The Book of Daniel in Around the World in 80 Books

Feb 26, 2014 Steve rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

To date, this is the best Doctorow book that I've read (the other two being Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, both of which left me underwhelmed). But I'm not sure what that signifies. Doctorow, as is usually the case with this author, has latched on to an historical event -- here it is the trial and execution of Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (yes, they were spies) -- changed some names and characters, and built himself a novel. And it's an interesting novel, up to a point. Considering it wa To date, this is the best Doctorow book that I've read (the other two being Ragtime and Billy Bathgate, both of which left me underwhelmed). But I'm not sure what that signifies. Doctorow, as is usually the case with this author, has latched on to an historical event -- here it is the trial and execution of Soviet spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (yes, they were spies) -- changed some names and characters, and built himself a novel. And it's an interesting novel, up to a point. Considering it was published in 1971, the hippie stuff doesn't overwhelm or date the novel. If anything, it complements it. The vehicle of (sometimes confusing) narration is Daniel Isaacson, in the (creaky) guise of a stream of consciousness dissertation. The subject of his story is the Isaacson family during the chilly times of the Cold War (and beyond). Some of these family scenes are quite touching, but at its best, The Book of Daniel serves as something of an American history lesson, with primary focus on the commie Left. Doctorow, to my mind, doesn't preach, which is remarkable given the times, and Doctorow's own age (41?) at the time of the book's composition. The reader, much like Daniel, is never really sure just what the Isaacsons' actually did (if anything) as far as espionage goes. Were they set up? And by who? The Communist Party itself (in order to protect the real spies)? The FBI? It's all left murky, and that's a good authorial choice.

Not so good is the scant space given to Daniel's sister, Susan. I suppose that would have messed with Doctorow's narration, but even then it seems like Daniel would have spent more time telling her story. Especially so since he spends considerable time reminding us that he does care for her (and not always in a healthy way). Then again, I don't know if Daniel is capable of such feelings. He has been so twisted by events (at least Doctorow would have the reader believe that to be the case) that he is left a tragic figure just trying to find his own way in this messed up country. I think I would simply call Daniel an asshole. Early on in the book, he commits an act of sexual cruelty on his sweet hippie wife that I found so reprehensible, so disturbed (as in Paris Trout or Faulkner's Sanctuary), that I had some trouble caring about his whiny bitching and riffing on history (though some of these interludes can be fascinating). Doctorow further compounds this by having Daniel slowly, finally, get it together (a chip off the old block after all!) as the Vietnam war protests kick into gear. Sorry Doctorow, Daniel is still a fucktard in my book. You went there, to some sort of Freudian bullshit land (that you seem to return to again and again in your novels), and you can't bring him back. The novel concludes, very improbably, with a confrontation that is meant to be cathartic, truth-seeking, closing the circle, etc., but instead had me thinking it simply a Bad Move by an author caught in a box. The Book of Daniel is a frustrating example of a novel whose often brilliant parts are greater than its whole. ...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Suzanne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

Three stars is sort of a compromise for me. At times, I hated the book - the stream of conscious writing style, the shifting from first person to third person, the switching from past to present and back again within a page, and some of the sexual images were a bit over the top. BUT, on the plus side, it's an incredible story of the McCarthy era / Red scare / Cold War. At times I was so absorbed in the book, trying to follow the story of Daniel's parents' arrest, trial, and execution. And, as mu ...more

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