Roger's Version (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sex and its combinations and permutations apart, two of Updike's commanding, long-standing intereststheology and various kinds of sciencecome together to form the matrix of his new novel. The conflicting ideas are as ancient as time: reason versus faith; science versus religion; belief versus any of the forms of unbelief. The contestants representing the fundamental opposition are the narrator, Roger Lambert, 52, a former minister, now a professor of divinity at a New England university, theologically a (Karl) "Barthian all the way" with a civilized tolerance for heretics and the steadfast conviction that God must be taken on faith; and Dale Kohler, 28, a computer scientist fixed in the belief that at the base of all science "God is showing through," now working on a definitive demonstration by computer technology of God's existence. That would keep anyone busy, but Dale finds a few hours a week for an affair with Roger's angry, unhappy wife, and Roger's version of belief does not prevent him from having a brief fling with his half-sister's daughter, herself an unmarried mother. For all Updike's finesse and dexterity in the deployment of ideas, there is more arcane computerology here than readers, including his most devoted, can digest by force-feeding, and probably more theology as well. Most readers will also think the characters contrived, mouthpieces for the perspectives they espouse.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Updike's 12th novel continues his portrayal of middle America in all its social, religious, and cultural ramifications. Divinity professor Roger Lambert is visited by Dale Kohler, an earnest young student who wants a grant to prove the existence of God by computer. The visit disrupts Roger's ordinary existence, bringing him into contact with the wild and sexy Verna (his half-sister's daughter), and leading to his wife's affair with Dale. Updike spends a great deal of time in this novel discussing religion, sex, and computers, not always to the advantage of the characters. There are some fine Updike touchesjust the right phrase or detailbut it still adds up to a rather lifeless work (perhaps intentionally so). Roger's is an unattractive character with whom we only occasionally become truly involved. Roger's Version is more Marry Me than Rabbit Is Rich. Thomas Lavoie, formerly with English Dept., Syracuse Univ., N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 27, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449912183
• ISBN-13: 978-0449912188
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #526,399 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Theologico-scientific debate, anyone?, August 12, 2000

By	Tom Adair (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roger's Version (Hardcover)

There is something not quite human about how much John Updike actually KNOWS. Roger's Version is a substantial novel about the relationship between a professor of divinity and an expert in computer science. Updike does not shy from - rather he wholeheartedly immerses himself in - the details of these spheres of interest, seesawing between the complexities of heretical sects in the early Christian Church and the voluminous realms of astrophysics. One minute we are reading long quotations in medieval Latin; the next we get - for example - 'Since z = 2.5 constitutes a plane, then by setting z equal to the transformed coordinates of the model carbon molecule atoms Dale creates a series of more complex intersections...'. The story is about the extent to which the two esoteric schools can be made to meet; basically, can one 'prove' the existence of God through science? In pursuing the argument Updike, naturally, does more than just thrash through the intellectual issues; he structures the whole affair with his typical artistry, so that the idea of, say, the binary opposition informs a raft of clever leitmotifs - most gorgeously: 'At her attack, the delicious flutter of ambiguity beat its wings, necessarily two, through all my suddenly feminized being.' This is a magisterial, monumental book. It's a fine, heavy book. In the scale of both its intellectual and artistic pretensions I honestly think one can call it Miltonic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy novel from a living master, September 30, 2006

By	Scott George (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am an avid reader of John Updike, but I sometimes have trouble relating to some of his characters.

This novel centers around the theme of faith versus science in the world of divinity professor Roger Lambert, who is aging and questioning many things these days. When confronted by a faithful computer science student who believes he can use computers to prove the existence of God. Lambert is attracted to the idea and the debate but is, ultimately, intent on discouraging or discrediting the students efforts.

As is always the case, the book is about much more than the theme. Updike captures the mood of the Reagan era, the environment of a decaying Northeastern city, and the attitudes and changes that come with aging like no other author can. This book shows, yet again, why Updike is a modern master of fiction. It is intellectual and engaging.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sublime, September 12, 2000

By	roGER (Hole, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Roger's Version (Hardcover)

Updike at his effortless best in this profound yet brilliantly flowing novel that explores the alkward relationship between religion and science...

The story is narrated by Roger, a morally dubious yet entertaining and witty doctor of divinity at an Eastern university. Roger is approached by a gangling, spotty computer scientist (who is also a born-again Christian) seeking a grant to "scientifically" prove the existance of god!

Things get complicated when the student begins having an affair with Esther, Roger's wife, while he himself begins an affair with a distant relative who lives across town in a housing project. Within this simple yet touching quadrangle of relationships come excepts from Roger's lectures on heretics, and comments on modern cosmology...

Add to this Updike's effortlessly telling descriptions, from the feel of cold streets to the elaborate rituals of academic board meetings and you have a very fine novel indeed.

One slight critisism - the computer technology so lovingly described is virtually obsolete already. This makes Roger's Version an unusally dated Updike work.