Customer Reviews

How to Save Your Own Life (Signet)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Erica Jong does a wonderful job of capturing her heroine's ambivalence as she struggles to decide whether or not to leave a marriage that she finds unsatisfying and oppressive. The story illuminates the jealousy (and subtle undermining tendencies) of the heroine's successful husband once she starts to become successful in her own right as an author. A number of years ago, I wrote a paper on Jong's book for a college course entitled,"Philosophy of Literature." In the paper, I analyzed the book from a feminist perspective--comparing and contrasting the book with--believe it or not--Cosmopolitan editor, Helen Gurly Brown's book, "Having it All." (HGB is an incredible and very witty author, herself!--and the book includes advice on love and marriage). Jong is marvelously witty and insightful. The only shortfall of the book--from a feminist perspective--is that the heroine is never portrayed as having much strength in the relationship. Nor do we get a sense that she is striving to understand her husband, communicate more effectively, and, if necessary, take a stand--even if it means risking the relationship. The only way that Jong's character is finally able to leave her husband--and her unresolved marital conflicts--is when she met another man. Thus,while Jong succeeded in shedding light on a "feminist" problem (inequality, lack of respect, closeness and true love in the marriage, etc.), we are not given a positive literary role model of a woman who is able to become stronger and ultimately make wise decisions for herself and her marriage--apart from meeting a new man and having an adulterous affair.

You don't have to read FEAR OF FLYING to enjoy this book but it would give you a little background to protagonist of this book: Isadora Wing.

Isadora is stuck in a marriage that is dying a slow painful death. She has begun affairs with several people to help her deal with her feelings or fulfill her needs that are not being met by her aloof, detached, and psychologically dominate husband of eight years. Isadora echoes many of the feelings modern women feel in their marriage and other relationships and is often very insightful.

Also, there are a few chilling moments in the book that took me by surprise. I won't give them away you will have to read the book.

So, Erica Jong takes you on a journey with Isadora while she tries to figure out what her future will hold and how to move forward with or with out her husband. This journey has lots of sexual liasons that are heartfelt, sad, and often hillarious. She speaks the truth about her sex experiences even if we are not ready to hear it.

Isadora is a woman who has gotten lost in the forest and can't see the trees because of the forest but is on a path of discovery. Isadora will discover friendship, betrayal, love, loss, and most of all courage.

I love Erica Jongs writing style. She is a realist but at times I often wonder how much of her books are fiction or autobiographical. I enjoyed her sequal to FEAR OF FLYING and do recommend it.

I found this in a used book store and was so happy. Then I read it and am no longer happy. Fear of Flying is one of those novels that I love and re-read often. It is truly funny and shows a whole range of emotions. This book is sadly lacking. Isadora turns whiny, her friends are caricatures. The unhappiness of this charcter seems pathetic and unimportant in this novel. Plus, I truly miss her family; those characters provided necessary contrast. This was a profound disappointment

...the Great Erica Jong.

I remember people comparing her to Phillip Roth when Fear of Flying and this came out and since I was into popular fiction a lil more back then than I am now, I vowed to read one of her books. Little did I know back then that she would become one of my favorite all time writers. And I agree that this would be the better offering of the first two novels, because Isadora Wing, to me, seems more real in this one. And it tells of going thru a emotionally sterile period in her life and how she reached fulfillment. Wing is Jong and if you want to get an idea of how and what a woman thinks without being intrusive and obtusive this is one good way to do it...(however, don't rely on this alone). There is outrageous erotica, verbal play and plenty of first person quips all thru it and you will be thoroughly entertained. Don't forget to get a load of Jong's poetry. Read also Jong's great piece on Henry Miller, "The Devil at Large". Excellent writing!

I had a dream the other night (no kidding!) which told me I HAD to read this book. Luckily, it was sitting on my shelf and I could take it down and start instantly. I roared through it in two days and loved it; it's full of humor, sensitivity, wit and candor; and though not every sentence is perfect and some references (eg. shag carpeting, avocados, Jacuzzis) are downright hilarious, the book is truly a marvelous read. The characterization of Britt Goldstein (aka Julia Phillips) is especially apt, if unkind. Overall, a wonderful documentation of a fascinating moment in a woman's life and in a nation's history by a self-styled "Amanuensis to the Zeitgeist."

Isadora takes a wise and wacky look at her life, her choices, and her future, going deep within her psyche to examine her relationships with herself, her work, her husband and her lovers. As she careens along in self-doubt and self-satisfaction amidst her newfound popularity as a bestselling author, we are taken on a bizarre ride, following Isadora to therapy, to California, on business deals, to an orgy . . . We are made privy to her most private thoughts, ruminations, and bits of lifetime wisdom as she tries to decide what she wants out of life and whether or not her husband plays a part in her future. A great read and wonderful follow up to "Fear of Flying."

Jong is one of America's greatest writing talents, an original voice that speaks her particular truth with wit and moving realism. It is far better than its predecessor, Fear of Flying.

THe story is about a divorce, as a prelude to growth, with a lot of sensual experimentation, both hiularious and titilatting, along the way. But underneath this is a wonderful vision of life and growth, with observations that are psychologically acute and so real that they are occasionally painful to read. Someday, this will be regarded as a classic.

Highest recommendation.

In Erica Jong's follow-up to her iconic Fear of Flying, we once again meet Isadora Wing, her "fictional doppelganger," who is representative of the times in which she lives. It is the 1970s, that time of quest: searching for lust set against a backdrop of hedonistic innocence. In some ways, Isadora is a metaphor of the times: she is on a sexual journey, but also trying to find her freedom from a stultifying marriage to Bennett, a cold, detached, dominating psychiatrist. Second-wave feminism is an influential factor, as she acknowledges that the controlling aspects of her husband are "holding her down;" but like any escape from tyranny, making the decision to break out of the chains is only the first step.

She starts "leaving" at the beginning of the book, and then she leaps into affairs as a way of propelling her forward. It takes the length of the book--and many months--for the leave-taking to happen, but it's a journey, a process, and there is guilt, pain, fear, and all kinds of negative emotions that accompany her along the way.

The final impetus is a younger man whom she meets in Hollywood, while on a trip to turn her bestselling novel into a movie. He is like her "second half," and they can almost read each other's thoughts. He seems to be her perfect mate. On her way home, with her plan to really leave motivating her, she thinks about the different lifestyles between New York (her home) and LA (her lover's home). I like this passage:

"The flight from Los Angeles to New York takes only five hours, but the real distance should be measured in light years. Los Angeles is more different from New York than New York is from London or Stockholm or Paris. Someday scientists will discover the invisible gas that fills the air in Southern California, making the most uptight, cynical Easterners relax, take off their clothes, lie in the sun, divorce their spouses, build swimming pools, take up Zen meditation, visit spiritualists, and in general behave as if they've found God through sex, nudity, and sun-worship.

"To return to New York from Los Angeles is always to experience a profound psychic shock...."

So what will Isadora discover about herself in this journey? Will she learn that living with her love match can be the idealistic escape she had imagined? Will she remake marriage to include experimentation and openness? Or will she find that the same old problems come back in new versions, taking shape in different ways, but still just a repetition of old patterns?

I loved How to Save Your Own Life, as it reminded me of some of my own journeys during those idyllic times. Looking back, I don't regret my journey, any more than Isadora (or her creator) does. We learned a lot about ourselves and the nature of love, and even when we were disappointed, as we often are in life, we are happy to have taken the leap of faith into new experiences that ultimately defined us.

Five stars.

erica jong is amazing! if you read "Fear of Flying" you'll have to read this!

I am flabberghasted at the praise heaped on this book. Fear of Flying at least makes an attempt toward self-realization, but this book absolutely wallows in "Isadora"'s self-congratulatory naughtiness. Even worse are Jong's utterly banal feminist musings on the class system, poetry, and, oh hell, just about everything else. Erica, nobody cares.