Retribution
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Summary
This time, Roth invents a plague. In the summer of 1944, in Newark, New Jersey, a large-scale polio outbreak erupts in a Jewish community called Weequahic. The protagonist, Bucky Cantor, is a gym teacher whose summer job is to supervise the daily exercise of ninety children in a public playground. Because of the outbreak, the children on the playground fall ill one after another. No one knows when or how the virus spreads. The Italians in the community blame the Jews for the epidemic, while the Jews suspect the disease was brought in by "the colored cleaning women." The unknown source of the virus and the climbing number of confirmed cases trigger extreme panic, and parks and movie theaters close one after another. Bucky, on his fiancée's advice, leaves the children full of guilt to take refuge from the epidemic at his fiancée's summer camp in the Pocono Mountains, only to find a harsher fate awaiting him...
Editor's review
As part of the "Nemesis series" (also often referred to as a later work after the "American Trilogy"), the novel demonstrates Roth's continued exploration of history, fate, and the dark side of the American Dream. He no longer focuses solely on Jewish identity or sexual struggle but turns to a more universal, existential fear: humanity's absolute helplessness before natural forces and contingency. The protagonist, Bucky Cantor, an ambitious young gym teacher whose life trajectory is completely altered by the epidemic, embodies in his anger, fear, and ultimate submission a sharp deconstruction of the narrative of "American success." Roth's touch is sharp as a scalpel, peeling open the anxious core beneath the skin of optimism.
The value of reading this novel lies in its cold philosophical depth and superb literary craft. Through extremely specific details (hot weather, quarantine signs, the sound of iron lungs), Roth builds a suffocating atmosphere, elevating the physiological description of disease into an interrogation of morality, responsibility, and the meaning of suffering. It offers no consolation but invites readers to gaze into the abyss together. For readers familiar with Roth, this is proof of his consummate artistry; for new readers, it is a weighty work that can overturn expectations of the disease-narrative tradition. It reminds us that some "nemesis" does not stem from moral failing but from the inherent, randomly distributed cruelty of life itself.
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Literary readers interested in Philip Roth's late style and historical fiction
- Lovers of profound novels that explore fate, disaster, and existential themes
- Readers who wish to reflect on human vulnerability through specific historical events
- Readers who appreciate a cold, concise, philosophically rich narrative style
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking light entertainment or a warm, healing reading experience
- Readers sensitive to or resistant to depictions of disease, death, and an atmosphere of despair
Reading tips
- Read alongside Roth's "American Trilogy" (American Pastoral, I Married a Communist, The Human Stain) to observe the evolution and deepening of his themes.
- While reading, note how Roth uses environmental description (especially the summer heat) to heighten and symbolize the community's suffocation and the individual's anxiety.
- After reading, pause for a moment to consider the multiple meanings of the title "Nemesis": does it point to the disease itself, to people's attitudes toward the disease, or to some more abstract law of fate?
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 致谢
- 一 纽瓦克热浪
- 正文一
- 正文二
- 正文三
- 正文四
- 正文五
- 二 印第安山
- 三 重逢
FAQ
Is Nemesis Philip Roth's final work?
Is this book related to a real historical epidemic?
Is the novel's tone very pessimistic?
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About the author
Philip Roth (1933–2018) was an American novelist, born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, and rose to prominence in 1959 with Goodbye, Columbus. His work often centers on the lives of American Jews while probing the tensions between identity, desire, and history, in a style that blends satire with self-examination. His major works include Portnoy's Complaint, American Pastoral, The Human Stain, Sabbath's Theater, and The Plot Against America, as well as nonfiction such as The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography and Reading Myself and Others. He won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and died in 2018; the collection holds 33 of his works.
Hu Yijun is a Chinese-language book author about whom limited public information is available. Four of her works are included in the collection: The Kerouac–Ginsberg Letters, Against Life, Auden's Prefaces and Epilogues, and Retribution. Judging from these titles, her writing and editorial work center mainly on foreign literature, covering writers' correspondence, essays and prefaces, and fiction, while also touching on the broader category of prose miscellany. The Kerouac–Ginsberg Letters concerns the exchanged writings of two representative poets of the Beat Generation, while Auden's Prefaces and Epilogues presents the critical and essayistic side of the modern English poet W. H. Auden. Overall, Hu Yijun's works lean toward translation, introduction, and literary essays, with subjects concentrated in modern European and American literature; through her selections and translations, readers can encounter firsthand texts and commentary related to these writers. Because information such as dates of birth and death, nationality, and professional career is not available in the records, no speculation is offered here.
