My Thoughts on "Humboldt's Gift" by Saul Bellow as Published by Penguin Twentieth Century Classics. 25 November 2023.

I finished reading "Humboldt's Gift" by Saul Bellow as published by Penguin Twentieth Century Classics this evening. It was first published in 1975 and took place post WWII and I believe into the 70s as well in the United States. Mostly Chicago. The book is 487 pages and I finished reading it in 9 days.

It is the story of Charlie who is a jewish man seeking to become a poet / a writer. When he was just starting out Humboldt was at his peak and Charlie admired him and so went to meet him. The two developed a lifelong friendship. Charlie's obsession with him played havoc with his relationships though. Charlie went through several relationships in the book and was never married. His longest relationship in the book was with a younger and gorgeous and saucy New York girl named Renata. The book is saucy in parts. Humboldt however after his peak became a failure and ended up in a mental institution for a spell but he left Charlie a bequest after his death. Which I am not going to spoil; although it is pretty predictable how it's going to end as you read it. At least I found it predictable. Who and what happens with Charlie's series of relationships was not very predictable though.

Oh, I mentioned death, Charlie is obsessed with death and those who are dead and whatever becomes of us in the afterlife or what is the nature of our spirts/souls or our identity. I actually loved that aspect of the book. If you like philosophy or are interested in spirituality and the above and if you can handle sauciness (if you're a prude you're not going to like this book). Feminists are also probably not going to like this book. Anyway; I enjoyed the philosophical ruminations in the book. I can see how it would drive one's partner to distraction though. Charlie was an odd foot and as such needed an equally odd shoe to fit him. That was not my idea; that was a recurring thought in the book.

The book has some fun scenes. The most dramatic one was that he got forced into a thunderbird of a wannabe mafia guy and dragged all over chicago. It was entertaining as it played out; but equally entertaining was how the philosopher mind of Charlie handled it or what his thoughts were while it was going on. It was not as one would expect. Let's just leave it at that. I liked how the character Charlie was developed (bad at business, overly philosophical, had a super hero level of tolerance of slights to himself, generally a likable character; but obviously not perfect, which is how it should be right?) The wanna be mafia guy was done well as was Renata. There is also a therapist in there who has some behaviors I think would be frowned upon by the licensing boards. Like I said, it has a lot of colorful characters in it. The saucy scenes spiced it up.

Some quotes for your thought or reaction:

• "If you have a funny foot you have to look for a funny shoe." (64).
• "If life is not intoxicating, it's nothing" (28)
• "Our span is short and we must make up for the shortness of the human day in frequent intense sexual gratification."(164)
• "Not only are the best things in life free, but you can't be too free with the best things in life." (281).