tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post215876973952189886..comments2024-03-28T17:53:43.541-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: My Complaint about PortnoyDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-26342912920606724192007-09-29T14:45:00.000-04:002007-09-29T14:45:00.000-04:00Gosh, but I love Portnoy's Complaint. Masturbatio...Gosh, but I love Portnoy's Complaint. Masturbation doesn't show up until page 17, and by then, the real point of the book has been established - Portnoy's furious but ultimately doomed rebellion against his identity as a Jew - religiously and culturally. Sex and shame (combined so powerfully in masturbation) are a big part of that rebellion, granted. But Portnoy doesn't worship his penis - he worships what it can do for him. Namely, it can connect him, in a powerful and immediate fashion, to the forbidden - girls who aren't Jewish. His masturbatory fantasy girl is Thereal McCoy, a cutely play on words, but a goyim, all the same. The gal he seduces in college is a fine example. He's so pleased to be with this girl, but when it comes time to talk about the future, he can't believe she won't convert to Judaism. "Just when I thought I was out - they pull me back in" - in grand fashion. So yes, the novel is drenched in graphic sex, and will be far, far, far from everybody's tastes. But he's not measuring men by their ability to perform, not simply. The last scene there, where he tries to force himself on the Israeli woman? He can't perform. But what does that signify? Not that he's not a real man, but that he's not a real Jew. He's rejected his heritage - and now, he can't connect with it on a fundamental level. The horror for Portnoy is that, however much he rejected it, it's still with him always. I would argue that the sex in Portnoy is not there for its own sake, but rather for what it signifies. I also find a lot of it funny, but I suppose that's a matter of taste. (The Human Stain ought to make Roth's interests clear - a really fine novel, again about identity.)Matthew Lickonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01073464100061129072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-88346177681941048492007-09-27T11:22:00.000-04:002007-09-27T11:22:00.000-04:00Thanks for the heads-up. I gravitate towards lit ...Thanks for the heads-up. I gravitate towards lit with a good thick layer of dust on it anyway, and it's nice to know I'm not missing much by never getting around to the contemporaries. <BR/><BR/>Mental note: No Philip Roth, ever.CMinorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07305306030099439903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-44553943826038513722007-09-26T22:46:00.000-04:002007-09-26T22:46:00.000-04:00Did you read Hitchens' blistering review of Roth's...Did you read Hitchens' blistering review of Roth's latest in this month's Atlantic Monthly? I think he shares your feelings.The Opinionated Homeschoolerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07998448933609444830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-44157500559440756272007-09-26T07:39:00.000-04:002007-09-26T07:39:00.000-04:00Being decadent is bad. Being boringly decadent is...Being decadent is bad. Being boringly decadent is much worse. That sums up Philip Roth for me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-46118814201802674642007-09-26T06:09:00.000-04:002007-09-26T06:09:00.000-04:00I agree. Though there were some nice stories in Ro...I agree. Though there were some nice stories in Roth's first collection, including 'The Conversion of the Jews' which is a funny one about a kid in religion class who angers his rabbi by insisting, well, sure why couldn't God cause an immaculate conception if He wanted to?John Farrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18280296574996987228noreply@blogger.com