SAUL BELLOW
Saul Bellow passed away yesterday. I read several of his books, and while he will not replace John Iriving as my favorite writer… he still was an extraordinarily gifted author and winning the Noble Prize for Literature is no mean feat.
I have a favorite line from his book Humboldt’s Gift (the novel written in the year before winning his Laureate). The protaganist Charlie Citrine intones, “Martinis are like ladies’ breasts… one is not enough and three are too many”.
Well… if you heard me use that line… and if you didn’t know the source, now you do…
The Times had a terrific obit today… and there was a wonderful line there that is simply terrific. Bellow had been asked why he had returned to teaching (at Boston University)
Explaining why he continued to teach, even though he was one of the most financially successful of serious American novelists, he said: “You’re all alone when you’re a writer. Sometimes you just feel you need a humanity bath. Even a ride on the subway will do that. But it’s much more interesting to talk about books. After all, that’s what life used to be for writers: they talk books, politics, history, America. Nothing has replaced that.”
“Sometimes you just feel you need a humanity bath.”
Man, do I love that line…