The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth (1979) This is the first of a series of books with the character and narrator Nathan Zuckerman, who is to some degree based on Philip Roth. Oddly, the first of his books I ever read was Exit Ghost (2007), which is the last Zuckerman novel. I liked it a lot, but still haven't read much by him—maybe I will, yet—I really like his writing. This story is Zuckerman looking back a couple decades, to a couple of days when he visited this older, famous writer at his home out in the country, among some snowy mountains. It's heavy and kind of claustrophobic—also there is the writer's unhappy wife, and young student—who Zuckerman immediately has a crush on—and also speculates may be the writer's mistress—and also possibly Anne Frank. There's a fascinating, terribly dramatic dinner, and then Zuckerman stays over. During a sleepless night his mind is pretty active, trying to negotiate the tense and uncomfortable social occasion, while also thinking about his conflicts with his family about his own writing. It made me think about this idea that I am confounded by—on one hand, it seems like, as a writer, you're likely to make less impact, on either culture or people you know, than any other way imaginable. On the other hand, it's probably the most likely way to piss people off and lose friends. The feeling I got from this book is kind of the acknowledgment of this contradictory nature of being a writer. It's pathetic, hopeless, and a little sad—while at the same time the most exciting and fulfilling possible way to live—if it's the thing you have to do.