Like many writers, Philip Roth relies heavily on his own experiences. With Roth it is much more transparent than most. He often uses the same alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, in his books. Nathan, like Roth once was, is a Jewish kid from working class Newark, New Jersey with lots of aspirations. He, like Roth, attends The University of Chicago. Nathan is front and center here and the most likely candidate to become someone's ghostwriter. Nathan here is obsessed with a successful, senior, writer who is a recluse in rural New England, also Jewish. E.I. Lonoff reads like a cross between J.D. Salinger and a mature Philip Roth. Becoming a ghost writer for Lonoff seems a no brainer. But Roth is much too good a writer to take the easy route.

There are at least two other ways to think of someone being a ghost writer. One would be a writer who is dead and is now a ghost. Another is a writer who writes about ghosts. Fascinating. Who would have gone in either of those directions. Who else but Roth. Roth never even mentions the normal meaning of ghost writer. He leaves that to the readers imagination. Ghost writing would be perfect for Nathan. He's still young and not yet widely recognized. And Lonoff's name alone sells books. And Lonoff struggles to get things down in final form. Lonoff loves to take a sentence and rework it over and over. Great final results but an excruciating process for both him and those around him, especially his long suffering wife with the wonderful name, Hope. Is it too much to think that Roth is actually telling us this is how he writes, and rewrites, and rewrites. Looking at the sentences in Roth's books it's easy to see other ways those same thoughts could have been expressed.

Nathan is deep in the process of gaining Lonoff's attention and enjoying how Lonoff appears to be doing exactly what Nathan had hoped for. And then she appears. Not Lonoff's wife who seems to barely tolerate him. But a young woman who has already won over Lonoff. She's a former student who is working at Harvard as a college librarian, and trying to collect every draft that Lonoff ever abandoned. She's a curator but also so much more. She seems to have a slight accent and since this is post World War II Nathan imagines she is a refugee from that conflict. She already has a place in the Lonoff household. She's not Lonoff's daughter but likely the same age as Lonoff's children who are long gone. Her name is Amy Bellette. It's easy to see her as Lonoff's mistress but we never know that for certain.

The story really gets interesting when Nathan spents a sleepless night, in Lonoff's house. Amy is also staying over with them and this is where Nathan's imagination really gets into high gear. He tries to unravel the mystery of Amy. He can't make up his mind between two possible back stories, both of which sees her as less than stable, mentally. In one scenario she's a writer totally obsessed with Anne Frank. Her likely European background fits as she might be one of those children who were separated from their families in a desperate attempt to escape the Nazis. The second possibility is that she's actually Anne Frank who miraculously survived the concentration camps and wrestles with how to unite with her father and not destroy the myth he and the world have created. Nathan decides he's in love with Amy. He wants to marry her so he can finally stop his family's criticism of his stories as antisemitic. How could they attack the husband of a Jewish saint?

To see how this resolves you'll have to read for yourself. It's a short book. I highly recommend i ( )

„Egy decemberi délután, a naplementét megelőző utolsó órában történt, több mint húsz esztendővel ezelőtt – huszonhárom éves voltam, első novelláimat írtam és publikáltam akkoriban, és mint előttem már nem egy fejlődésregény hősét, a saját vaskos fejlődésregényem gondolata foglalkoztatott –, ekkor történt tehát, hogy megérkeztem a nagy ember tanyájára, látogatóba.” Nos, ez pont egy olyan első mondat, amiért egyes írók akár ölni is képesek.

Roth kisregénye a Zuckerman-univerzum fénypontja: tömör, mégis sokrétű, kerek egész, mégis nyitott szöveg. Az ifjú Zuckerman megérkezik példaképéhez, Lonoff-hoz, a nagy íróhoz, azzal a szent céllal, hogy tanítványául szegődjön. Csakhogy az írók nem Yodák – nem igazán illenek be ebbe a mester-padavan viszonyrendszerbe. Például nem annyira érdeklik őket a tanítványok (pláne a hímneműek), sokkal inkább saját problémáik (köztük a nőnemű tanítványok), amelyeket megpróbálnak művészetté absztrahálni. De ne higgyük, hogy a reménybeli tanítványok jobbak lennének: valójában ők se mestert keresnek, hanem élményt – olyan eseményeket, amelyek jól mutatnak saját fejlődésregényükben. Igazi kis paraziták, még ha nem is tudnak róla – csak azért törleszkednek, hátha lepottyan a Nagy Író asztaláról egy morzsa, amin saját múzsájuk dagadtra hízhat. Roth tökéletes kis kamaradrámája szűk 24 órába sűrítve tálalja a nagy kérdéseket az írók feladatáról, az alkotás születéséről, emberi kapcsolatokról és zsidóságról – a roth-i önirónia talán legsziporkázóbb megnyilvánulása.

(Második olvasás, a nagy Zuckerman-könyvben már találkoztam vele vagy tíz éve, de kezembe hullott tegnap, és kellőképpen rövid és kellőképpen jó ahhoz, hogy most újraolvassam.) ( )

Sublime. ( )

Has a Daughter of Time feel to it, challenging perceived wisdom on a historical character, the character this time being Anne Frank. ( )

This is the fourth novel by Philip Roth I've read. I enjoyed, for the most part, though I did think it wasn't long enough. I would have given it five stars, except that the plot twist I thought was coming didn't happen. If it had happen, I would have gladly given it five starts.
I have the feeling I will have to read it again to understand it. ( )