- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (Oct 27 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143105841
- ISBN-13: 978-0143105848
- Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.7 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Library Journal
Harry Trellman, the protagonist of Bellow's latest offering since the trio of short fiction, Something To Remember Me By (Dutton, 1991), is an orphan of sorts, a spiritual self-exile who imagined he could "effect a transfer to another civilization"; he made his fortune in the Far East before returning to Chicago to ease his emotional longing, specifically for the woman who has figured in his thoughts since age 15. Harry, as a remote observer of human nature, will put readers in mind of numerous of Bellow's antiheroes, such as Moses Herzog (Herzog, 1964) and Charlie Citrine (Humboldt's Gift, 1975). Harry's vehicle for immersion in the actual is the ancient billionaire Siggy Adletsky and other "notables" of Chicago society bent on a series of coming-clean schemes that Bellow concocts so ingeniously. In effect, this charming, pared-down tale is a study of the master's method, and despite his determined obfuscation, it is an achingly simple cry from the heart that reads like a parting love letter. Essential for all collections.?Amy Boaz, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Bellow has recently embraced the novella as his favorite form, with brilliant results. His latest confirms not only his mastery of the novella's special qualities of precise yet uncramped expression but also the distinctiveness of the form itself, which, in many ways, is superior in effectiveness to the short story or the novel. Harry Trellman has been drawn back to his hometown of Chicago after a lucrative business career has propelled him to such locales as Guatemala and Burma. By chance, Harry meets mega-elderly and mega-rich businessman Sigmund Adletsky, who immediately perceives Harry's ability to discern human nature and enlists him as part of his "brain trust." This business with the old geezer brings Harry into contact with Amy Wustrin, a woman Harry loved many, many years ago and whom he has never forgotten: thus the emotional tug that drew him back to Chicago in the first place. Amy had married Harry's best friend but has gone through a horrible divorce, and now the husband is dead. Amy is an interior decorator, which is the connection she has with old man Adletsky. Harry and Amy's reacquaintance is the substance of Bellow's piquant elegy to first and rekindled love. The surface of the story carries few valleys and peaks, but beneath its outwardly uncomplex exterior pulsates reassuring emotions about permanence in the face of life's transience. Brad Hooper
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Better Late Than Never,
By
This review is from: The Actual (Paperback)
Bellow's protagonist is a staid, somewhat mysterious Asian-looking character who may be based in part on Allan Bloom's travelling companion, described in Bellow's Ravelstein. Morally distanced from the characters with whom he becomes reluctantly involved, the protagonist, during a graveyard scene, risks new love with his highschool sweetheart who has eluded him in a life of successful business. The better-late-than-never involvement of the protagonist by book's may mirror Bellows' own dialectic between the writerly distance needed for objective observation and the deeper involvement in life which renders detached observation both more suspect and more difficult.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Books,
By Ryan "Big Reader" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Actual (Hardcover)
You can read this book in one sitting, and you likely will. I think Saul Bellow was nearly (or even beyond) 90 when he wrote this novella, and it does great damage to the notion that geriatric decline is inevitable. This book tells a very sentimental story without the slightest bit of sentimentality. I think this must be the hardest sort of novel to write, but Saul Bellow, as usual, makes it look easy.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Realizing The Actual,
By Jeremy Fine (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Actual (Paperback)
Too often we live in a world of observations and not in The Actual. We talk about what could have been, while forgetting that it is never too late to act on our dreams. The Actual might not provide the most complex story line or character development, but it provides an insightful look into a common human characteristic that can hamper us from obtaining our dreams. Mr. Bellow's main character, Harry Trellman, is a successful businessman and astute observer. He provides keen insight into why people do the things they do, but can't justify his own inaction regarding the love of his life. Old Mrs. Adletsky wanted to move into a new apartment at the ripe age of 90. She realized she didn't have much more time remaining in this life but she still wanted to attain her dreams and retain her youth (by acting as a "new bride"). However, from her husband's negotiations on price, we see that attaining our dreams should not totally disregard price (monetary or other). Mr. Adletsky attempted to be a disassociated observer, like Harry, but in the end found it too difficult. He finally involved himself, as he had done so many times in his professional career, in the relationship between Harry and Amy. A balance between observation and action must be obtained to ensure we live life to the fullest. Love stories are a difficult genre and open to criticism. To make the story too sentimental would have diminished Harry Trellman's clinical approach to his personal affairs. Albeit the story and especially the finale were a bit contrived, but the moral of the story is well conceived and delivered.
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