Customer Reviews

Goodbye Columbus

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Philip Roth is a great writer. Yeah, we've all heard this at one point or another (at least those of you taking and wasting time to read a review of one of his books). This was Mr. Roth's first published work, a short novel and five short stories that forced us to realize this man had arrived violently on the scene as a powerful literary force. Let's talk about the stories in this collection:

"Goodbye, Columbus" is, honestly, without the standard hyperbole so many people slab into reviews such as this, one of the best novels I have ever read. It was written by a twenty-five year old man who was only going to get better (as his work from the mid-1980s to the present firmly establishes) yet here we have the wisdom of our great American gods. It is a beautiful story, funny and painful and filled with truths anyone in those recent post-college, still-not-finding-one's self perspective could learn and grow from. I love this story, and it is filled with agonizing self-analytical material that shows who it is we are dealing with, the intellect and the passion, the savagry and the wit. There are not too many single stories of American authors I could recommend more highly than this book, in particular the five page sequence from which this story gets its title. It is haunting and true, one of the rare glories of English in narrative form. If for nothing else, get this book to read this lovely novella. It is, profoundly, a masterpiece (not a term I use lightly either, being the bitter cynic I am--check out other reviews I've written--I can get rather mean)>

Among the other stories, the most celebrated is "Conversion of the Jews", and for good reason. This is another gorgeously written tale about self-discovery and the agony of those questions all beginning with 'Why?' Here is a story questioning faith, questioning the idea of God or a higher power that has been transformed into such a makeshift mythology by all the varying faiths, why bother, it asks, what is the point and is it real and who are we and why are we here and why why why why why? This is a great story.

Sadly, this collection is begun with the two tales I have so widely praised. The remaining stories are good--very good, in fact, but following up "Goodbye, Columbus" and "Conversion of the Jews", something is lost as they are unable (quite understandably--what 25 year old author is going to maintain such sustained greatness? It took Roth 27 years to return to this passion in "The Counterlife", and then he expanded from there, getting better and better progressively, and never looking back)to keep up the fascination. Now this is not to say there is anything wrong with these other stories. Had they been all there was in this collection I would have looked back with nodding approval and said, "Hey, this guy is going somewhere." But they are not the first two stories and are almost awkwardly placed as an aftermath of a developing great author. Get this book urgently, and read them all. Just don't allow yourself to be soured by the slightly lesser material following the first two masterworks.

"Goodbye, Columbus," by Philip Roth, is a series of short stories. Each story has it's own characters and plot. Roth begins with a story about man and women who fall in love. They experience many conflicts such as family matters and working habits. The second story is about a boy who is trying to discover how Jesus was established as a religious icon. His misunderstanding leads to a crisis on top of a building. The third story is about World War II and a man's perception of the war and his experiences. The fourth story is about a husband and wife who are struggling with marriage conflicts. The wife believes her husband is cheating on her because he develops an extraordinary rash. The fifth story is about two boys who are in high school and are learning about baseball and true friendship. They develop a friendship that lasts a life time. The last story is about a man and his pregnant wife. They struggle with money and job issues, but somehow they learn to deal with their obstacles in life when approached by them.

The short stories all have similar aspects to them. Roth uses very descriptive diction to project a vivid image into the reader's mind and to create a romantic tone in the story. The stories are easy to follow and understand because of the use of straight forward word choice and descriptions of the characters. The reader may find that the stories are short and unfinished, but because of this, the reader is left with suspense and imagination.

Reading this book I felt like I was reading Judy Blume's Forever but from the male perspective, in which that loser character from Forever gets to speak for himself and reveal just how much of a loser he really is.

Romance between working class Jew and Jewish American Princess and the tensions. My girlfriend told me that it reminded her of me in that the working class guy is constantly challenging and fighting with his girlfriend in order to cover up his own insecurities. Our relationship got better after that.

You don't really pay attention to the psychological aspect the first time because it's all about sex, when are they going to have sex, how often are they going to have sex, is she going to get birth control? And like i said before, the female character is not at all like the subdued Ali MacGraw in the movie. She's a harpy from the main characters perspective. When the story ends on a Portnoy's Complaint type note you are both laughing and sorrowful.

The other stories are ok. Not great. THey also follow the idea of Jewish assimilation and how it works and doesn't work for Jews. The one about the soldier that uses shared ethnicity as an excuse for getting out of work is good and The Conversion of the Jews is for anyone whose ever hated Hebrew School.

After checking it out of the library, I found "Goodbye, Columbus" good enough to purchase for my personal collection. What a riot this book is in parts. I had a class in college where we read parts of it to "show what a chauvinist Roth is," but I really didn't get that impression when I read the *entire* novel.

And the scene where Ron is listening to his graduation album just cracked me up.

Don't remember enough about the short stories to comment with any authority, so I'll leave those alone.

Roth has written a wonderful, easy to read story that contains many themes relating to teenage lives. The novel begins as a cute love story that keeps you interested and carries lessons on love VS lust in relationships. The relationship between Brenda and Neil is similar to that which many of us experience and are able to relate to. The content and message of the novel provide an enjoyable book to read.

I wouldn't recommend this book...I believe that Roth is too involved in the characters having sex than trying to get some sort of plot going....I didn't enjoy reading Goodbye, Columbus, but I did enjoy reading the short stories where it is not about sex but rather about religion. thank you for the short stories....

Though definitely not his best work, _Goodbye, Columbus_ is an impressive first effort from one of the best authors of the second half of this century. Throughout the book one can sense the style Roth was creating for himself, and though this book doesn't exhibit that breathless virtuosity of prose, that mastery of the English language, of his later books, it's still a nice read.

The novella _Goodbye, Columbus_ is a love story and a quiet meditation on a different type of "class struggle," and a better example of Roth's style -- not to mention a better story -- than his next two books, _Letting Go_ and _When She Was Good_. The first of the five stories, "The Conversion of the Jews," is a bit sick, but entertaining for that very reason. The middle three stories are a bit lackluster, but the book ends in high style, with "Eli, the Fanatic," a story that manages to be both a moving story about conflicting loyalties (the goyim or the Jews) and a hilarious portrait of a nervous breakdown.

I would not recommend this book to those just starting to read Philip Roth (try the Zuckerman Bound trilogy instead), but for anyone wondering where Roth's career started, it's an excellent book.

This is perhaps one of the finest novels to come out of the post war era. Sadly, while the author is a good novelist, he has never written anything else to compare to it. I remember reading it in high school and being overwelmed with the depth of his characters and the strength of the plot. A definite must read.

A fascinating look at a young man who is beginning to question his youthful ideals. Does he abandon his lower class family and everything he believes to marry into a wealthy family? It is beautifully written and very real.

a very interesting debate about love of social classe