The Human Stain

Roth once more shows his literary skills in creating this engrossing book, so richly full of themes and subthemes that it causes the reader to pause in reflection on every page. I would rate this epic story (mirroring the ancient Greek conflicts so loved by its main character Coleman Silk) very highly and have no problem placing it in the "classic" category, a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand American culture in the late 20th century.Despite the rather grandiose ambition of the book (to make a once-and-for-all comment on the whole topic of political correctness in academia), the book is immensely readable and as the story gathers pace, the reader is drawn into a narrative as thrilling and suspenseful as any crime novel (and in any case there are plenty of crimes in here anyway!). The characters are complex and the situations they find themselves in unusual. Huge conflicts emerge behind their differing approaches to life and the book is in some ways like a glorified soap opera with all the human themes one would find in any television drama.In writing a review of this book, you become aware of quite how rich this novel is. It would be an excellent book for a reading group, or a more academic programme and the topics for discussion which arise from it would be endless. The book tells complex stories about the Vietnam experience, Bill Clinton's meanderings through the Lewinsky story, racism and ethnicity, human ageing, and the irresisitlble pull of romance and sex. Primarily, the book is about the human condition (the "human stain" of the title) and to use a cliché, man's search for meaning. But it can also be read as a powerful human drama, for Roth's fictional narrative is as valid on its own terms as the lessons he seeks to draw from it.This is a rich and compelling read, highly recommended to anyone who expects their chosen books to make them think about their own lives and the lives of those around them.

Good book.

Full on roaring writing, a big experience to read. Thought provoking and clever.

The story line was good and interesting, but I found this a very difficult read at times. The writing goes off at a tangent at times which is frustrating for the storyline and boring. A lot of the vocabulary I found beyond me and I eventually gave up on looking words up. I think there are better books on the bookshelf to spend time on.

This book divides readers. Some just don't buy it - the central premise of the transformation of Coleman Silk from African American to American Jew, his passing as a white man - and refuse to accept the novel on any terms. I think that may miss the point. All novels depend to some extent on a central preposterousness; the hypothesis that is posed by the plot's pretext. In this case, Roth does dress the novel heavily in the garb of realism, but at its core what we have here is a kind of parable about identity. What are we, who are we, do we even know ourselves?The novel is also about American morality; about the "ecstasy of sanctimony" that gripped the states in the light of Monica Lewinski's revelations about Bill Clinton. Silk's own toppling owes much to the conspiracy of moral and political orthodoxies that rule America's middle class establishment in the Academy, the Whitehouse, the Press. Silk is Clinton without the power, and with a secret about his own provenance.Where to rate this amongst Roth's own incredible oeuvre? Well, it's up there with American Pastoral, Sabbath's Theatre, and The Counterlife. Superb and superbly written - do not be put off by the naysayers -oh, and read it more than once.

There is a lot in this book. There is the America of Bill Clinton's "oral room" and the one never healed of Vietnam; the America of university professors and the one of humble almost illiterate people; the America of Black and White... and Jew. As usual Roth doesn't write only about a character, he writes a novel about his people and his society, and its evolving and changing through the time. And he succeeds in the big fresco exactly as he succeeds in the small one, that of his characters. Having previously read both "American Pastoral" and "I Married a Communist", I can easily say that Roth follows a well-tested pattern, that of a great man, in many ways a "superior" man, whose life is not as perfect as you'd expect to be. As well expressed in the title of the book, everybody conceals a "human stain", and sometimes it's just up to the historical period to determine if it's a small or a big one. I don't like to reveal significant details of the plot, so I prefer to leave to the reader the "pleasure" to discover Coleman Silk's human stain (the protagonist, of course). Here and there there are a few digressions that I honestly found unnecessary and slightly boring, but overall it's a book I truly enjoyed and recommend.

Worth reading for one of the greatest rants in literature, with which the novel begins. A real plot too and less of Roth's tricksy post-modernism. Roth's writing is always excellent. Some great characters, Roth of course then wrongfooting the reader's perception with a new detail.

I found this story intriguing and creative. Sadly, one needs to step into the past to find books not totally governed by the gatekeepers of today's politically correct standards. Philip Roth is a great writer and taxes my vocabulary. Beautiful sentences, and takes one deep into the scene allowing the reader to visualize the story. I doubt that even Philio Roth would get this book published in today's environment.

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Libro eccezionale e vagamente cerebrale come tutti i romanzi di Roth. Sono innamorata.

In the "Human Stain" Coleman Silk's successful but complicated life unravels as we learn more about his secrets. Roth's narrator, Nathan Zuckerman, shows us the costs of those secrets. His righteous anger on being called racist becomes his burden as we learn that he has "passed" as white for years. We watch him grow up and can understand how his fierce desire for success separates him from his family origin. We see him entangle himself with disapproval from all directions -- his family, his career, and his colleagues. Yet, on another level, we suffer with him as he struggles with his growing anger and sorrow.