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The Birth Day, Mai 26 2004
"Seize The Day" is about the day Tommy Wilhelm hit his financial and emotional bottom and emerges from a lifetime of confusion and failure to find his true self, his spiritual self. Bellow's novel of psycological introspection and intrege compelled this reader to examine his own life a little closer. Maybe you will be fascinated by doing the same.
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an agony to read about a loser losing, Mars 4 2004
This is Bellow's paean to failure, the slow slide of a good-hearted though dumb and self-destructive man. He is heading to his doom, and is a sucker the whole way. Reading this is hard, much like the inexorable decline of people in a Balzac novel, but it is a peculiarly American brand of failure with the post-war culture and Hollywood dreams in tow. It is a masterpiece.Recommended, but keep the valium handy.
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for bellow, this is the place to start, Fév 18 2004
I generally agree with what the other reviewers say about this book, though I'm not sure they appreciate the level of sympathy, and even love, Bellow has for his flawed creation (and Bellow's warmth is one of many things I love about him). I would add that this book is the best introduction to Bellow's work. Like Herzog and The Adventures of Augie March it is unarguably a classic of twentieth century literature; unlike them it's short and relatively straightforward, and once you see what the man can accomplish in a mere 115 pages you'll definitely be primed for more.
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A Slender American Classic, Sep 22 2003
I first read this book years ago, when I was losing my shirt (and just about every other item of clothing I owned) as a commodity-futures trader. Someone had told me the book concerned a guy in the same situation. Readers certainly won't find much in "Seize the Day" about the workings of the commodity markets, but they will discover an incredibly well-explored character named Tommy Wilhelm, who gambles what's left of his money in a desperate effort to get out of hock. Wilhelm is an excruciating combination of victim and self-defeating loser. Bellow's relentless examination of a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown makes for riveting reading. And while Tommy Wilhelm could serve as a poster-boy warning to anyone thinking of speculating in risky investments, he definitely stands as a symbol of what can happen to people when they take themselves and the "American Dream" too seriously.
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A haunting spectre for the midde-class!, Fév 2 2002
This could be described as the archetypical story of mid-life, middle-class man who hasn't made it and surely never will. Tommy Wilhelm is down on his luck and combats his misery with the hopeful expectation of something turning up. His father, Dr. Adler, views Tommy as having lacked the ability to persist during the various endeavours in his life. He adheres firmly to his cold logic and refuses to help his son, who is the architect of his own downfall.
Tommy cannot find the mastery of his destiny within himself and therefore looks to others, eminently unsuitable for the impossible task; to Dr.Tamkin (their joint commodities scheme is financed with Tommy's bottom dollars) and to his innerly deadened father who does not want to be disturbed in his old age by his failed over-age son. Dr.Tamkin is a charlatan who bewilderingly produces the odd pearl of wisdom from amongst the rest of his pseudo-scientific debris. He represents the soul without substance, and Dr. Adler the substance without soul.
His estranged wife torments him for his past sins. The wealthy old Mr.Rappaport is pathologically self-centred. No help is forthcoming from his fellow humans.
As a product of Western society, with its tradition in state and religious institutions, benign omnipotent divinity, universal laws, natural justice and so on, Tommy seems to be clinging on to the belief in some kind of metaphysical scheme of things that surely must be out there somewhere to make it all right in the end. The message seems to be that these putative structures and mechanisms of sustenance are non-existent when it comes to the crunch, i.e. you're on your own, Pal!
And then comes the ending.
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To really live each day, Janv. 21 2002
In every life there are days of reckoning, and moments of supreme truth. When those days occur and we look back on everything that has happened in our lives, then what is to be seen and known? In "Seize The Day", Tommy Wilhelm has such a day of reckoning, when everything in his life reaches a turning point of disintegration and despair. Everything seems to fall apart before his eyes, as old wounds from his past are laid completely bare. His deepest wish is for a measure of genuine love and respect, amid the ruins of a life that has never been fully lived. In many ways Tommy Wilhelm's story is the story of all of us, as we search for real meaning each day. Like Tommy Wilhelm we struggle to seize the day, and to find something of value in the ever passing moments of our lives.
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historia de un fracaso, Nov. 19 2001
Carpe Diem Saul BellowLa historia, no solo de un fracaso, sino de un miedo generalizado al fracaso, por parte de una sociedad que te ve en términos e ganancias y beneficios, no solo para ti, sino para los tuyos y donde ser un fracasado implica ser una carga social para los demás, que no están dispuestos a tolerarte, a hacerse cargo de ti y mucho menos a oírte mientras te quejas de lo mal que te ha tratado la vida y lo injusto que han sido los demás para contigo.
De eso se trata esta historia, que no tiene desperdicios de ningún tipo, pues es corta, solo consta de 154 paginas, es precisa y cuenta el tema sin desvíos, muy frecuentes en la obra de Bellow. Tommy Wilhem es un fracasado de 44 años quien le gusta lamentarse de sus problemas con todo el mundo y es ese lloriqueo el que hace que el personaje nos resulte antipático, torpe y mediocre. En su juventud tomo las decisiones equivocadas, como muchos jóvenes han hecho, pero eso no es motivo para lloriquear por lo que se ha hecho o se ha dejado de hacer. Su problema no es ese, sino de actitud ante la vida. Su miedo a ser un inadaptado lo convierte en eso, en un inadaptado. La cosa de la que huimos a veces esta más cerca mientras más huimos de ella. Solo cuando nos enfrentamos a la vida con valor y con entereza estamos nosotros prestos a vencer nuestros demonios internos y llegar a ser alguien. Pero no se equivoquen en este punto; ser alguien no es ser un acaudalado millonario o un empresario prospero, por mucho que a usted se le quiera convencer de ello. Ser alguien es amarse como uno es, sin reservas y estar contento con lo que la vida y las circunstancias le han dado por el día de hoy, eso es ser alguien y alguien feliz.
Ya lo dice la cita completa del latín: carpe diem minimun crédula postera: Goza del día de hoy sin creer mucho en el mañana. Luis Méndez.
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Look, the Lard Has Held Its Place!, Nov. 6 2001
Par Un client
Absolutely first-rate American novel of alienation. Tommy Wilhelm reaches mid-life with a divorce, a lost job, and a father who won't pay his debts. Tommy asks "How could I have been such a jerk as not to prepare for anything and just go on luck and inspiration?" It all goes down hill from there, Tommy's Dad telling him for good measure, "Those who wait for help must wait for help. You have to stop waiting." But Tommy can't, and we watch him till the bitter end. Brilliant writing; personally I feel this is much better than his longer, three-hundred pagers which tend to get diffuse and laden-down with theories and name-dropping. Here Bellow is writing tightly and concisely (like in his other great short novel, Dangling Man).This otherwise handsome Penguin edition comes with a tedious, thirteen-page introduction by Cynthia Ozick, doyenne of the novel-as-text-to-be-taught-in-the-classroom school, a particulary inelegant writer to stick before Bellow (who is "irrefragably American" according to her). There is no need for her introduction, or anybody's, because Bellow is such a good writer the reader will have no problem understanding him. Why Ozick's superfluous bad prose at the start to mess this beauty up?
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It's hard to put a car chase in a book., Sep 3 2001
Just wanted to say that although I can see why some of these people say nothing happend in this book, nothing could be further from the truth. Seize the Day is a book that has no action, no last miniute courthouse confessional, but is one of the most moving portraits of the American male I have read since Death of a Salesman.
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The Condition of Modern Breakdown, Mars 9 2001
Middle-aged Wilhelm las lost his sense of direction. He cannot find the means to support his wife and kids, who he recently walked out on, and is looking for pity and help from everyone that he can. The premise may not sound that interesting but Bellow does an incredible job of showing how suppressing emotions come back to haunt us. Throughout this book, Wilhelm has several life-changing interactions with the other characters, and comes out a totally different person. These interactions are gracefully executed by Bellow, showing an amazing grasp of differing psyches and how they interact with others. I don't want to give anything away, but Wilhelm's final confrontations with Tamkin and his father are absolutely amazing. If your interest can be held by an intensely personal journey (as opposed to a plot driven thriller), then this book may be for you. Once you've finished the book, just compare the opening paragraphs with the closing ones and you should get a hint of what you just gained. Doing so may even convince you to give it another go.
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CDN$ 16.50 CDN$ 11.41
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Accueil Amazon
