3252. Mr. Sammler's Planet, by Saul Bellow (read Oct 7, 1999) Since I am sort of reading National Book Award winners, and this won in 1971, I read it, with no high hopes of enjoying it. I heretofore read 5 books by Bellow, and hated every one. I thought maybe as I am more "mature" now maybe this would not be as bad as I remembered other books by him I despised. No such luck. Artur Sammler is not a despicable person, unlike the protagonists of other Bellow books I've read, but the story is just as uninteresting. The characters do such stupid things, I was just glad to get to the end of this boring book. I guess I enjoyed this even less than Neither Five Nor Three, by Helen MacInnes, another unliked book I read this month. ( )

If you're searching for a book to read merely for the purpose of entertainment, then Mr. Sammler's Planet is definitely not suitable for you. If, however, you are looking for an excellent commentary on the human condition, in which the flawed state of man is revealed honestly and bluntly to the reader, then you can find no better novel.

Saul Bellow delivers a masterpiece in this novel. Although it does drag during the first hundred pages, you appreciate as you continue to journey through the story the beauty of this novel. It blends seamlessly philosophical asides with the narrative and the events that unfold, so that the plot operates perfectly. Mr. Bellow reconciles the two competing "streams" of the novel and creates a flawless glimpse into mankind that is credible.

Mr. Sammler himself, the protagonist of the story, is a character with whom the reader sympathizes. Though his thoughts on the younger generation may irritate some with their more conservative perspectives on existence, his experience with the Holocaust resonates so strongly that one can't disregard him.

This is definitely not an easy read. The novel, like modern life, proceeds incohesively, from one trivial diversion from another, and many readers will struggle to follow it. If they let themselves continue on, though, they'll discover that it gets better. That is the message the book itself teaches. It gets better in the recognition of the inevitability of death.

This book delivered a spiritual experience I have not encountered since reading T.S. Eliot's "The Four Quartets" last winter for the first time. ( )