the first book of his I've read and I will not be picking any more of his writing up until I can wash the taste of this out of my mouth. Wish I'd started on reading his works with something better.
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ISBN
0030045169 / 9780030045165