Reading 1001 discussion

Host Gail
The Breast by Philip Roth discussion

Reviews go here; https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Brief Bio:
Philip Roth (1933-2018) was the award-winning author of Goodbye, Columbus, Portnoy’s Complaint, The Great American Novel, and the books that became known as the Zuckerman Trilogy (The Ghost Writer, Zuckerman Unbound, The Anatomy Lesson), among others. His honors include two National Book Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Pulitzer Prize.

Born in Newark, New Jersey, Philip studied literature at Bucknell University, graduating magna cum laude with a B.A., and at the University where he received an M.A. From 1955 to 1991, he taught writing and literature classes on the faculties of the University of Chicago, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2005, he was one of very few living writers whose books were published by the Library of America. He lived in Manhattan and Connecticut.

The Breast is a very short novella so there was no sense finding a long synopsis. Here is a very brief synopsis:

David Kepesh, a literature professor, wakes up one morning to find he has been transformed into a 155 lb mammary gland; a breast.

Pre reading thoughts and questions:

1) Does the above synopsis appeal to your curiosity or does it simply make you want to forgo this one….

2) Have you read other books by Philip Roth, and if so, do you look forward to this novella?

3) Roth references other works of literature in this novella including Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gogol’s The Nose and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Have you read any of these and are you looking forward to thinking about the concept of metamorphosis?

Post Reading Questions:

1) Do you think that Roth was able to rise above this bizarre and potentially erotic story and create a novella that teaches us something about realistic human emotions and conditions or teach us something about ourselves?

2) Kafka leaps directly into the life of his protagonist Gregor Samsa waking up as a beetle. Was it important to you, or is it important to the story that we meet David Kepesh and learn about his life, including his sex life, before the transformation?

3) Roth has written that if he had not been analyzed he would not have written Portnoy’s Complaint and that The Breast would have been a different book. What role does psychoanalysis play in this book? Or what role does Dr. Klinger play in the book?

4) Kepesh asks in the story: “Did fiction do this to me?” What is he referring to and why does he think that fiction may have impacted his transformation?

5) Many reviews find the book very humorous, saying that they laughed out loud all the way through the reading. Did you find it funny? Did you see it as satire? What role does Arthur Schonbrunn play when he laughs at Kepesh’s condition?

6) Kepesh assumes he is being televised or watched throughout the book. What role does the “audience” play in the book? What do you make of the novella ending with a poem by Rilke? Especially the last line “You must change your life”?

5) Some reviews refer to this book as a “light hearted scribble”, that it is well written but not powerful in any way. Others, particularly from readers who reviewed the book when it was first published speak of Roth only writing The Breast to be shocking. Was the book a success for you? Did you enjoy reading it? Do you think that it belongs on the 1001 List?

Pre-reading Questions

1) I was not really enthralled by the synopsis nor particularly interested in reading it.

2) I have read Nemesis and enjoyed it but I can't say I was looking forward to this.

3) I have read The Nose and Guiliver's Travels and no this didn't make me interested in Metamorphosis

Post Reading Questions:

1) Not really all I thought when reading this was the man who wrote this put no thought into what being a breast would be like and honestly the erotic side of things was just stupid.

2) Didn't care about him before the change didn't care about him after all I would say is that according to this breasts have a better sex life than penises.

3) David wants to believe he is insane that he is imagining being a breast but Dr Klinger is there telling him it is all real without really giving an explanation for it. The more David believes himself to be mad the more Klinger tries to make him accept that the situation is mad but he isn't.

4) David is teaching literature that deals with metamorphosis so I think he is asking has studying that literature in detail for years affected his mind.

5) No I didn't find it funny and I didn't see it as satire either. Arthur has perhaps the only genuine reaction in the book.

6) David seems to be courting an audience he wants to be seen and remembered while at the same time shying away from it. No idea about the poem.

5) I would say this is not shocking, it is not powerful at best it is stupid. Honestly I feel this is something a teenaged boy would write and pass around among his friends for a cheap laugh. I have no idea why it is on the list and I would definitely remove it.

Well, Bookwormy, at least it was short!

Pre-reading questions:

1- The synopsis does not deter me; it will be another "transformation" story just like Gogol's The Nose, Kafka's Metamorphosis or Self's Great Apes.

2- I have read American Pastoral, The Plot Against America and Nemesis. I enjoyed them to some extent, but not to the point of becoming a Roth cheerleader. American Pastoral was probably my favourite.

3- I read these three works. The only concern I have is that the pattern of the stories might become repetitive, regardless of the nature of the transformation.

Post-reading questions

1- Just like The Nose and Metamorphosis, Roth lets his protagonist question himself thoroughly as to the reality and the causes of this transformation, providing to some extent (albeit small) some introspection on the human condition. The erotic and sometimes bawdy aspects of the novella were probably unavoidable. I am still trying to find the link/motivation between the Rilke poem quoted at the end and the choice of the breast as the medium of transformation.

2- I can't recall how deeply Samsa reflected on the causes of his transformation. However, this search for causes was more profound in this novella and relied on some of the background stories of Kepesh prior to his transformation. It could have been presented anywhere else in the novella, but I thought it was appropriate that this would revealed at the start.

3- Obviously, the psychoanalysis experience surely helped Roth developing the narrative about insanity and the interactions between Kepesh and Dr. Klinger. Apart from being the medical aspect in David's predicament, I am not sure whether Dr. Klinger can be assigned a stronger role.

4- Being a literature lecturer and having given lessons on Gogol, Kafka and Swift recently before his transformation, Kepesh identifies this situation as a potential source of his ailment, fiction becoming reality. Refusing to believe that this transformation has happened out-of-the-blue for no reason at all, Kepesh is convinced that something in his life might have precipitated this metamorphosis.

5- It was funny, but not as funny as I felt The Nose was. There are probably some satirical elements in the story, but I can't highlight properly. You can probably feel some pettiness in Schonbrunn's reaction, a feeling that he might not be as genuine a friend or support as Kepesh would have expected, as opposed to Claire or David's father.

6- As mentioned above, not entirely sure about Rilke's poem. Perhaps the belief that an audience is watching can be frightening for Kepesh (e.g. self-esteem) or seen as a potential source of support (e.g. adulation) or help to find a way to get out of his condition.

5- While I agree with the "light hearted", "well written" and "not powerful" qualifiers, I would probably disagree with "shocking"; it is slightly grotesque, but I don't think it was unnecessarily bawdy, most of it was part of character development. It was ok reading, not great. Not sure it completely deserves a place on the List, especially as an example of a transformation/metamorphosis story; there are plenty of these.

I just finished reading The Human Stain and am confused as to why an author capable of writing The Human Stain would bother to write The Breast. I thought The Breast had some interesting themes but compared to The Human Stain, it strikes me as a waste of Roth’s talents and I would not have added it to 1001 books.

Gail wrote: "I just finished reading The Human Stain and am confused as to why an author capable of writing The Human Stain would bother to write The Breast. I thought The Breast had some interesting themes but..."

Maturity? The Breast - 1972 (39 years' old); The Human Stain - 2000 (67 years' old).

Ahhh, yes Patrick. Of course, thank you.

Pre reading thoughts and questions:

1) Does the above synopsis appeal to your curiosity or does it simply make you want to forgo this one…. "it made me want to forego it. I did not want to spend money on it and it was not available at my local library but I was able to find a copy through MnLink. I ordered it.

2) Have you read other books by Philip Roth, and if so, do you look forward to this novella? I've read 4 previous books by the author. I've generally enjoyed those others at a 3 to 4 star level. I was not eager to read this one and I am not looking forward to Portnoy's Complaint

3) Roth references other works of literature in this novella including Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Gogol’s The Nose and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Have you read any of these and are you looking forward to thinking about the concept of metamorphosis? I've read all of the those. I have not read
Rainer Maria Rilke.


Post Reading Questions:

1) Do you think that Roth was able to rise above this bizarre and potentially erotic story and create a novella that teaches us something about realistic human emotions and conditions or teach us something about ourselves? yes, perhaps. Emotions noted included paranoia, lust, sadness, anger, resignation, hope,

2) Kafka leaps directly into the life of his protagonist Gregor Samsa waking up as a beetle. Was it important to you, or is it important to the story that we meet David Kepesh and learn about his life, including his sex life, before the transformation? not that I can think of but it was odd, he went from what sounded like boredom to indifference to fixation.

3) Roth has written that if he had not been analyzed he would not have written Portnoy’s Complaint and that The Breast would have been a different book. What role does psychoanalysis play in this book? Or what role does Dr. Klinger play in the book? Dr. Klinger is the analyst and grounds the story in reality. Without that, the reader might have been willing to follow Kepesh into his desire to be thought of as crazy.

4) Kepesh asks in the story: “Did fiction do this to me?” What is he referring to and why does he think that fiction may have impacted his transformation? because he taught Kafka and Gogol and because he couldn't write, he acted

5) Many reviews find the book very humorous, saying that they laughed out loud all the way through the reading. Did you find it funny? Did you see it as satire? What role does Arthur Schonbrunn play when he laughs at Kepesh’s condition? I did not find it funny, barely amusing. I will quote, "Roth has a genius for making everything potentially beautiful and joyful filthy and disgusting. . . . Roth writes dirty books, not pornography." https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper...

6) Kepesh assumes he is being televised or watched throughout the book. What role does the “audience” play in the book? What do you make of the novella ending with a poem by Rilke? Especially the last line “You must change your life”? It is a bit grandiose and paranoid to think there is an audience that is willing to stand around and watch a breast sit there.

5) Some reviews refer to this book as a “light hearted scribble”, that it is well written but not powerful in any way. Others, particularly from readers who reviewed the book when it was first published speak of Roth only writing The Breast to be shocking. Was the book a success for you? Did you enjoy reading it? Do you think that it belongs on the 1001 List? I think it might have been a way of making quick money. No doubt Roth can write and I can see him thinking, I just write this up quick and send it to the publisher (with influence from Kafka and Gogol). I didn't enjoy the dirty parts, I didn't mind some of the narrative. For me, the only thing that stuck out for me, is as a breast, you are object, you are objectified. Your really not a functional part of society, the poem was a bit out of my understanding but yes, you must not let life make you an object, a thing that sits there and others act on it. You must take hold and be the author of your life, you must be "change your life" I think, I as editor would remove this one from the list.

I didn’t do research before adding it to my TBR for this month and it was reading to as an audiobook book so today was the day when I started it, in my car driving home.... I was very confused 😂.

Oh boy, that would be a confusing.

I read this a few years ago and loathed it. Unfortunately, it was my first Roth, and caused me to avoid the rest of his books for a long time. I recently read three of his booksthat I really enjoyed and that redeemed him to me. Those books are American Pastoral, The Human Stain, and The Plot Against America.

So, if this is your first foray into Roth's works, don't be discouraged. He is actually a great writer with some amazing books. Just not this one.