Pastoral America

Philip Roth Pastoral examines the most controversial and explosive period of the 20th century in America, the 60s. His literary alter ego, writer Nathan Zuckerman, whom we have also encountered in his other novels, this time draws a portrait of baseball star Seymour Levov, nicknamed 'Longhead', whom he knew from his high school years. He writes the story based on what Seymour's brother Jerry told him, a few newspaper clippings, and what he talked about in his two brief encounters with Yellowhead.
Legendary athlete of his high school years, the idol of young and old, 'Fanhead' Seymour Levov has reached adolescence in the prosperous and victorious post-war America. Seymour, who took over the management of the factory founded by his father and married Miss New Jersey, is a wealthy, hard-working, responsible businessman and a good family man. However, after a certain point, luck will stop smiling on you. As Seymour grows older, America goes crazy, and as the country goes crazy in the turbulent 60s, he loses everything he loves.
History inevitably dominates Sarikafa's family: While her daughter bombed the post office in the area where they lived to 'protest' the Vietnam War, causing the death of a passerby, she not only killed an innocent person, but also dynamited the ties between her and her father, who adored her. There will no longer be any hope for happiness or spiritual consistency in Sarikafa's life. As she questions the reasons that pushed her daughter to this behavior, a political and social panorama of America in the years after World War II is drawn. The events described in the novel date back to 1974, when public opinion was shaken by the Watergate scandal.
Pastoral America, which won Roth the Pulitzer Prize in 1997, tells the story of the rise and fall of a fortunate American; It is not just the story of a strong and self-confident master of social balance crushed by social turmoil.20. It is also a lament for the century's promises of prosperity, social order and happy family life.
One of the most powerful novels Roth wrote... Striking, rich and ambitious... An extremely impressive work.'
New York Times



Year of Print: 2008


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Ayrinti Publications

First Edition Year: 2008

Page Number: 0

Language: Turkish