The Human Stain - Philip Roth

A well constructed novel for Roth. One magazine said the novel combined all elements of Roth's history into one piece. Considering Roth's history encompasses all degrees of fiction and even non-fiction, it was quite the statement. I actually agree but I don't consider it to be a true compliment. Roth hones in all of his personality to make a novel closer to a classically structured one than something of great innovation. He doesn't expand his parameters as he brings them back to familarity for non-fans. I recommend the novel because the writing is too good, but it isn't a step forward for Roth. His last novel of true strength was the previous work to this one, I Married A Communist. The Human Stain stands now for being Roth's last modeling of excellence. Some commentators get a little too excited because the book tells a classic Roth story in a new way, but it's still a step backwards for him.