Herzog (1964) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

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Summary edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Moses Herzog: The protagonist of the novel. A professor at an evening school.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Grief sir, is a species of idleness”

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• The Power of Ambiguity: At the end of the novel, Moses claims in a letter to Dr. Edvig that he is more capable of dealing with ambiguities, and that the uncertainty of faith does not prevent it from being a "relief." God, death, and the future will always be unknown, but we can still be optimistic. Death, which pervades the novel, is the ultimate ambiguity, but Moses eventually learns to accept its existence. He thinks about the death of his father and his mother, faces the prospect of his own death, and comes to believe that life is about the beauty that comes in intervals. He chooses to savor such brief moments of happiness, instead of fearing death.Bellow beautifies death when he likens it to the soil. Moses' mother tries to prove that God created Adam out of the soil by rubbing her finger into her palm until dirt rises up. When his mother begins to die, he says that "she had begun to change into earth." Her story and death echoes the biblical phrase from Genesis, "dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." This phrase can sound depressing, but it can also sound like a reassurance that we are all part of a cycle, and we all, great and small, return to dust eventually.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Death in the Family, and followed by Absalom, Absalom!.

Preceded by A Passage to India, and followed by Germinal.

Preceded by The Old Man and the Sea, and followed by The Bridge on the Drina.

Preceded by Candy, and followed by Armageddon.

Preceded by Up the Down Staircase, and followed by The Looking Glass War.

Preceded by The Ravishing of Lol Stein, and followed by V..

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Saul Bellow (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• National Book Award (1965: Fiction)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.52

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( B ) › Bellow, Saul
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( R ) › Roth, Philip
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics