Herzog Book Review

Herzog by Saul Bellow

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was an absolute pleasure to read. It took me a while to finish it - partially because of school obligations, but more so because I wanted to savor every word - but it was a wonderful book with some of the best writing I've ever encountered and an amazingly dynamic, three-dimensional protagonist.

The opening line sets the tone of the story perfectly: "If I am out of my mind, it's all right with me." Moses E. Herzog is a complex character who can be difficult to pin down at times. He's an intellectual with an incredibly sophisticated mind, yet he seems incapable of maintaining mental fortitude against the disintegration of life around him. He's a twice failed husband, with a child by each wife, who readily recognizes that he wronged the first and was wronged by the second; yet, he maintains an intensity of feeling for both of them - and all the other women in his life. To deal with his precarious situation he writes unsent letters to his psychiatrist, his friends, his dead mother, President Eisenhower, Nietzsche, and even God. Through these letters we see his enormous intellect and gain an understanding of who he is and what he's going through.

The thing that most greatly impressed me about Bellow's writing is how he seems transplant Herzog's mind into every single word. At times the story is told in third person, while at other times it seems to move to first person. It's like Herzog is trying to write his own story from a neutral perspective, yet at times it becomes too personal and he slips from the position of the detached biographer. Hats off to Bellow for his amazing writing, it's some of the best I've ever read.

The book can be a bit difficult at times, especially when Herzog goes off on some soliloquy about human ideology (or whatever else), and it wouldn't hurt to have a basic understanding of French, but because of how well written the book is, and how fascinating Herzog is as a character, it rarely becomes a chore. There isn't much of a traditional plot beyond the reader's discovery of Herzog's character and the development of how he deals with his problems, but it never really bothered me. Perhaps this is part of the reason it took me a while to finish the book; without a strong plot to push me forward in reading, I was left take it in at my leisure.

Overall this was a really great book and it's not difficult to see why Bellow was, and is still, so highly praised (he won the Nobel Prize, among numerous other awards). It may not be for everyone - people looking for a more intellectual read rather than a page turner will certainly enjoy it more - but I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to say that it's a masterpiece. Highly recommended.



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