Philip Roth: The Ghost Writer

I picked up this book on a recommendation from Sonia, who probably saw a budding writer in me and thought that I might learn from the book. The start didn't impress me much. Actually, it was quite boring. But as the story continued and several layers became visible, I was very much in awe with the author.

So, what is the book about? In the center we have an overnight visit of young writer Mr. Zuckerman to his big role model, Mr. Lonoff, an established writer of short stories. And this visit condenses several stories into one. Whereas the first topic is obvious, of what makes a writer, or better yet, a good and famous writer, the second topic is only slowly introduced, and we could state it: how can a Jewish community look both the past and the future with open eyes, after the trauma of the Second World War? And how can a young writer like Mr. Zuckerman, who is Jewish himself, write about a family matters in this epoch?

The answers are not obvious and author refrains from providing them. We are left to see the complexity of the issue, tiny little details, involving religion and secularity, Gentiles versus Jews, Europe versus America, young and old, decency versus truth and so on. And if you would like to grab something and hold it as safe, one truth that would show you the way or one person who would be wise to tell it, you would fail.

All of Roth's characters are moving. He says in one sentence it is not our high purposes alone that make us moving creatures, but our humble needs and cravings. So is Mr. Zuckerman which tells the story, so is his role model, so is the wife of his role model, and his mysterious friend Amy. So is even the most famous Jewish writer, Anne Frank. You read the book to uncover the secrets, but towards the end, you end up with more questions than what you started with. Except maybe one. Why did the holocaust ever happen? What made Jews enemies of the Nazi regime. The answer: It took nothing - that was the horror. 


So if you are up to examine what separates life from art, or how one flows through the other and makes it possible, then read this book. It will not be an argumentative opinion you gain, but rather an intuitive perspective. Which is what makes book so wonderful.