Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Vintage (2011), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
Description
Roth's "Nemesis" is the story of a wartime polio epidemic in the summer of 1944 and the effect it has on a closely knit, family-oriented Newark community and its children.
Media reviews
It’s all a bit by the numbers, though Mr. Roth executes Bucky’s story with professionalism and lots of granular period detail.
User reviews
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
The setting is the blistering summer of 1944, in Newark, NJ, where polio is once again rearing its ugly head, as it has every summer for all of Bucky Cantor's life. An athletic young phys ed teacher, with bad eyesight that has kept him out of WWII, Bucky is spending the summer as playground
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director, earnestly overseeing the daily activities of neighborhood boys in the predominantly Jewish section of Weequahic. This promising set-up turns out to be just a new platform for Roth's recurring exploration of Guilt, and I've heard it all before. Another promising young man ultimately destroys himself by thinking too much, by being unable to accept that sh*t happens--or in this case, that polio happens--and it isn’t anyone’s fault. The jacket blurb puts it this way: "Through this story run the dark questions that haunt all four of Roth's recent short novels...What kind of choices fatally shape a life? How does the individual withstand the onslaught of circumstance?" Well, yes...those questions are certainly explored here. Ad nauseam. Without subtlety. There is occasional brilliance in the writing, but it casts a cold light. Portions of it are so evocative of time and place that I can't help but admire Roth's skill. The trouble is, I think, that the skill is too apparent on the page. I couldn't get lost in it; I was evaluating it all the time. This is a novel of exposition, not action, although it purports to deal with the consequences of actions. It feels too much like something that’s meant to be good for you, like a dose of castor oil, maybe. Show Less
LibraryThing member SamSattler
One of my earliest memories is of watching the few toys I owned being destroyed in a barnyard fire set especially for that purpose. From what I have been told, the toys were burned in hope that I would not fall victim to polio, as had the little boy who had played with those toys and me only a few
Philip Roth’s latest novel, Nemesis, revisits those terrible days during which the general public had no idea how polio was spread and had to watch helplessly as countless children and young people were stricken. Set in a Jewish, Newark neighborhood in 1944, the book captures the feeling of panic and overwhelming despair that accompanied the regular arrival of that dreaded killer-disease.
Bucky Cantor, who was quite the high school athlete, is disappointed to find himself one of the very few able-bodied young men still walking the streets of his neighborhood. Even now, at the peak of World War II, Bucky’s eyesight is so bad that no branch of the United States military will accept him. As a way of serving his community, Bucky has taken on the responsibility of running the park where the neighborhood youngsters spend their summer days playing baseball or enduring rope-jumping marathons.
All goes well until one of those children is stricken by polio. That case is just the first of many and, before long, panic and finger pointing will begin. Bucky Cantor, a young man with high expectations of himself, will find himself torn between staying with the young teens who so much admire him or joining his girlfriend in employment at a prestigious children’s camp in the Poconos. His decision will change lives in a way he never imagined.
A chief strength of Nemesis is the vividness with which Roth recreates the impact of polio on the psyche of the country before Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine began to eradicate the disease in 1955. The book is, however, also an excellent character study of a young man who could never live up to his own expectations of personal behavior. Bucky Cantor’s high ideals, combined with the personal guilt he feels when he fails to match those ideals, make for a highly destructive combination of beliefs. Personal failure, always likely when the bar is set so high, would mean that, soon enough, Bucky would no longer have “a conscious he could live with.”
The inherent tragedy of Nemesis and a young man like Bucky Cantor is best summed up by another of the book’s characters who said about Bucky: “The guilt in someone like Bucky may seem absurd but, in fact, is unavoidable. Such a person is condemned. Nothing he does matches the ideal in him. He never knows where his responsibility ends. He never trusts his limits because, saddled with a natural goodness that will not permit him to resign himself to the suffering of others, he will never guiltlessly acknowledge that he has any limits.”
Bucky Cantor could not protect the park children from polio; even worse, he could not protect himself from failing to reach his own personal ideals.
Rated at: 4.0
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days earlier. My parents, I am sure, were terrified, and they felt that they had to do something. It was only a year or so later that I understood the whole story, but the experience is something that still crosses my mind every year or so.Philip Roth’s latest novel, Nemesis, revisits those terrible days during which the general public had no idea how polio was spread and had to watch helplessly as countless children and young people were stricken. Set in a Jewish, Newark neighborhood in 1944, the book captures the feeling of panic and overwhelming despair that accompanied the regular arrival of that dreaded killer-disease.
Bucky Cantor, who was quite the high school athlete, is disappointed to find himself one of the very few able-bodied young men still walking the streets of his neighborhood. Even now, at the peak of World War II, Bucky’s eyesight is so bad that no branch of the United States military will accept him. As a way of serving his community, Bucky has taken on the responsibility of running the park where the neighborhood youngsters spend their summer days playing baseball or enduring rope-jumping marathons.
All goes well until one of those children is stricken by polio. That case is just the first of many and, before long, panic and finger pointing will begin. Bucky Cantor, a young man with high expectations of himself, will find himself torn between staying with the young teens who so much admire him or joining his girlfriend in employment at a prestigious children’s camp in the Poconos. His decision will change lives in a way he never imagined.
A chief strength of Nemesis is the vividness with which Roth recreates the impact of polio on the psyche of the country before Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine began to eradicate the disease in 1955. The book is, however, also an excellent character study of a young man who could never live up to his own expectations of personal behavior. Bucky Cantor’s high ideals, combined with the personal guilt he feels when he fails to match those ideals, make for a highly destructive combination of beliefs. Personal failure, always likely when the bar is set so high, would mean that, soon enough, Bucky would no longer have “a conscious he could live with.”
The inherent tragedy of Nemesis and a young man like Bucky Cantor is best summed up by another of the book’s characters who said about Bucky: “The guilt in someone like Bucky may seem absurd but, in fact, is unavoidable. Such a person is condemned. Nothing he does matches the ideal in him. He never knows where his responsibility ends. He never trusts his limits because, saddled with a natural goodness that will not permit him to resign himself to the suffering of others, he will never guiltlessly acknowledge that he has any limits.”
Bucky Cantor could not protect the park children from polio; even worse, he could not protect himself from failing to reach his own personal ideals.
Rated at: 4.0
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LibraryThing member kidzdoc
"Bucky" Cantor is a young physical education teacher who is spending his summer as a playground director in the largely Jewish neighborhood of Weequahic in Newark, New Jersey. It is the summer of 1944, one that would be remembered for its brutal heat and its devastating outbreak of paralytic polio,
Bucky is deeply in love is Marcia Steinberg, the strikingly beautiful daughter of a beloved community physician, who teaches in the same school where he works. She is spending the summer as a counselor in a camp in the Poconos, and she begs him to join her there.
Weequahic is seemingly protected from polio, which has begun to make inroads in the surrounding neighborhoods, until two of the playground boys suddenly succumb to the illness. As the epidemic flares with a vengeance, the members of the community panic and point fingers at the city's leadership, the parents of the stricken children, and anyone suspected of bringing the infection into the neighborhood. Bucky is deeply shaken, and questions his own role in the outbreak, and how a merciful God could allow such a pestilence to strike against innocent children.
A position for a swimming instructor becomes available at the camp where Marcia is working, and Bucky leaves the disease plagued city to be with Marcia. There it is cool and idyllic, and polio is a distant memory. Bucky, however, is conflicted by his decision to leave the boys and his community, who he feels need him more than ever, but he is also free of the fear that he or the children in the camp will be the next polio victim and is alongside the woman he intends to marry.
In Nemesis, Roth does a fine job of portraying the fear and paranoia that resulted from that awful summer of 1944, and the devastating effect of paralytic polio on its survivors and on the families of those who died from the illness. However, the main characters are one dimensional and thinly portrayed, which greatly dilutes the effect of the story. Roth's main theme in the book, the struggle of one man's responsibility toward his community and country and its conflict with personal happiness and fulfillment, is not handled as well as it could have been, and it seemed to this reader that the first 3/4 of the book served as a set up for a discussion of this theme, making for a somewhat disjointed and unsatisfying read. Nemesis is a good book, but it could have been a great one.
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the worst outbreak to strike the city since 1916. Bucky is distressed that he cannot join his two best friends in the war effort, as his poor eyesight makes him ineligible for the draft. He is a serious and dedicated teacher and mentor to the boys in the playground, who love and respect him unconditionally, as do their parents. Bucky is deeply in love is Marcia Steinberg, the strikingly beautiful daughter of a beloved community physician, who teaches in the same school where he works. She is spending the summer as a counselor in a camp in the Poconos, and she begs him to join her there.
Weequahic is seemingly protected from polio, which has begun to make inroads in the surrounding neighborhoods, until two of the playground boys suddenly succumb to the illness. As the epidemic flares with a vengeance, the members of the community panic and point fingers at the city's leadership, the parents of the stricken children, and anyone suspected of bringing the infection into the neighborhood. Bucky is deeply shaken, and questions his own role in the outbreak, and how a merciful God could allow such a pestilence to strike against innocent children.
A position for a swimming instructor becomes available at the camp where Marcia is working, and Bucky leaves the disease plagued city to be with Marcia. There it is cool and idyllic, and polio is a distant memory. Bucky, however, is conflicted by his decision to leave the boys and his community, who he feels need him more than ever, but he is also free of the fear that he or the children in the camp will be the next polio victim and is alongside the woman he intends to marry.
In Nemesis, Roth does a fine job of portraying the fear and paranoia that resulted from that awful summer of 1944, and the devastating effect of paralytic polio on its survivors and on the families of those who died from the illness. However, the main characters are one dimensional and thinly portrayed, which greatly dilutes the effect of the story. Roth's main theme in the book, the struggle of one man's responsibility toward his community and country and its conflict with personal happiness and fulfillment, is not handled as well as it could have been, and it seemed to this reader that the first 3/4 of the book served as a set up for a discussion of this theme, making for a somewhat disjointed and unsatisfying read. Nemesis is a good book, but it could have been a great one.
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LibraryThing member rmckeown
Back in the 60s, Goodbye, Columbus, Philip Roth’s first novel, had everybody buzzing. I read it, but did not like it at all. The “rule of 50” lay years in my future, so I struggled to the end. This turned me off Roth until I read Everyman several years ago. Then, I read a few of his recent
Without any trepidation, however, I dove into Nemesis published a short time ago. Am I glad I did! Now, Roth is my front runner for the Nobel Prize for Literature because of the way he chronicles life in America in the last half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries.
This novel is unlike anything I have read by Roth. Nothing put pure, young, innocent love set during a tragic episode in American history.
Bucky Cantor’s mother died in childbirth, and his father ended up in prison. Raised by his grandparents, they taught him self-reliance, the value of hard work, and he became quite an athlete. When Pearl Harbor suffered an attack, he tried to enlist with his friends, but poor eyesight earned him a classification of 4-F. These misfortunes haunted him for most of his life. Upon graduation from the ironically named “Panzer College,” he landed a job at a local elementary school as a physical education teacher. There he met Marcia, a new first grade teacher. The two instantly fell in love, but Cantor’s depression over his misfortunes shadowed him throughout his life. When a polio epidemic hits Newark in the summer of 1944, Bucky searches for an explanation in a world controlled by God. He spends much of the rest of his life wondering why God lets bad things happen to innocent children.
Roth has penned an absorbing and tightly drawn story of not only a man, but of a community and a tragedy of terrible proportions. In A Distant Mirror, the late historian, Barbara Tuchman, draws parallels between the 14th and 20th centuries. The bubonic plague which swept through Europe six centuries ago killed tens of millions of people. Superstition, and lack of basic understanding of infections and how they spread through a population, fueled panic, anti-Semitism, and incidents of violence against communities viewed as likely scapegoats. Roth demonstrates Tuchman’s thesis had more parallels than she mentioned, since her book mainly focused on the flu epidemic of 1918, in which tens of millions died world-wide. This pattern was repeated with the polio epidemic of the 40s and again with the A.I.D.S. epidemic which began in the 80s. Fortunately, modern science took the reins with explanations and treatments for both 20th century plagues. History does repeat itself.
Nemesis is the fourth in a series of short novels grouped under the heading Nemeses. If you haven’t read Roth in a while, start with this slim volume and work your way back to something near the beginning. Then try Goodbye, Columbus again. I believe the careful reader will discover a clear distinction between the early Roth and the master novelist of today. (5 Stars)
--Jim, 11/5/10
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novels, and tried Goodbye again. This time, the rule of 50 played an important role – I still did not like that novel. Without any trepidation, however, I dove into Nemesis published a short time ago. Am I glad I did! Now, Roth is my front runner for the Nobel Prize for Literature because of the way he chronicles life in America in the last half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries.
This novel is unlike anything I have read by Roth. Nothing put pure, young, innocent love set during a tragic episode in American history.
Bucky Cantor’s mother died in childbirth, and his father ended up in prison. Raised by his grandparents, they taught him self-reliance, the value of hard work, and he became quite an athlete. When Pearl Harbor suffered an attack, he tried to enlist with his friends, but poor eyesight earned him a classification of 4-F. These misfortunes haunted him for most of his life. Upon graduation from the ironically named “Panzer College,” he landed a job at a local elementary school as a physical education teacher. There he met Marcia, a new first grade teacher. The two instantly fell in love, but Cantor’s depression over his misfortunes shadowed him throughout his life. When a polio epidemic hits Newark in the summer of 1944, Bucky searches for an explanation in a world controlled by God. He spends much of the rest of his life wondering why God lets bad things happen to innocent children.
Roth has penned an absorbing and tightly drawn story of not only a man, but of a community and a tragedy of terrible proportions. In A Distant Mirror, the late historian, Barbara Tuchman, draws parallels between the 14th and 20th centuries. The bubonic plague which swept through Europe six centuries ago killed tens of millions of people. Superstition, and lack of basic understanding of infections and how they spread through a population, fueled panic, anti-Semitism, and incidents of violence against communities viewed as likely scapegoats. Roth demonstrates Tuchman’s thesis had more parallels than she mentioned, since her book mainly focused on the flu epidemic of 1918, in which tens of millions died world-wide. This pattern was repeated with the polio epidemic of the 40s and again with the A.I.D.S. epidemic which began in the 80s. Fortunately, modern science took the reins with explanations and treatments for both 20th century plagues. History does repeat itself.
Nemesis is the fourth in a series of short novels grouped under the heading Nemeses. If you haven’t read Roth in a while, start with this slim volume and work your way back to something near the beginning. Then try Goodbye, Columbus again. I believe the careful reader will discover a clear distinction between the early Roth and the master novelist of today. (5 Stars)
--Jim, 11/5/10
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LibraryThing member spounds
These days we seem to be infected with a heavy dose of libertarianism. I'm OK; you're OK; now get off my lawn.
But what if the opposite were true? What if you were someone who felt an inordinate amount of responsibility for others--and what if they started to die?
Bucky Cantor is a playground
The conclusion of Nemesis takes place 30 years after the first part of the story as Bucky retells how he has dealt with his decision and its consequences.
Roth spends this last bit pondering the idea of responsibility and the guilt that it can bring when the circumstance is more than someone can handle. At what point can I stop being my brother's keeper and just keep myself? Or is there such a point?
But what if the opposite were true? What if you were someone who felt an inordinate amount of responsibility for others--and what if they started to die?
Bucky Cantor is a playground
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director in Newark when the 1943 polio epidemic breaks out. He feels a strong responsibility for keeping his charges both safe from the hazards of the disease, but also from unneeded hysteria. When polio arrives in his neighborhood, Bucky seeks out advice on the right thing to do--and he does it. And then one day he makes a decision that will haunt him the rest of his life.The conclusion of Nemesis takes place 30 years after the first part of the story as Bucky retells how he has dealt with his decision and its consequences.
Roth spends this last bit pondering the idea of responsibility and the guilt that it can bring when the circumstance is more than someone can handle. At what point can I stop being my brother's keeper and just keep myself? Or is there such a point?
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LibraryThing member tymfos
In 1944, there was no vaccine or cure for polio (though treatments existed which helped, to some degree, many who contracted the disease). Indeed, though it was known to be highly contagious, the mechanism of polio's spread was not yet understood. As a result, all manner of theories abounded
This story explores the grim reality of urban life in a polio outbreak. However, it is even more the story of a man's grim battle with his own thoughts -- his fear, his conscience, his doubts, his guilt, and his anger at God -- in the face of a disease he cannot control and a World War in which he was deemed too nearsighted to serve.
Bucky Cantor is the neighborhood playground director, and he watches helplessly as his young charges begin to sicken and die of polio. The reality of the situation eats away at him as he ponders the opportunity to escape the inner city for work as a camp counselor in the Pocono Mountains, where his girlfriend Marcia works. What is his duty to his young charges at the playground? Is his playground a killing field of contagion, or an oasis from even more dangerous situations?
I listened to the audio version of this book (a Brilliance Audio production) and found some parts compelling, some parts a bit tedious, and some parts mildly curious (such as the description of summer camp life in the 1940's). Then there were the moments that left me with an "oh, no!" on my lips and a sinking feeling in my stomach as I anticipated what manner of disaster loomed ahead. In the end the biggest tragedy is, perhaps, less a matter of germs and twisted limbs, and more a matter of psychology and twisted thoughts -- because sometimes our mental state can stunt our lives more than any physical ailment.
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regarding the risks, leading to a general state of paranoia during outbreaks of the disease. Who/what was to blame for its spread? Flies? The hot dog vendor? A mentally-challenged neighbor? Contaminated library books?This story explores the grim reality of urban life in a polio outbreak. However, it is even more the story of a man's grim battle with his own thoughts -- his fear, his conscience, his doubts, his guilt, and his anger at God -- in the face of a disease he cannot control and a World War in which he was deemed too nearsighted to serve.
Bucky Cantor is the neighborhood playground director, and he watches helplessly as his young charges begin to sicken and die of polio. The reality of the situation eats away at him as he ponders the opportunity to escape the inner city for work as a camp counselor in the Pocono Mountains, where his girlfriend Marcia works. What is his duty to his young charges at the playground? Is his playground a killing field of contagion, or an oasis from even more dangerous situations?
I listened to the audio version of this book (a Brilliance Audio production) and found some parts compelling, some parts a bit tedious, and some parts mildly curious (such as the description of summer camp life in the 1940's). Then there were the moments that left me with an "oh, no!" on my lips and a sinking feeling in my stomach as I anticipated what manner of disaster loomed ahead. In the end the biggest tragedy is, perhaps, less a matter of germs and twisted limbs, and more a matter of psychology and twisted thoughts -- because sometimes our mental state can stunt our lives more than any physical ailment.
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LibraryThing member idiotgirl
Audiobook. Should be a 3.5. I have followed Roth's recent books with interest. He is a few years ahead me on the road to old age and is writing about that experience in a way that fascinates me. This book has a somewhat different take on the concerns of my group and those just ahead of us. This
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story goes back to the polio epedemics of the 40s and 50s and brings that story near to the present. Fear of polio vaguely haunted my childhood. I came to know those in my age group who had polio (my immediately family and friends in my small town were spared) but I remember all of the drama around the polio vaccines. Going to the county armory for first the shots and then the sugar cubes. So this book was of great interest. What surprised me most about this book was its last chapter. Naturalizes the telling into a first-person narrative by someone living in the story. Takes the story of Bucky into the future of the book. And the undauntable Bucky is daunted. It becomes in its final moments a meditation on what makes folks flexible, able to cope, and what can doom to rigidity, being trapped. I find myself lingering over this book more because of the way it ends, without the happy ending I would have liked. Show Less
LibraryThing member cwlongshot
Not my favorite Philip Roth - that honor goes to The Plot Against America - but this is an interesting portrayal of life during the polio epidemic in the US. For some reason, the last part of the book seems tacked on and doesn't fit well with the majority of the story, which is why I didn't rate
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the book higher. Show Less
LibraryThing member roblong
Read a review saying this is Roth-by-numbers, and there’s something to that: it’s set in his hometown, touches on issues of Jewishness and is about the extent to which chance – or the will of God – rather than our own actions defines our lives. So far, so Phil. However, Roth-by-numbers is
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better than pretty much anyone else, and most of his own work in the past few years for that matter. I thought this was brilliant, an idea pulled off virtually flawlessly. A really powerful, very moving book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Helenliz
Not entirely sure what to make of this, if I'm honest. Bucky Cantor is an athletic young man who finds himself not in Europe, fighting alongside his friends, but stuck in New York in the hot summer of '44. He's working as a PE teacher and is playground supervisor of a playground in the Jewish
Bucky's girlfriend is in a summer camp in the hills and freshair. After a couple of days of burgeoning epidemic taking more of the children and fewer parents allowing them out to congregate in the playground, Bucky quits his job. He takes a role as watersports director at the summer camp. Which is a perfect fit, but does nothing to reconcile him between his duty to the boys and the wishes of Marcia.
And all is going along swimmingly until a boy in Bucky's hut falls ill with Polio. Bucky is tortured with fear that he's brought it to the camp, that it is his fault. And so the disintegration begins.
As someone for whom polio is a vaccination we had in childhood, I can't grasp the fear. As someone with a scientific turn of mind, I can't appreciate Bucky's failure to grasp the cause of the illness. As an agnostic, I've long since dealt with the divine and find Bucky's conflict in this regard to be somewhat superficial. It seems that his turn of mind has God as something either purely good, or entirely evil. Something entirely fictional might be the rational response. So I found the guilt to be somewhat overwrought and overblown. I get that there's moral, I just don't think it worked as a morality tale.
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quarter. In the summer the polio returns to the city. At least initially, it does not impact on the boys in Bucky's playground, but then it hits and hits hard. Children fall ill and some die. Bucky is unable to rationalise what is happening, he can't understand a God that can kill children in this way, yet can't accept that it has a non-human or divine cause. Bucky's girlfriend is in a summer camp in the hills and freshair. After a couple of days of burgeoning epidemic taking more of the children and fewer parents allowing them out to congregate in the playground, Bucky quits his job. He takes a role as watersports director at the summer camp. Which is a perfect fit, but does nothing to reconcile him between his duty to the boys and the wishes of Marcia.
And all is going along swimmingly until a boy in Bucky's hut falls ill with Polio. Bucky is tortured with fear that he's brought it to the camp, that it is his fault. And so the disintegration begins.
As someone for whom polio is a vaccination we had in childhood, I can't grasp the fear. As someone with a scientific turn of mind, I can't appreciate Bucky's failure to grasp the cause of the illness. As an agnostic, I've long since dealt with the divine and find Bucky's conflict in this regard to be somewhat superficial. It seems that his turn of mind has God as something either purely good, or entirely evil. Something entirely fictional might be the rational response. So I found the guilt to be somewhat overwrought and overblown. I get that there's moral, I just don't think it worked as a morality tale.
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LibraryThing member joeteo1
Reading this book in the middle of the summer while being isolated at home during the CoVID19 pandemic made it particularly poignant. The fear and complex emotions that come to the surface during an infectious disease outbreak do not seem to change over time- just the disease. In many ways Polio
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was an even more fearsome disease than CoVID19. Polio outbreaks came in the summer and predominantly afflicted children. The disease also seemed to strike the strongest in the group. The story provides a candid demonstration of how the spread of Polio could bring out fear, dread and a sense of helplessness. The relevance of the story has never been stronger. Show Less
LibraryThing member KarenOdden
One of Roth's shorter novels, this one is timely. In his usual spare, clear prose, Roth explores the uncertainty, fear, anger, and blame that results from a polio epidemic striking Brooklyn in 1944, with all the uncertainty and fear of WWII as a dark echo and backdrop. The novel is focalized
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primarily through earnest, twenty-three-year-old Cantor, who, even after it's all over, cannot clearly assess his role in it and who bleakly ponders the unanswerable question: how can a benevolent god allow such things to happen? My favorite Roth novel (of those I've read) is THE HUMAN STAIN, but this one felt pertinent and raw. Show Less
LibraryThing member applemcg
with this book, i'm starting to understand roth's narrative sense. here, he unwraps the narrator a chapter at a time.
LibraryThing member brianinbuffalo
Roth ranks near the top of my favorite authors roster. His minimalist writing style, paired his ability to vividly capture eras in American history, rarely leave me disappointed.
I really liked "Nemesis." It certainly won't be remembered as one of Roth's classics. But it skillfully explores the
I really liked "Nemesis." It certainly won't be remembered as one of Roth's classics. But it skillfully explores the
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themes of fear and personal resonsibility against an intriguing backdrop -- the polio epidemic in the 1940s. However, I must agree with LT reviewer JaneSteen's critique of the novel's structure. I won't delve in detail here; I don't fancy writing "spoiler alerts." But the tome's structure was a bit disjointed. I also found that Roth's minimalist style worked against him in this thin volume. I wanted to know more about the roots of the protaganist's sad choices that changed his life. Having said all this, "Nemesis" is well worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member NoLongerAtEase
My favorite of Roth's recent novels.
Sketch of a review to be completed later:
Bucky Cantor is one of the few characters in Roth's corpus who is a down right decent, honorable guy.
The last 30 or so pages are just gut-wrenching. While we expect some tragedy from the outset, Roth spends the first
One wonders about Roth's allegorical aims. Certainly we could read Nemesis as a general meditation on death, and view Bucky as youth personified, polio as the reaper and the injustice, unfairness, and absurdity of the whole deal as the condition of our very being in the world. But that's probably too simplistic.
I think what's most interesting here is that we might see the allegory as another bit of support for the traditional Platonic argument for the supremacy of the mind.
Although Bucky is one of Roth's few wholly decent characters, we learn late in the novel that he has “barely a trace of wit”. Bucky is a great guy, but though he is dutiful and well grounded, his primary attributes are physical. Stripped of these, he is unable to view his situation as anything but a sort of cosmic punishment, an unfolding of a necessary sequence of events set in motion by a malevolent god.
If only Bucky had the intellectual capacity to entertain alternative possibilities. If only he had the imagination required to see the world from multiple angles. Perhaps then he wouldn't have viewed his affliction as a personalized f*ck you from the universe. Invariably the body breaks down. The pipes clog, the gears stick, and we begin the slow descent into death. But the intellect remains. It's our source of solace. Strength and comfort born of reflective activity.
Bucky's positive qualities, his strnegth of mind and devotion to duty, ended up tying the rope around his neck. His inability to compromise on his commitments and his inability to accept his powerlessness conspired with his lack of thoughtfulness and his unfortunate illness to render him a wreck of a man. If he could have simply found the intellectual space to renege on some of his duties, to understand that ought implies can, perhaps he could've been saved.
Is this what Roth is going for? Probably not. But for a guy who has used so many pages to celebrate the visceral, the very possibility of a novel that can from which we can plausibly derive this message is itself noteworthy.
Sketch of a review to be completed later:
Bucky Cantor is one of the few characters in Roth's corpus who is a down right decent, honorable guy.
The last 30 or so pages are just gut-wrenching. While we expect some tragedy from the outset, Roth spends the first
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5/6ths of the book building up an endearing character only to absolutely demolish him. One wonders about Roth's allegorical aims. Certainly we could read Nemesis as a general meditation on death, and view Bucky as youth personified, polio as the reaper and the injustice, unfairness, and absurdity of the whole deal as the condition of our very being in the world. But that's probably too simplistic.
I think what's most interesting here is that we might see the allegory as another bit of support for the traditional Platonic argument for the supremacy of the mind.
Although Bucky is one of Roth's few wholly decent characters, we learn late in the novel that he has “barely a trace of wit”. Bucky is a great guy, but though he is dutiful and well grounded, his primary attributes are physical. Stripped of these, he is unable to view his situation as anything but a sort of cosmic punishment, an unfolding of a necessary sequence of events set in motion by a malevolent god.
If only Bucky had the intellectual capacity to entertain alternative possibilities. If only he had the imagination required to see the world from multiple angles. Perhaps then he wouldn't have viewed his affliction as a personalized f*ck you from the universe. Invariably the body breaks down. The pipes clog, the gears stick, and we begin the slow descent into death. But the intellect remains. It's our source of solace. Strength and comfort born of reflective activity.
Bucky's positive qualities, his strnegth of mind and devotion to duty, ended up tying the rope around his neck. His inability to compromise on his commitments and his inability to accept his powerlessness conspired with his lack of thoughtfulness and his unfortunate illness to render him a wreck of a man. If he could have simply found the intellectual space to renege on some of his duties, to understand that ought implies can, perhaps he could've been saved.
Is this what Roth is going for? Probably not. But for a guy who has used so many pages to celebrate the visceral, the very possibility of a novel that can from which we can plausibly derive this message is itself noteworthy.
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LibraryThing member MaryGlickman
On another site, I gave this book a four. I regret it. Now that I've had time to digest it, I realize that Roth was on virgin territory for him here and he executed his task excellently. I feel I know his mind, his spirit better after a lifetime of reading his works. I don't know if it's because
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he's getting older (so am I) but his exposition of inquiry into the eternal question: Why do the innocent suffer? invites me to a new level of intimacy with Roth as writer and person which I completely enjoy. Far more than his works with their trademark erotic element, this is a creative view of the soul. Kudos. Show Less
LibraryThing member nbsp
I love Philip Roth. He shows us the world through his narrow focus on Newark, N.J. In this short novel, the polio epidemic stalks the populace. Reactions vary from courage to anger, logic to insanity.
Bucky Cantor is a likeable promising young Phys Ed teacher who runs a city playground. The story
My mother spent a few scary nights with me as a child in the hospital with a suspected case of polio that turned out to be measles. And, my child was born in the early days of AIDS and I wrestled with the unknown dangers of that. So I had a special interest in Nemesis but I think it has general appeal given the fear of disease that we endure at least annually during flu season. And, even having lived through the polio crisis, I could never have predicted the story line.
Audiobook reader Dennis Boutsikaris is stellar as always.
Bucky Cantor is a likeable promising young Phys Ed teacher who runs a city playground. The story
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heats up as Bucky deals with the prejudices that arise as God's Chosen People appear to be spared.My mother spent a few scary nights with me as a child in the hospital with a suspected case of polio that turned out to be measles. And, my child was born in the early days of AIDS and I wrestled with the unknown dangers of that. So I had a special interest in Nemesis but I think it has general appeal given the fear of disease that we endure at least annually during flu season. And, even having lived through the polio crisis, I could never have predicted the story line.
Audiobook reader Dennis Boutsikaris is stellar as always.
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
I thought this historically imagined tale of a polio outbreak in Newark, New Jersey was outstanding. Polio and its insidious spread is the metaphor for things which make us fear and from which it is difficult to protect oneself. Roth's insight into the workings of the human mind and heart are
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brilliant. The ultimate questions are what kind of God would create such a disease, what kind of God would allow small children to suffer, die, or move into adulthood permanently maimed? Yet.......there is the beauty of the protahonist's javelin throw......go figure! Great read! Show Less
LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
An attempt at the great American plague novel. If Roth finally discusses something other than girl problems, he does pretty well. An old-fashioned reminiscence with all too relevant problems.
LibraryThing member AudrieClifford
Does it sound heartless to say you enjoyed a story about people getting polio? This book is so well done that you feel like you're melting as the author describes the midsummer city heat. But what a relief when the main character goes to the mountains and breathes the cool, clean air! There's a lot
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of sorrow in the book, but oh, so much to admire. Show Less
LibraryThing member labfs39
This was my first book by Philip Roth, and unfortunately it was not an impressive first impression. The plot sounded interesting, about a polio epidemic in New Jersey in 1944 and how the multicultural community responds to the outbreak. Unfortunately, I found the main character, Bucky Cantor, to
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become increasingly irksome, until I reached a point where I thought he was one of the most unlikable characters I have met in recent years. His transformation over the course of the book is a rapid downhill slide until you want to throttle him. Perhaps Roth intended readers to feel this way and contemplate the fate of the anti-hero, but it didn't work for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member TimBazzett
Terrific book! I literally devoured it. NEMESIS is Roth's tribute to the polio plague years of the 1940s and how that dreaded disease scared the hell out of everyone every summer. And his protagonist, Bucky Cantor, will remain, for me, one of his more memorable characters, right up there with Gabe
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Wallach and Libby Herz from LETTING GO, which has always been one of my all-time favorite Roth novels. For those who remember polio, as well as for those who don't, I recommend this book highly. Show Less
LibraryThing member Joanneweston
A powerful read, utterly absorbing, emotional and ultimately tragic.
LibraryThing member stillwaters12
Very interesting, based carefully on truth. Well told. Main character, Mr. Cantor, is a stand-up guy, great coach and boy-friend. He is though a bit narcissistic. He ends relationships and becomes self-hating by the end of the book - depressing.
LibraryThing member KatherineGregg
I love Philip Roth but this was not my favorite. I listened to an interview of Roth on NPR recently and was looking forward to reading Nemesis. Roth is skillful in that he is able to convey so much in a few words. The construction of Nemesis was interesting with a narrator unknown until the end.
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The protagonist in Nemesis was like-able and it was disturbing to see the way his guilt (in not being fit to serve in war and in being a polio carrier) isolated him from people who cared about him for the rest of his life. It was very sad. Show Less
Awards
National Jewish Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2010)
Wellcome Trust Book Prize (Shortlist — 2011)
Spear's Book Award (Shortlist — Novel — 2011)
Booklist Editor's Choice: Adult Books (Fiction — 2010)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Fiction — 2010)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2010)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2010 (1e édition originale américaine)
2012-10-04 (1e traduction et édition française, Du monde entier, Gallimard)
Physical description
7.97 inches
ISBN
030747500X / 9780307475008
Local notes
2020-21 Reading Circle selection