In 1951, the second year of the Korean War, a studious, law-abiding, and intense youngster from Newark, New Jersey, Marcus Messner, begins his sophomore year on the pastoral, conservative campus of Ohio's Winesburg College. And why is he there and not at a local college in Newark where he originally enrolled? Because his father, the sturdy, hardworking neighborhood butcher, seems to have gone mad–mad with fear and apprehension of the dangers of adult life, the dangers of the world, the dangers he sees in every corner for his beloved boy. Far from Newark, Marcus has to find his way amid the customs and constrictions of another American world.
Indignation, Philip Roth's twenty-ninth book, is a startling departure from the haunted narratives of old age and experience in Roth’s recent books and a powerful exploration of a remarkable moment in American history.
If there's an issue for me with this Roth tomb, it has to do with it's length. I wanted more ... more of Messner, more of Olivia ... more of Mom and Pop and more of that last day in the life of our protagonist. What Indignation did for me was force me to order the few Roth novels I haven't read yet ... I'm not sure what some of the reviewer issues have been (Christopher Hitchens must've been drinking when he wrote his review), but Indignation is classic Roth ... and if anything negative, maybe just not enough.
writes,
A nice little coming of age tale with moral underpinnings and excellent 1950's verisimilitude. A few laugh-out-loud lines added to my enjoyment of this novel, which was easily read in one sitting.
writes,
Philip Roth has raised a high bar for himself in terms of artistic achievement. Just in the last 25 years alone he has written some masterpieces of modern American fiction. The Counter Life, Sabbath's Theater, American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, The Human Stain, all belong in the pantheon of great American novels. Unfortunately, his last three novels have fallen well below the high level of artistic accomplishment which most Roth readers expect. Everyman, Exit Ghost, and now Indignation are slim books, both in size, execution, and end product. In overall emotional quality and tone, Indigation is the best of the three. There is a certain draw Roth is able to create, making the novel seem necessary and important. Yet all three seem rushed, compressed: the mere footnotes of a novel. The major problem is of depth and girth. Roth is churning these out every year, and the margins are purposefully oversized (perhaps to make the reader feel he or she is getting their $15 worth) and consequently in that small space the prose power is diminished. Roth is confining himself, and the outcome is flat. For his loyal readers, Roth brings a great deal of expectation to his works. Unfortunately and sadly, Indignation meets them only about half way -- and for a writer as good as Roth, this isn't enough.
