Saul Bellow Criticism
Saul Bellow, a Canadian-born American author, remains a central figure in twentieth-century literature, renowned for his novels, short stories, essays, and plays that delve into existential dilemmas and the search for meaning in an increasingly complex world. Bellow's characters, often reflective of his own Jewish intellectual background, navigate the tension between old-world values and new-world challenges, seeking dignity and purpose amid the chaos of modern life. His distinguished works, such as The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, and Mr. Sammler's Planet, provide a profound exploration of human consciousness and have been celebrated for their insightful narratives. These themes are explored in discussions such as Saul Bellow: ‘What, in All of This, Speaks for Man?’.
Bellow is recognized for a narrative style that combines wit and philosophical reflection with elements of realism and picaresque, creating characters that embody the "Bellow hero." This figure is characterized by a quest for spiritual balance and personal control, as seen in the analysis by Robert R. Dutton. A critical examination of society through the lens of a Bellow protagonist, such as the elderly man in Mr. Sammler's Planet, offers a critique of modern values, discussed by Ethan Goffman.
Bellow's portrayal of women and minorities, alongside autobiographical elements, has been a point of contention among critics, yet his work remains pivotal for its insights into the human condition and innovative style. These aspects are highlighted in analyses like Review of It All Adds Up and Clearing the Mind of Cant. His later work, The Dean's December, received mixed reviews, with critics like Diane Johnson and Katha Pollitt noting its focus on sociopolitical themes over narrative depth, while Melvyn Bragg comments on its stylistic deviations.
Despite such critiques, Bellow's literary contributions have been honored with numerous awards, including three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976, confirming his status as a major literary force. His shorter novels, noted for their structural cohesion by V. S. Pritchett, and his exploration of identity and societal values in both his fiction and plays, underscore his impact on contemporary fiction. Works like Herzog, praised for merging intellectual and personal themes by Peter M. Axthelm, showcase his narrative prowess.
Bellow's engagement with moral and personal ambiguities, as discussed by Earl Rovit and Seymour Epstein, remains central to his work, illustrating the existential inquiries of his characters. The comedic and philosophical blend in his narrative style, a fresh take on American naturalism, is evident in John Berryman's A Note on Augie, while Rita D. Jacobs notes the paradoxes of self-awareness amidst societal distractions. In Seize the Day, Carol M. Sicherman highlights Bellow's exploration of language breakdown and isolation.
His body of work, including plays like The Last Analysis, analyzed by Irving Malin, and stories like "Looking for Mr. Green," as discussed by Glenn A. Kindilien, reveal his engagement with identity and societal critique. Despite critiques from figures like John Gardner, Bellow's influence and achievements affirm his enduring legacy in American literature.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Bellow, Saul (Vol. 200)
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Review of It All Adds Up
(summary)
In the following review, Brown asserts that the essays in It All Adds Up “reveal the richness and the variety, and occasionally the contradictions and the discursiveness, of the outstanding novelist of his brilliant generation.”
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Saul Bellow: ‘What, in All of This, Speaks for Man?’
(summary)
In the following essay, Pinsker elucidates the central concerns of Bellow's fiction, contending his novels and short stories matter 'not only for those who care about the state of American fiction but also for those worried about the spiritual condition of America itself.'
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Clearing the Mind of Cant
(summary)
In the following favorable review, Cross surveys the range of essays in It All Adds Up.
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Time in Bellow's Seize the Day
(summary)
In the following essay, Ranta addresses the roles of Gregorian and Jewish calendar time in the novella Seize the Day.
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Between Guilt and Affluence: The Jewish Gaze and the Black Thief in Mr. Sammler's Planet
(summary)
In the following essay, Goffman explores the significance of the black thief in Mr. Sammler's Planet, maintaining that the thief “is a compact, dramatic version of a recurring Euro-American mythologization: blackness as the primitive, the carnal, the return of the repressed.”
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An Expert Noticer
(summary)
In the following review, Tuttleton traces Bellow's literary development and contends that The Actual “is about a great many things that are not as simple as they at first seem.”
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Essences Rising
(summary)
In the following favorable review, Wood calls The Actual a slight book, but maintains that it possesses 'its own nervous perfection.' The novella is a ricochet from a talent that has already hit many targets: it has an interrupted energy. The Actual is slight, without the obvious weight of Bellow's major work. Yet it has its own nervous perfection. Like all his work, it is about our wrestle for the essential amid the piles of our emotional slack. Like several of his stories, it has at its buried center a portrait of a sharp, canny, limited old man, accustomed to power—the type of old commander whose abrasions and self-satisfactions enrage and delight Bellow. The Actual tells us that love is what matters; in this, too, the novella hangs from the branches of Bellow's more complicated work, offering in miniature the fruit of his deepest concerns.
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Struggles of a Prophet
(summary)
In the following positive review, Kazin delineates the central thematic concerns in The Actual.
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Riches in a Little Room
(summary)
In the following review, Hensher deems The Actual a brief and amusing novella.
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Jay Wustrin's Remains
(summary)
In the following review, Miller discusses the characters in The Actual as typical Bellovian characters and views Bellow as a lyrical and romantic author.
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Review of The Actual
(summary)
In the following review, LaHood offers a laudatory assessment of The Actual.
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The Demonic Hegemonic: Exploitative Voices in Saul Bellow's More Die of Heartbreak
(summary)
In the following essay, Kuzma views More Die of Heartbreak as a text shaped by nihilism and the discourse of fashionable cynicism.
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The Novel and Public Truth: Saul Bellow's The Dean's December
(summary)
In the following essay, Corner traces Bellow's progression from examining 'individual consciousness to public truth' in The Dean's December.
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When I Am Old and Gay and Full of Sleep
(summary)
In the following review, Fitzgerald proclaims Ravelstein a novel about friendship.
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Bellow's Gift
(summary)
In the following review, Yardley contends that Ravelstein is less of a novel than a portrait of Bellow's friendship with the writer Allan Bloom.
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Tabletalk
(summary)
In the following review, Levi discusses the insights and revelations found in Ravelstein.
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The Egg-Head's Egger-On
(summary)
In the following review, Hitchens provides a thematic analysis of Ravelstein and calls the book 'a novelistic and realistic memoir' of the late author Allan Bloom.
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Bloom's Gift
(summary)
In the following review, Menand argues that Ravelstein is a novel not only about friendship and mortality, but also focuses on the male heterosexual ego.
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A Closing of the American Kind
(summary)
In the following review, Leonard contends that it is the differences—not only the friendship—between Saul Bellow and Allan Bloom that animate Ravelstein.
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Soulmate in Bloom
(summary)
In the following favorable review of Ravelstein, Feldman examines Bellow's friendship with Allan Bloom, asserting that evidence presented in the novel could potentially lead readers to conclude “that Bloom was the love of Bellow's life.”
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Bellow and Ravelstein
(summary)
In the following review, Phillips asserts that Ravelstein is not a biography, but rather “a fiction about biography.”
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Review of Ravelstein
(summary)
In the following review, Jacobs maintains that Ravelstein is a minor exercise, albeit with an occasional flourish of mastery.
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The Demands of a Soul
(summary)
In the following essay, Webb investigates Bellow's invoking of John Maynard Keynes in Ravelstein.
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Boswell on Gatsby
(summary)
In the following unfavorable review, Tandon asserts that Ravelstein does not live up to its potential and that the book fails to captivate readers.
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The Crowded Wilderness Within
(summary)
In the following review, Hendry traces Bellow's favorite themes in the tales of Collected Stories.
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Seize the Day
(summary)
In the following review, Amidon identifies the unifying themes of the works in Collected Stories as the role of memory and the process of Jewish assimilation into American society.
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Those Dreadful Mothers
(summary)
In the following essay, Cronin asserts that there is a feminine presence in Bellow's novels.
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Spectacles of Personality
(summary)
In the following favorable reviews, Dickstein provides a thematic and stylistic analysis of the works in Collected Stories.
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Review of Collected Stories
(summary)
In the following mixed review, Brown outlines what he sees as strengths and weaknesses of the works in Collected Stories.
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On Bellow's Ravelstein
(summary)
In the following essay, Nichols deems Ravelstein a book about ideas, contending that “the biggest mistake that reviewers make is their failure to appreciate both the political and intellectual weight” of the novel.
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Unraveling Ravelstein: Saul Bellow's Comic Tragedy
(summary)
In the following essay, Davis discusses Ravelstein as a comic tragedy.
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Bellow's Progress
(summary)
In the following essay, Valiunas traces Bellow's development as an author through his first three novels—Dangling Man, The Victim, and The Adventures of Augie March—placing Augie March within the context of mid-twentieth-century American culture.
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Review of It All Adds Up
(summary)
- Bellow, Saul (Vol. 1)
- Bellow, Saul (Vol. 2)
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Bellow, Saul (Vol. 10)
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A Note on Augie
(summary)
In the following essay, John Berryman explores the novel's thematic divergence from traditional naturalism by highlighting its comedic focus on individuality against societal pressures, its use of historical and literary "Overlords" for depth, and its innovative narrative style, ultimately situating it within a fresh dimension of American naturalism.
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Bellow's 'Seize the Day': Reverberations and Hollow Sounds
(summary)
In the following essay, Carol M. Sicherman examines Saul Bellow's use of language and the "carpe diem" motif in Seize the Day, arguing that Bellow explores the breakdown of language and the isolation of individuals in modern society, contrasting contemporary speech with the rich literary language of the past.
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Artistry and the Depth of Life: Aspects of Attitude and Technique in 'Mr. Sammler's Planet'
(summary)
In the following essay, Roger Jones argues that Saul Bellow's "Mr. Sammler's Planet" is a significant artistic achievement due to its complex organization and exploration of skepticism, societal representation, and philosophical themes, distinguishing Bellow's vision of society from the protagonist's personal view, and addressing critiques of Bellow's earlier works.
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'Truths on the Side of Life': Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize 1976
(summary)
In the following essay, Rita D. Jacobs argues that Saul Bellow's work explores the paradoxical nature of the human condition, as his characters navigate the conflict between individuality and community, often seeking authentic self-awareness amid the distractions of modern life, achieving a balance of head and heart to attain a true sense of being.
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John Cheever
(summary)
In the following essay, the critic expresses profound admiration for Saul Bellow, highlighting his unmatched literary skill, keen awareness of the challenges inherent in writing, and exceptional narrative craftsmanship, particularly referencing the author's impact through a passage in "The Dangling Man."
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Cynthia Ozick
(summary)
In the following essay, Cynthia Ozick contends that Saul Bellow's writing captures a profound "Voice" through its engagement with history and human diversity, blending recklessness with philosophical depth, and eschewing modernist distance to create a deeply personal and argumentative narrative style.
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The Meaning of the Name 'Green' in Saul Bellow's 'Looking for Mr. Green'
(summary)
In the following essay, Glenn A. Kindilien argues that Saul Bellow's story "Looking for Mr. Green" uses the name Mr. Green to explore themes of identity and the societal equation of money with self-worth, illustrating how, in modern society, financial status defines personal existence and recognition.
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John Gardner
(summary)
In the following essay, John Gardner argues that Saul Bellow's novels often read more like sprawling essays than cohesive fiction due to Bellow's tendency to interrupt narrative flow with philosophical musings, despite his adeptness at crafting powerful symbols and challenging prevailing philosophies.
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A Note on Augie
(summary)
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Bellow, Saul (Vol. 15)
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Repudiation and Reality Instruction in Saul Bellow's Fiction
(summary)
In the following essay, Ralph Berets examines the recurring theme of polarities in Saul Bellow's novels, where protagonists grapple with opposing forces that challenge and define their self-conceptions, frequently leading to a profound search for purpose and humanistic values, as demonstrated in works like "Dangling Man," "The Victim," and "Henderson the Rain King."
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Saul Bellow: The Hero in the Middle
(summary)
In the following essay, M. A. Klug argues that Saul Bellow's works explore the tension between the heroic and ordinary self, as his characters strive for self-perfection while grappling with the inescapable realities of death and human limitation, ultimately seeking a mystical union with life that transcends traditional literary conventions.
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Saul Bellow, on the Soul
(summary)
In the following essay, Alvin H. Rosenfeld examines Saul Bellow's literary evolution, emphasizing how Bellow infuses his novels with philosophical and spiritual exploration, moving from the stylistic constraints of his early works to more expansive narratives, culminating in a profound engagement with existential and post-Holocaust themes.
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'Stillness in the Midst of Chaos': Plot in the Novels of Saul Bellow
(summary)
In the following essay, Keith Opdahl examines the challenges Saul Bellow faces in constructing plots within his novels, arguing that Bellow's use of realism, energetic characters, and the quest for metaphysical understanding create obstacles that are ingeniously transformed into strengths, culminating in cathartic and thematically rich climaxes.
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Bellow's Critique of the Intellect
(summary)
In the following essay, Bruce J. Borrus examines Saul Bellow's novels, arguing that while Bellow values intellectual exploration, his characters often find redemption and moral clarity through an innate "natural knowledge" and mystical elements rather than through intellect alone, reflecting a critique of reliance on reason for solving complex human dilemmas.
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Repudiation and Reality Instruction in Saul Bellow's Fiction
(summary)
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Bellow, Saul (Vol. 25)
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Jumbos
(summary)
In the following essay, V. S. Pritchett praises Saul Bellow's intellectual vigor and his ability to vividly capture urban America, while critiquing his longer works for lacking the structural cohesion and thematic clarity found in his shorter novels.
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From Lower Bellowvia
(summary)
In the following essay, Hugh Kenner argues that Saul Bellow's novel The Dean's December typifies the "Saul Bellow Novel" as a reflective exploration on the inescapable bleakness of the world, largely centered on protagonist introspection and devoid of the comic epiphanies characteristic of some of his other works.
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Bellow Blows Hot and Cold
(summary)
In the following essay, Katha Pollitt critiques Saul Bellow's novel The Dean's December as lacking the fictional richness of his earlier works, arguing that Bellow's focus on sociopolitical commentary and self-aggrandizement overshadows his literary strengths and results in a narrative that is flat and unengaging.
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Point of Departure
(summary)
In the following essay, Diane Johnson contends that Saul Bellow's novel "The Dean's December" explores the ineffectiveness of contemporary intellectual and cultural institutions through the character of Corde, who seeks to reveal harsh social realities through journalism, and critiques the lack of public reaction to objective truths in society.
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Eastword Ho!
(summary)
In the following essay, Melvyn Bragg critiques Saul Bellow's "The Dean's December" as a bold but flawed attempt at social commentary, noting its departure from Bellow's usual style through its European literary influences and its potential role as a precursor to a new series of novels exploring Chicago.
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Book Reviews: 'The Dean's December'
(summary)
In the following essay, Stephen Miller critiques Saul Bellow's narrative technique, likening him to a "taxi driver" who candidly challenges fashionable ideas, and argues that while Bellow's novels often struggle with ideas and intellectual characters, they are most effective when they engage with substantial, real-world issues like the black underclass in "The Dean's December."
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Bare Bones
(summary)
In the following essay, David Evanier critiques Saul Bellow's novel The Dean's December as an example of the author's erratic tendencies, where heavy intellectualism and lackluster style overshadow narrative brilliance, ultimately considering it an aberration rather than a reflection of a decline in Bellow's literary status.
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A Foot in the Stockyard and an Eye on the Stars
(summary)
In the following essay, Gabriel Josipovici examines Saul Bellow's development of a unique novelistic style characterized by minimal plots and rich thematic exploration, highlighting Bellow's ability to confront the contradictions in modern civilization, while also critiquing his recent works for potentially overindulging in stylistic tricks and ambivalence, yet praising his portrayal of complex female characters.
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Robert R. Dutton
(summary)
In the following essay, Robert R. Dutton argues that Saul Bellow's distinctive achievement lies in his portrayal of the individual's struggle to maintain personal integrity and a unique identity against an indifferent society, emphasizing the existential tension between self-awareness and the quest for human potentiality, while advocating for a "subangelic" view of humanity that transcends deterministic constraints.
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Jumbos
(summary)
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Bellow, Saul (Vol. 13)
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The Full Perception: Bellow
(summary)
In the following essay, Peter M. Axthelm examines Saul Bellow's "Herzog," focusing on the protagonist's unique perception that connects disparate themes such as intellectualism, irony, Jewish heritage, and the quest for self-awareness and personal peace, ultimately portraying Herzog's journey as a mental epic informed by mythic patterns.
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The Disappointments of Maturity: Bellow's 'The Adventures of Augie March'
(summary)
In the following essay, David R. Jones criticizes Saul Bellow's "The Adventures of Augie March" for its lack of focus and depth in character development, arguing that the novel's episodic nature and stylistic exuberance ultimately undermine its potential by rendering both its protagonist and the depiction of Chicago superficial.
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Bummy's Analysis
(summary)
In the following essay, Irving Malin analyzes Saul Bellow's play The Last Analysis, highlighting the protagonist Bummidge's struggle with identity and self-recreation, paralleling his journey to Bellow's own artistic exploration, while ultimately emphasizing the play's complex blend of humor, existential inquiry, and profound human insight.
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Earl Rovit
(summary)
In the following essay, Earl Rovit examines Saul Bellow's exploration of the reconciliation between virtue and self-consciousness in his protagonists, highlighting Bellow's focus on moral and personal ambiguities, and how his narrative style, influenced by naturalism, evolves into a celebration of human introspection and creativity despite the burdens of reality.
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Bellow's Gift
(summary)
In the following essay, Seymour Epstein explores Saul Bellow's novels as a thematic examination of Western civilization's failures and pleasures, focusing on characters like Tommy, Henderson, and Herzog to illustrate the alienation, suffering, and spiritual quest of modern individuals, while also highlighting Bellow's critique of societal norms and values.
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The Full Perception: Bellow
(summary)
- Bellow, Saul (Vol. 3)
- Bellow, Saul (Vol. 6)
- Further Reading