The Adventures of Augie March

By: Saul Bellow

Narrated by: Tom Parker

Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Augie is a poor but exuberant boy growing up in Chicago during the Depression. While his friends all settle into chosen professions, Augie demands a special destiny. He tests out a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each as too limiting - until he tangles with the glamorous perfectionist Thea.

©1949 Saul Bellow (P)1993 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Great characterization, weak plot line

The reader and the author's gift for narrative make the scenes and characters come to life. But at the end, its hard not to long for some of the traditional elements of fiction, like a story that leads to a conflict, and to an eventual reconciliation.

Augie

This novel shows the great writer in Saul Bellow. The main character, Augie, is a genius for verbalising his ideas. Highly recommended.

A work of genius.

Bellow’s writing is like jazz if jazz could be captured in words. It’s exciting. It’s authentic. It’s low brow and high brow pull

Exceptional

So pertinent even after all this time.
Amazing complex but accessible prose - doesn't seem as dated as it should - also - funny!

Amazed that I found it so boring

I hadn't ever read Saul Bellow before and was prepared by the many positive critiques of this and other novels to be delighted and enthralled. And I was amazed to find the story so boring. I couldn't get past the third chapter. I didn't like anyone. Didn't find it interesting. Didn't care at all about where it might be headed. I think I am the exception to the thousands of Bellow fans who loved him madly. Read and make up your own mind. Maybe I'll try it again in another few years...

Narration with perfect pitch

A wonderful book full of philosophy, quirky characters, and sympathy. The narration captures the lingo of the thirties.

A True Classic

Augie March must be one of the most loved and beloved characters of all time. Just wish I could have known a guy like him.

Living The Rudderless Life

Living The Rudderless Life

In a modest Chicago tenement, #augiemarch grew up with two brothers, one extremely ambitious and the other mentally challenged, born to a simple minded, partially blind single mother and an absentee father with the dominant disapproval of a boarder grandmother who had lived a life of splendor in the old country. Though bright, good looking and inclined to hard work, Augie tends to collect people, be they mildly scheming minor politicians, aging childless couples or beautiful young and well-to-do women who want to lure him into their beds and adventures. While an avid reader, Augie doesn't know how to apply his knowledge or complete his formal education as some other elaborate plan comes along, be it ferrying undocumented immigrants across the Canadian border, union organizing at a time when the AFL was at war with the CIO or training eagles to hunt iguanas south of the border. The story spans the period in the run up to the Depression through the post-World War II period where schemes thrive for resourceful and morally flexible Americans in a thriving import-export industry.

Having previously read #hendersontherainking by #saulbellow #theadventuresofaugiemarch is one of Bellow's later works that contributed his future #pulitzerprizeforfiction and the #nobelprizeforliterature , both awarded in 1976. Augie March is also included on the #modernlibrarytop100novels along with Henderson. Part of the #picaresque genre , Augie paved the way for a wave of #antihero stories that are indicative of much of #americanliterature . Having lived for a year in #mexico , I found the descriptions of the people, geography and culture extremely familiar and a bit nostalgic, as I had with #underthevolcano , particularly the eccentricities of the #expat community. As I enjoyed this via #audible , I will certainly keep Augie handy when I find myself on a dark desert highway or adrift to points unknown.
#readtheworldchallenge #globalreadingchallenge #nobelprizereadingchallenge #pulitzerprizereadingchallenge #readtheworld

Amazing command of words

Saul BelloW has the ability to put you right in the middle of the action along with frequent philosophical digressions ( Thomas Mann). I could have done without the blood thirsty and uber wealthy girlfriend who decided to buy and train an eaglet to hunt. they eventually travel to Mexico to use this young eagle to hunt some sort of huge flying lizards (Hemingway) needlessly causing a nice old horse to be destroyed and Augie's serious injury.

Odd, Dated and Excellent: Don't Miss It

This book is like On the Road: The Original Scroll - Jack Kerouac. Tone it down a bit and you've got a pretty similar story. In fact, I'd be very surprised if there wasn't an influence of one upon the other though I couldn't specify the direction of flow.

If you haven't experienced Bellow, I'd start with Henderson the Rain King. This book is brilliant but might drag on you if you're not used to the style. Bellow gives a little story and then injects a bit of philosophy or insight. These sparks are beautiful, like having your way lit through a wooded path in the night with the flicking of a lighter that never lights. But that's not a criticism, it's the bright flashes that give snap shots that a steady lighting would only blur.

And there it is. You get this series of flashes of this guy's life. It's a wonderful, flawless romp.

I loved every minute.