The Library elevator is out of service, affecting some programs and services. Learn more

Herzog

Book Cover
Average Rating
Author:
Publisher:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Pub. Date:
Varies, see individual formats and editions
Language:
English
Description
Winner of the National Book Award when it was first published in 1964, Herzog traces five days in the life of a failed academic whose wife has recently left him for his best friend. Through the device of letter writing, Herzog movingly portrays both the internal life of its eponymous hero and the complexity of modern consciousness. Like the protagonists of most of Bellow's novels-Dangling Man, The Victim, Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King, etc.-Herzog is a man seeking balance, trying to regain a foothold on his life. Thrown out of his ex-wife's house, he retreats to his abandoned home in Ludeyville, a remote village in the Berkshire mountains to which Herzog had previously moved his wife and friends. Here amid the dust and vermin of the disused house, Herzog begins scribbling letters to family, friends, lovers, colleagues, enemies, dead philosophers, ex- Presidents, to anyone with whom he feels compelled to set the record straight. The letters, we learn, are never sent. They are a means to cure himself of the immense psychic strain of his failed second marriage, a method by which he can recognize truths that will free him to love others and to learn to abide with the knowledge of death. In order to do so he must confront the fact that he has been a bad husband, a loving but poor father, an ungrateful child, a distant brother, an egoist to friends, and an apathetic citizen. Herzog is primarily a novel of redemption. For all of its innovative techniques and brilliant comedy, it tells one of the oldest of stories. Like The Divine Comedy or the dark night of the soul of St. John of the Cross, it progresses from darkness to light, from ignorance to enlightenment. Today it is still considered one of the greatest literary expressions of postwar America.
Also in This Series
More Like This
More Copies In Prospector
Loading Prospector Copies...
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Staff View

Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID4a0e2e93-fd59-28b2-7f86-f8f6993fbbe9
Grouping Titleherzog
Grouping Authorsaul bellow
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-28 01:36:39AM
Last Indexed2024-03-28 01:39:37AM

Solr Fields

accelerated_reader_point_value
0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
auth_author2
Hillgartner, Malcolm
author
Bellow, Saul
author2-role
Hillgartner, Malcolm,reader
hoopla digital
author_display
Bellow, Saul
available_at_lafayette
Online OverDrive Collection
detailed_location_lafayette
Online OverDrive Collection
display_description
Winner of the National Book Award when it was first published in 1964, Herzog traces five days in the life of a failed academic whose wife has recently left him for his best friend. Through the device of letter writing, Herzog movingly portrays both the internal life of its eponymous hero and the complexity of modern consciousness. Like the protagonists of most of Bellow's novels-Dangling Man, The Victim, Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King, etc.-Herzog is a man seeking balance, trying to regain a foothold on his life. Thrown out of his ex-wife's house, he retreats to his abandoned home in Ludeyville, a remote village in the Berkshire mountains to which Herzog had previously moved his wife and friends. Here amid the dust and vermin of the disused house, Herzog begins scribbling letters to family, friends, lovers, colleagues, enemies, dead philosophers, ex- Presidents, to anyone with whom he feels compelled to set the record straight. The letters, we learn, are never sent. They are a means to cure himself of the immense psychic strain of his failed second marriage, a method by which he can recognize truths that will free him to love others and to learn to abide with the knowledge of death. In order to do so he must confront the fact that he has been a bad husband, a loving but poor father, an ungrateful child, a distant brother, an egoist to friends, and an apathetic citizen. Herzog is primarily a novel of redemption. For all of its innovative techniques and brilliant comedy, it tells one of the oldest of stories. Like The Divine Comedy or the dark night of the soul of St. John of the Cross, it progresses from darkness to light, from ignorance to enlightenment. Today it is still considered one of the greatest literary expressions of postwar America.
format_category_lafayette
Audio Books
Books
eBook
format_lafayette
Book
eAudiobook
id
4a0e2e93-fd59-28b2-7f86-f8f6993fbbe9
isbn
9780142437292
9781483066561
9781982484057
itype_lafayette
paperback book
last_indexed
2024-03-28T07:39:37.548Z
lexile_score
850
literary_form
Fiction
literary_form_full
Fiction
local_callnumber_lafayette
Online OverDrive
owning_library_lafayette
Lafayette Public Library Online
owning_location_lafayette
Online OverDrive Collection
primary_isbn
9780142437292
publishDate
2003
2009
2010
publisher
Blackstone Publishing
Penguin Books
recordtype
grouped_work
series
Penguin classics
series_with_volume
Penguin classics|
subject_facet
College teachers -- Fiction
Failure (Psychology) -- Fiction
Jewish fiction
Jewish men -- Fiction
Middle-aged men -- Fiction
Psychological fiction
title_display
Herzog
title_full
Herzog
Herzog / Saul Bellow
Herzog [electronic resource] / Saul Bellow
title_short
Herzog
topic_facet
Classic Literature
College teachers
Failure (Psychology)
Fiction
Jewish fiction
Jewish men
Middle-aged men

Solr Details Tables

item_details

Bib IdItem IdShelf LocCall NumFormatFormat CategoryNum CopiesIs Order ItemIs eContenteContent SourceeContent URLDetailed StatusLast CheckinLocation
ils:.b17995760.i45151544Boulder Main Adult FictionF Bell1falsefalseOn ShelfFeb 18, 2024bmfca
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a9752Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a9758Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a9751Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a97511Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a975-1Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books1falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a9753Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a97510Online OverDrive CollectionOnline OverDriveeAudiobookAudio Books0falsetrueOverDriveAvailable Online
hoopla:MWT10025858Online Hoopla CollectionOnline HooplaeAudiobookAudio Books1falsetrueHooplahttps://www.hoopladigital.com/title/10025858?utm_source=MARC&Lid=hh4435Available Online

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
ils:.b17995760BookBooksEnglishPenguin Books2003xxvi, 371 p. ; 20 cm.
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a975eAudiobookAudio BooksEnglishBlackstone Publishing2009
hoopla:MWT10025858eAudiobookAudio BooksUnabridgedEnglishBlackstone Publishing20101 online resource (1 audio file (15hr., 37 min.)) : digital.

scoping_details_lafayette

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesLocal Url
ils:.b17995760.i45151544On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsefalse128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 135, 136, 137, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 125, 126, 127
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a975-1Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsefalse
overdrive:aaa94369-e26c-4c8a-8e82-46dca7b8a97510Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruetruefalsefalsetrue
hoopla:MWT10025858Available OnlineAvailable Onlinefalsetruefalsefalsefalsefalse
More Details
ISBN:
9780142437292
9781982484057
9781483066561
Lexile measure:
850L