Letting Go by Philip Roth

This is Roth's first novel and his second published book (the first was Goodbye, Columbus, a collection of short stories). What Letting Go has is Roth's trademark intensity, his examination of Jewishness, and a surprisingly tame depiction of marriage and romance. Roth has become so daring in his treatment of sexuality (see Sabbath's Theater, for instance) it's interesting to see how demure he was back in the old days.

I almost wish this had been a terrible book. It's 600+ pages, and nobody makes a significant decision until about page 400. It was a strange kind of torture to get to that point, because on one hand there wasn't much driving the plot, but on the other hand the language and Roth's psychological insights were both compelling and enjoyable. If Roth had been even just an above-average writer I'd have tossed this on the heap before page 100. Instead, I don't regret having toughed it out.

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

Philip Roth is a sneaky man. Every time I read one of his stories I spend most of the time thinking "this is the time he really doesn't have anything to say--he's just dragging me along on this obscene journey merely to create a convincing perverted reality." Then I get to the end, and I'm wrong. Again.

Roth has two fixations: sex and Jewishness. These are also the fixations of his protagonist, Alexander Portnoy. While Roth and Portnoy explore sex and Jewishness they lay the foundation for a serious comment on self--or, rather, Self. As amusing as the novel is, its real strength is in constructing such a powerful statement from the petty observations of a self-absorbed narrator.

Funny stuff if you're willing to interpret Portnoy charitably. If not, this will just aggravate you.