Philip Roth, retiree

Ah, Philip Roth just retired. I can't fully grasp the concept of a writer retiring, especially someone as prolific as he is, but this is now what he's declaring to the world. (although I think the qualifier is: he's retiring from writing novels).

Read also the nice blogpost by Remnick on the New Yorker and the article from nytimes. Interesting quote:

Nearby was an iPhone he had bought recently. “Why?” he said. “Because I’m free. Every morning I study a chapter in ‘iPhone for Dummies,’ and now I’m proficient. I haven’t read a word for two months. I pull this thing out and play with it.”

(it's also amazing how he chose to announce his retirement first through a french publication).

To me, the magic of Roth's writing lies in its unabashedness and forcefulness. When youre reading even his early work, it's already evident that there's just no topic he'll not go through if thats where the plot and story should go, or are built to go. I remember one scene in Patrimony, his recollection of his relationship with his father (against the premise of Philip's papa's suffering a dreaded disease), where Roth recounted how he helped his father bathe one time, and then he can't help but ruminate on his father's penis--what is right or wrong with it, how's the crookedness, shape, and size, and how his own fares against his father's. 

Sabbath's Theater and Portnoy's Complaint remain to be two in my top 10 novels primarily, surely, for their braveness. They gave me inspiration and belief in the magic, value, and possibilities of fiction during college, and they sustained my love for reading. Roth's books are among the first ones that urged me to raid National Bookstore's bargain bins. The papers of his book, by the time Operation Shylock, et al reached the bin, are already yellow, but of course his words are timeless. 

The last Roth that I've read is American Pastoral. It is not as good as others are declaring it is. It is supposedly his masterpiece, but the ending, especially, does not work for me. And the book has just too much rumination and meta-things to be as 'moving' as the others. I plodded along just to finish American Pastoral. His best remains Sabbath's Theater, at least among those Ive read (The Facts, Patrimony, Prague Orgy, American Pastoral, Professor of Desire, Portnoy's Complaint, Goodbye Columbus). I cant claim to be an expert because these in total are not even 30% of the master's output (which was one quality book a year recently).

I will definitely get Nemesis--his declared last novel.  

Give Roth the Nobel Prize already.