American Pastoral
by Philip Roth
read: circa 2005
Time 100 Novels, Guardian 1000 Novels, Pulitzer Prize
I read this book shortly after the Time list came out, and I was absolutely spellbound. I lent it to a co-worker who, upon reading it, called it one of the five greatest books he'd ever read. I can't disagree.
American Pastoral captures the mental state of obsession; not the external state of stalking somebody, but the internal state of poring over an event or a decision over and over and over again while maintaining a seemingly healthy exterior. Roth evokes this repetitiveness without being boring; the novel is gripping. I've read six books of his and in my opinion this is his masterpiece.
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