Rabbit, Run by John Updike
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Book Reviews of Rabbit, Run
Book Review: Updike's Slam-Dunk About Harry
Summary: 5 Stars
I, too, was going to title my review "Updike is the Bomb!"; as someone who fancies herself a writer, I just stand in awe of this man's work and and realize that I will never in my wildest imagination create something this gorgeous. Beautiful lyricism and stream-of-conscious narration, to say nothing of tour-de-force characterization, its apex an entirely unsympathetic hero whom you somehow root for and hope will redeem himself. No such luck with Rabbit, and though his lack of responsibility, self-reflection, decency and foresight make him, at best, a loser, the reader is riveted by his saga and begins to associate this character's faults with those of our own consumer-driven, me-first culture, which at the time of this book's writing, was still in its infancy. Imagine Rabbit as a '90s man! It boggles the mind how he reflects all that is bad about us, and how vividly the writing was on the wall, 40 years ago! Right on for the poet/novelist/prophet/teller of fortunes that is Updike, he's done us a service by sharing his gifts.Book Review: Let's hear it for Updike!
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply, this novel is superb and it has made me an Updike devotee. Maybe Updike is God, as it has been whispered from time to time. The wonderful pacing of the events of the story is matched by the almost haunting poetry of the prose. When it comes purely to the art of writing Updike has few peers (Nabokov, maybe Rushdie), and the magnetic imagery seems perfectly placed amongst the more necessary details of the story. Honestly after reading this i lament all of the time I have spent reading other authors when i could have been better spending my time reading Updike! His style is so bold and pronounced, the colors so lush, the details bursting with a life of their own, the characters hugely complex and on and on. This man is a wizard at artistic observation, and a master at getting into the innards of his fully-fleshed characters.
I feel like an illiterate clod attempting to write about Updike; he must give any writer a huge inferiority complex. Anyhow run (quickly) to the bookstore and Read This Book.
Book Review: Motions of Grace
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm surprised how many people don't get Harry Angstrom. He's trying to survive like all of us, and at the same time achieve a few "motions of Grace" here and there. He steps all over himself and others, but he has heart. He's not always smart, but he's oddly tolerant, understanding--most of the time. He's a jerk, too, sometimes, but who isn't? If you're never a jerk here or there, you're most likely playing things a little too safe. Maybe you've given up too much individual freedom. Harry Angstrom, thoughout the four novels, never quite does that, never succumbs fully to social norms, obligations. "Motions of Grace, hardness of heart; external circumstances"; it's all right there on page one of Rabbit, Run.And, finally, thank you, thank you, J. Updike, for prose that makes you think. Prose that's anything but conventional. Prose that takes chances. Rabbit, Run isn't for everybody. If you're looking for something "safe," better look elsewhere.
Book Review: A story of a coward who didn't hide it...
Summary: 5 Stars
How often have you just wanted to run away from it all? How many times have you actually done it, though? Rabbit feels what we feel, but the main difference between him and most of the rest of society is that he doesn't seem to care about those he leaves behind. He feels he can run, and that everyone will still love him and accept him when and if he ever returns. I don't like Rabbit, but I do like the book. I'm glad John Updike had the guts to write about a side of human nature that is despised. He no doubt catches criticism because it looks like he is glorifying this deplorable person. I don't feel that Rabbit was ever intended to be liked by us, or even felt sorry for. I feel more sorry for his family and friends whose lives he has wrecked, than for him.As a side note, I was very surprised to read that Rabbit's daughter was born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Brewer, PA (in real life: Reading, PA). I was also born in that same hospital!
Book Review: Going Nowhere Fast!
Summary: 5 Stars
The first Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom book and Rabbits glory days are past. From basketball hero he now has a dead end job and a stagnant marriage; one child and one on the way. Washed up at 26 he seeks a new life; a new begining,but all his plans are hampered by his indecision and lusts.
This is a great read and 50 years on is still fresh and ground breaking in its sexual detail and exploration of the failed American dream. Updike's prose style is descriptive and poetic and somehow achieves the near impossible in making in making Harry sympathetic despite his amoral attitude to life and the damage he does to those around him.
I avoided Updike for years despite recommendations and only recently took him up with 'My Fathers Tears'. That was excellent and 'Rabbit Run' serves to show how much more of his work I have to enjoy. This certainly measures up to comparable novels such as 'Revolution Road'.