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ridaakhtar_'s review against another edition
4.0
I have officially vowed to read a Philip Roth novel every two months for mental peace.
Them illicit jargons of post-modernism!
Them illicit jargons of post-modernism!
vvolof's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dalumores's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
burialshroud's review against another edition
2.0
Of course I Married a Communist is beautifully written and as stout a novel as you would expect from Philip Roth, it's just not very interesting. There's little humour, it's so serious it's almost earnest.
horselover_fat's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
zachjohnson42's review against another edition
3.0
In the second installment of the "American Trilogy", Philip Roth tells 2 stories: 1) that of the red scare demise of a radio star 2) it's historical, emotional, and developmental impact on the narrator, Nathan Zuckerman. While the blending of the stories leads to messiness and confusion as the story is also conveyed by Zuckerman's high school teacher, Murray, the radio star (Ira Ringold's older brother) it provides a convincing portrait of the height of the McCarthyism of the 1950's. Roth's energetic, maximalist prose finds a way to tenderize rough characters while providing an ontological framework for the power of media, celebrity, and diluted ideology in american life. Before there was the post true world in the era of "fake news" there was the pre true world in the era of tell-all's and bombshell reports.
emilyrdean's review against another edition
2.0
This is the story of a horrible man named Ira told by his brother to one of Ira's former students. I really want to like Philip Roth and Nathan Zuckerman, but I really do not.
drifterontherun's review against another edition
4.0
This is just a shattering indictment of McCarthyism, but not in the way you might think. Despite the tendency of many writers to tell the story of this tyrannical time in American history from the perspective of its crime against those who are perceived to be communists, Roth's goal is much greater. He isn't just telling the tale of 1950's and 60's red baiting, but about the individual battle to identify with something larger than ourselves. Roth writes with such humanity here, such sympathy for the plight of certain characters, and admitted wrath for others, that this book becomes something indeed much, much larger than what the book jacket would suggest.
This is the first entry in his American Trilogy that I've read, but if American Pastoral and The Human Stain are as good as this second entry, than this might just be one of the best series I've read in some time. My interest lagged at certain initial parts, but once the story gets going it picks up steam in a way that'd make the Industrial Revolution jealous!
This is the first entry in his American Trilogy that I've read, but if American Pastoral and The Human Stain are as good as this second entry, than this might just be one of the best series I've read in some time. My interest lagged at certain initial parts, but once the story gets going it picks up steam in a way that'd make the Industrial Revolution jealous!
puginbaby's review against another edition
5.0
Roth could write about anything and I would still read it all and love it