Ravelstein (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) (Paperback)

In any case, Allan Bloom is, of course, the man behind the paper-thin mask of Abe Ravelstein himself. He created quite a stir in the late eighties with his controversial, brilliant, and lucrative book, and Bellow, Bloom's dear friend, draws attention to this phenomenon in the novel, ex post facto. "Ravelstein" is a small volume of snapshots from Bellow's memory of Bloom, and bears some resemblance to the other biographies or eulogies that Bellow mentions: Boswell and Macaulay on Samuel Johnson, Eckermann on Goethe, etc. I am still trying to absorb the meaning of the book, having read it, as Bellow read Macaulay, in a "purple fever."

The book is excellent on its own merits - sad and beautiful - but will of course be especially rewarding to those very familiar with the ideas that preoccupied Allan Bloom and his great teacher Leo Strauss (referred to in the text as the famous "Davarr") during the last half-century. One gets an insider's view of the private life of a man as compared to his published thoughts and sentiments. Though Ravelstein is a bit of a terror at first glance - everything is done in high volume from Marlboro cigarettes to Rossini operas - one begins to see the continuity between his (Bloom's) work on "Love and Friendship" and his own vibrant life. I was curious if the conversations between Ravelstein and his lover Nikki (which we don't overhear) would bear any resemblance to the ones between Falstaff and Prince Hal in Henry IV.

Ravelstein-Bloom's detractors will find no fresh fodder to claw at here, though the candor to be found is sometimes astonishingly personal. Those best suited for this book will seek out characters that mix a gift for telling the lowest, bawdiest jokes with a longing for the highest, most beautiful things in life and literature.

A bold and brash novel, Ravelstein is reminiscent of Humboldt's Gift; each contains an admiring narrator and each is based on actual persons in Bellow's life.

Ravelstein, however, is more of an extravert than is Humboldt, becoming almost a comic figure who lives the high life on a grand and glorious scale. He tosses his hand-tailored clothes about with abandon, orders lavish meals, and in general, has a passion for material possessions while maintaining an utter disdain for money.

Ravelstein is certainly a far cry from the dour figures that usually people Bellow's novels; in fact he is just the opposite: flamboyant, perverse, bizarre, passionate and material. Considering what fate has in store for him, perhaps his personality simply adds to the overall tragedy of the novel.

The other characters in Ravelstein are vintage Bellow. The men are removed academics, the women devouring and unreasonable.

It is Chick, however, who comes to dominate the book. A big-city, Jewish type, he is still unprepared for his disastrous marriage to Vela, a stereotypical Bellow female straight out of Herzog. His second marriage, however, to Rosamund, one of Ravelstein's former students is more successful, but since Bellow seems averse to giving us anything resembling a fulfilling relationship and a sympathetic female character, Rosamund remains little more than background music.

Fighting demons of his own, Chick decides to escape the pessimism surrounding Ravelstein and leaves the gloomy Chicago winter for the sunnier climes of the Caribbean where he comes face to face with his own mortality.

If one accepts Herzog as the benchmark against which to weigh Bellow's work, then Ravelstein succeeds. The characters are, for the most part, larger-than-life, the mood is sufficiently pessimistic and the setting depicted with meticulously accurate details. The thing Ravelstein lacks are the cast of secondary figures and the braided running subplots. This is, however, not a criticism, and Ravelstein is all the better for its clean and crisp narrative.

Ravelstein is, at its heart, vintage Bellow, and it shows us that this master writer has lost none of his power to observe life with both sympathy and cool irony. If anything, he is even better than before.