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Liked It “I read this book years ago when it was new, but it jumped back into my head the other day and I decided to write my thoughts on it. |
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“I read this book years ago when it was new, but it jumped back into my head the other day and I decided to write my thoughts on it.
Scott G wrote this review Friday, February 5, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I think this novel stands among Updike's better works and I wonder if it might resonate again in today's world. This novel was written after a decade of unrest in Africa when the dictators and coups were a semiannual occurence. Well, unfortuately, the world is starting to look like those days again.
Updike's genius in this novel was that he distilled the characters down to the essential elements necessary for the plot. That is would makes this novel comic at the same time it is about violence, corruption and oppression. Many people will find the character treatment to be thin. I believe the characters read like people in a news artcile on purpose. To keep the reader from identifying too closely.
I have always really liked John Updike and I think this is an excellent, and different, example of his work. I highly recommend it. ”
“Superficially seems to be a bit of a departure from his usual territory: told from the point of view of the dictator Ellelloû of an imaginary African nation, tells the story of his downfall.
TheophileEscargot wrote this review Saturday, July 18, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
However, Ellelloû is obsessed with America from his college years there, and thinks most vividly in terms of American metaphors. In practice the novel seems to be more about America: the African content is just a different angle on it.
Seems to be a bit influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: there are near magical realist elements to some of it.
The problem is, this seems to kneecap Updike in what is usually his great strength: his specificity. As others have said, the great thing about Updike is that you can come of his novels feeling that you know exactly what it's like to run a Toyota dealership or learn to drive a truck. Here though Updike seems a little lost. You get a little bit of the feel of African journeys, but Ellelloû seems barely connected to the levers of power. As a leader of any kind, he doesn't seem plausible.
In spite of this, there are some good aspects to the book: there's some great prose, and some wickedly funny satire. The usual sex and befuddled relations with women are present.
Overall, I thought I wasn't bad, not his best. However, some of the critics seem to think it was one of his masterpieces.”
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