Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important collections of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere -- including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry, and more -- with ...
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Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important collections of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere -- including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry, and more -- with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers. The Corvey library was built during the last half of the 19th century by Victor and his wife Elise, both bibliophiles with varied interests. The collection thus contains everything from novels and short stories to belles lettres and more populist works, and includes many exceedingly rare works not available in any other collection from the period. These invaluable, sometimes previously unknown works are of particular interest to scholars and researchers. European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection includes: * Novels and Gothic Novels * Short Stories * Belles-Lettres * Short Prose Forms * Dramatic Works * Poetry * Anthologies * And more Selected with the guidance of an international team of expert advisors, these primary sources are invaluable for a wide range of academic disciplines and areas of study, providing never before possible research opportunities for one of the most studied historical periods. Additional Metadata Primary Id: B0372501 PSM Id: NCCOF0063-C00000-B0372501 DVI Collection Id: NCCOC0062 Bibliographic Id: NCCO004722 Reel: 2532 MCODE: 4UVC Original Publisher: Crette, libraire Original Publication Year: 1824 Original Publication Place: Paris Original Imprint Manufacturer: Imprimerie d'A. Egron Variant Titles Pouvoir des sermens Subjects Brigands and robbers -- Fiction
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Add this copy of Goodbye, Columbus: and Five Short Stories (Vintage to cart. $1.03, good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES.
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I turned to read Philip Roth's first novel, the National Book Award winner "Goodbye Columbus" (1959) after reading a late book of Roth, the short novel "Nemesis" (2010). I wanted to compare the themes and writing of this great American storyteller over the long years of his writing career. This was my first reading of Roth's early masterpiece. While an excellent book, "Nemesis" does not have the verve of Roth in his rambunctious, iconoclastic youth.
Both the early and the late Roth novels feature a 23-year old male Jewish protagonist from the lower middle class of Newark, New Jersey. In "Goodbye Columbus", the chief character and narrator is Neil Klugman, a graduate in philosophy from a local public university who has served in the army and is working in the local public library until he determines what he wants to do with his life. Neil is living with his aunt and uncle to save on the rent; his parents have relocated for health reasons to Tuscon. Roth has a remarkable ear for colloquialism and for the rhythmic speech patterns of Newark Jews.
The story centers on a summer romance between Neil and Brenda Patimkin of the suburb of Short Hills. Brenda's family had its origins in Newark, but with the economic success of the father's business in kitchen and bathroom sinks, the Patimkin's have relocated to a wealthy suburban home with all the amenities. Brenda is a student at Radcliffe and is spending the summer at home. Roth's "Nemesis", set earlier in the 1940s has a somewhat similar pairing of wealthy and poor Jews. Its protagonist is a young man, nicknamed "Bucky" (and Brenda Patimkin goes by the nickname of "Buck") who is in love with a wealthier girl, Miriam, the daughter of a physician from the near suburbs, and who visits her, at her invitation, at a summer camp in the Poconos far from sweltering Newark.
Roth's Jewish characters frequently have a passion for sports and athletic activity, probably to counter stereotypes of over-intellectualized individuals. In "Nemesis" young Bucky is a physical education instructor who is gifted at hurling the javelin and at diving. In "Goodbye Columbus" as well, the story turns in part on Brenda's prowess at tennis and on Neil's ability to run. Equally important Brenda's older brother is a recent graduate of the University of Ohio, Columbus, where he starred on the basketball team. Much of "Goodbye Columbus" centers upon the brother's garish wedding to a young woman from the midwest.
"Goodbye, Columbus" tells the story of the relationship between Neil and Brenda, which begins by chance, and quickly over a summer becomes intense and sexual. Brenda, pampered, wealthy, and spoiled and the rough around the edges Neil are attracted to and seem to want to love each other. But their relationship teeters upon their differences in economic background which led to suspicions and jealousy and backbiting. Neither family trusts the other, and ultimately the two young people cannot find a place for one another. Roth portrays masterfully these different social classes in American Judaism of the 1950's and the strong tensions between people of essentially the same background. He writes with genuine sadness about the failed relationship and with, in light of the criticism Roth's early work sometimes received, sympathy for both his flawed protagonists and their families. And in "Nemesis", Roth's late novel, he writes with nostalgia and affection for the Jewish community of his youth, both those of the poor inner city and those who had managed through education to reach the suburbs. In addition to showing the difference in class and wealth, Roth's novel turns upon the sexually repressive mores of the 1950s, a theme which also finds its place in "Nemesis" and in many of Roth's other novels.
The short early novel of about 135 pages is masterfully written for a young writer as Roth develops both character and location. He is more at home with Newark than with the suburbs, writing, for example, "Once I'd driven out of Newark, past Irvington and the packed-in tangle of railroad crossings, switchment, shacks, lumberyards,Dairy Queens, and used car lots, the night grew cooler." (p8) The plot develops with an inner logic and with tension. Every step tells and contributes to the story. To take one example, Neil describes his encounter with a young African American boy at the Newark library who escapes into the stacks to look at art books of Gaughin's portraits of Tahitans. (At that time many young boys looked at art books to see nude human bodies. Roth's young child seems to have a larger-based interest). There are parallels between Neil's relationship to the young boy on the one hand and his relationship to Brenda on the other. And the child's fascination with the far-away Tahiti suggests Neil's longing for the seemingly unattainable world of Short Hills and Brenda.
In addition to "Goodbye,Columbus" this edition also includes five stories Roth wrote as a fledgling author. These stories seem to be the basis for stories that Roth attributed to the young writer, Nathan Zuckerman, in his book, "The Ghost Writer" The Ghost Writer which received criticism, in Roth's telling, for their claimed negative portrayal of American Jews. The best of these five stories is "The Conversion of the Jews" which shows Roth's fascination with and skepticism about theological questions. Both "Goodbye, Columbus" and "Nemesis" share this preoccupation with religion which ends, in both early and late Roth, in secularism.
An astonishing early effort, "Goodbye, Columbus" remains one of Roth's best works and is an excellent introduction to this author who has recently passed away. This is a book I would have liked to have read when younger.
Robin Friedman
James M
Jun 27, 2013
only "fair" quality
Although the contents of the book (ie. the author's writing) were excellent, the description of the book (ie. "good" or "very good') by the bookseller was not accurate.
At best the book was just "fair" because of numerous highlights, underlinings, and inked comments in the margin.
