The Ghost Writer

 The Ghost Writer written by the infamous Philip Roth.   A oldie but a goodie was brought back to my attention by a book discussion group and I jumped in to read and discuss it.

This for me a book that requires a good discussion afterwards otherwise, not one of my favorite of Roth's books I would have re-shelved it before the end.  Of course the end is the probably the whole point of the book so I would have missed the entire meaning of the plot.

SO if you do pick up this novel keep reading all the way to the end.

Also the book seemed so confusing and was not grabbing my interest, but I soldiered on because there was going to be a discussion.  Once again I must say that talking to others about the book made it so much better.  It will not sit on my favorite book list, but now I do find it a fancinating read.

So if you want to discuss it ..I am in!

This is the story of Zuckerman, a consistent Roth character, who is a young writer starting out and looking for a mentor.  He goes through a few authors and settles on Lanoff who he decides is the type of author he wants to work with.  He is invited to Lanoff's house.  There he meets Hope, Lanoff's wife and Amy a young woman who is staying with them as a house guest.

The book focuses on the ideas of fathers and children, their relationships.  The idea of writing and revealing family secrets.  Of course Judaism and how it perceived by other Jews and by "outsiders".

It is set in the 1950s and written and published int he 1970s, but it is still a relevant topic to what is happening today. There are historic conversations and current discussions around these topics.