6 ms·

Philip Roth’s Terrible Gift of Intimacy

39 points by samclemens 7y ago

rsynnott 7y ago
Oh, I hadn't realised he was dead :(
- dmix 7y ago
  NYTimes did a nice obituary that was frontpage a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17131431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17131431 It was a nice overview of his career.
- ConsiderCrying 7y ago
  Same, I was shocked and went to see if COVID took him and found out it's been 2 years. Damn shame, he was a great author. The write-up is wonderful, too. I never really looked into mr. Roth's life but he seems like a fascinating character. Always could tell how much of his worldview he put into his characters but, somehow, it never bothered me like it often does with other authors. Perhaps it's thanks to his unusual views on life.
ubu7737 7y ago
I can't find a single admirable thing about Roth from his writing. Selfish, consumed by sexual desire during years when he ought to have learned long ago that sex is a procreative pursuit, all in the pursuit of a particular kind of admiration from both men and women. "A couple of misguided attempts at courtship followed, painful for the women involved. Then he closed the door on erotic life entirely. He’d learned how to be an elderly gentleman who behaves correctly. He joined the ranks of the sexually abdicated." Why it is so fascinating for some that Roth raged against the cooling of his sexual urges, I'll never know. He seems like the biggest twat ever. Similarly, Updike: https://observer.com/1997/10/john-updike-champion-literary-phallocrat-drops-one-is-this-finally-the-end-for-magnificent-narcissists/ https://observer.com/1997/10/john-updike-champion-literary-p... "But it never once occurs to him that the reason he’s so unhappy is that he’s an asshole."
cafard 7y ago
'He was genuinely puzzled by gossips. “All the fun of a secret is in keeping it. Why blab?” Maybe he took this view because he’d been more victimized by gossip than other people have been.' There is a splendid bit along those lines in Zuckerman Unbound.

39 points by samclemens 7y ago

rsynnott 7y ago

Oh, I hadn't realised he was dead :(

dmix 7y ago
NYTimes did a nice obituary that was frontpage a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17131431 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17131431 It was a nice overview of his career.
ConsiderCrying 7y ago
Same, I was shocked and went to see if COVID took him and found out it's been 2 years. Damn shame, he was a great author. The write-up is wonderful, too. I never really looked into mr. Roth's life but he seems like a fascinating character. Always could tell how much of his worldview he put into his characters but, somehow, it never bothered me like it often does with other authors. Perhaps it's thanks to his unusual views on life.

ubu7737 7y ago

I can't find a single admirable thing about Roth from his writing. Selfish, consumed by sexual desire during years when he ought to have learned long ago that sex is a procreative pursuit, all in the pursuit of a particular kind of admiration from both men and women. "A couple of misguided attempts at courtship followed, painful for the women involved. Then he closed the door on erotic life entirely. He’d learned how to be an elderly gentleman who behaves correctly. He joined the ranks of the sexually abdicated." Why it is so fascinating for some that Roth raged against the cooling of his sexual urges, I'll never know. He seems like the biggest twat ever. Similarly, Updike: https://observer.com/1997/10/john-updike-champion-literary-phallocrat-drops-one-is-this-finally-the-end-for-magnificent-narcissists/ https://observer.com/1997/10/john-updike-champion-literary-p... "But it never once occurs to him that the reason he’s so unhappy is that he’s an asshole."

cafard 7y ago

'He was genuinely puzzled by gossips. “All the fun of a secret is in keeping it. Why blab?” Maybe he took this view because he’d been more victimized by gossip than other people have been.' There is a splendid bit along those lines in Zuckerman Unbound.