John Updike is one of those household names that I had never gotten to for one reason or another. I finally read one of his novels: rabbit, run and while it didn't blow me away, Updike is clearly a beautifully descriptive writer that I will in time return to. Rabbit is a young, working-class male leading a life corresponding to an - ill-defined - societal normalcy. Trouble of course ensues.
Rabbit, run is difficult to describe somehow because it's characters remain so bland, so type cast, their suffering is understandable and real, yet they somehow never retain any kind of individualistic identities. After reading close to 300 pages on him I am still far from certain who the main character actually is, what he believes and what he wants, but then neither does he and maybe that's the point. In either case, the beautifully written parts especially in the latter part of the novel are coupled with enough dramatic narrative to make for a captivating read - far from one I will cherish to the extent of a Faulkner or a Pynchon though.
Rabbit, run is difficult to describe somehow because it's characters remain so bland, so type cast, their suffering is understandable and real, yet they somehow never retain any kind of individualistic identities. After reading close to 300 pages on him I am still far from certain who the main character actually is, what he believes and what he wants, but then neither does he and maybe that's the point. In either case, the beautifully written parts especially in the latter part of the novel are coupled with enough dramatic narrative to make for a captivating read - far from one I will cherish to the extent of a Faulkner or a Pynchon though.
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