Passing away back in March, Philip Roth broke into the American Literary scene in 1962 with the publishing of his first novel "Letting Go", however, it was his third novel "Portnoy's Complaint", written seven years later that propelled him to renown in the canon of American Literature. Attracting infamy and praise for its vulgar and explicit exploration of sexuality, the book was initially banned in Australia and prohibited by certain libraries around, and across the United States. Nevertheless, in 1998, the Modern Library ranked Roth's first of many masterpieces 52nd out of 100 best English-language novels of the 21st Century.
Trademarked for his autobiographical style which had a tendency to philosophically, and formally blur the lines between reality and fiction while exploring American Identity in a provocative manner as he did in "Portnoy's Complaint, Roth is hailed as one of greatest writers of his generation alongside Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. With two National Book Awards, a Man Booker Prize, and a Pulitzer for his magnum opus "American Pastoral", Roth alone, also holds the distinction of being America's most awarded author. Here are five of best lines delivered by the literary virtuoso:
1. “Stop worrying about growing old. And think about growing up.”
A line delivered in "The Dying Animal", like many American Writers, Philip Roth was disenchanted by America's superficial obsession with youth, believing that the true reward of being alive was by allowing yourself to be molded by your experiences. Even if it left an extra wrinkle on your face. With another strand of white hair.
2. “You cannot observe people through an ideology. Your ideology observes for you.”
As a staunch realist, Roth believed that there was no fixed blueprint to understand people, and as a Jewish-American born during the spread of Fascism across Europe, the New Jersey native understood better than most that relying on a code of norms, beliefs, and laws was just as much likely to hinder our ability to judge other human beings rather than expand it.
3. "The fact remains that getting people right is not what living is all about anyway. It's getting them wrong that is living, getting them wrong and wrong and wrong and then, on careful reconsideration, getting them wrong again. That's how we know we're alive: we're wrong. Maybe the best thing would be to forget being right or wrong about people and just go along for the ride. But if you can do that -- well, lucky you.”
People never come as advertised, and even when they do, they screw up eventually, and afterwards, its only a matter of time before they screw up again. However, much like the cars, the houses, the cities, the nations we have built across generations, and across time, the very essence of life is itself an art. An art we can make to take those around us to higher places -- but only by first allowing them to explore, and appreciate the twists and turns, and turns that expose us for how truly twisted we are -- before such a destination can be arrived at.
4. "Just like those who are incurably ill, the aged know everything about their dying except exactly when."
We're all dying. Whether by natural causes or by cancer. We die. But we only know when when we do.
5. "The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress."
Regardless of what we believe, where we come from, who we are, and where we're going because of who we are, and what we believe, in the end, all of us are just trying. Whether it's at a 9-5, to make something of ourselves, or to make it through the day, we're just trying. Just trying. That's it.
As polarizing as he was candid, there are few authors who attacked persisting issues in American Culture with the rugged, and vulgar conviction that persisted through Philip Roth's body of literature. Although it is highly unlikely we shall see a like of Roth's again, his works, and the accolades he garnered because of his work remain. Leaving behind a memory, but most importantly, words. Words that give such memory a voice. Just as Roth has given a voice to so many.
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