I’m one of those readers who notices obviously smart (read: successful) people beside the resort pool lapping up the latest novel from Philip Roth. He’s published 25 of ‘em since 1959, and twice won the National Book Award. Friends and family press his books on me. I’ve tried to like him!
The simple premise of his newest book snared me. “Nemesis†is set during a polio epidemic in the Northeast during the summer of 1944. Bucky Cantor, the main character, is a 23-year-old teacher in charge of a playground. His buddies are all off at war; Buddy tried to join up, but his eyesight is poor. In spite of the blistering heat and the news of polio in nearby areas of Newark, Buddy is true to his job and the preteen boys in his charge. He is good to the grandmother who raised him, and loves the classy first-grade teacher Marcia, who lives on the posh side of town.
Italian tough guys from a blighted neighborhood visit the playground, spitting on the sidewalk, claiming they’re spreading polio. Buddy and the boys sanitize the walk, but within days, two of the playground boys are felled, then dead.
Polio, and fear, is in the air.
More children fall ill; there’s talk of quarantining the neighborhood. Buddy questions his faith and a God that would take children.
Marcia is away for the summer working as a camp counselor in the Poconos. She urges Buddy to join her, in the clear country air, far from polio. Buddy objects: he can’t leave his boys! He can’t leave his grandmother! But he does. Buddy flees, and takes a position at the camp as a swim instructor, sneaking off at night in a canoe to a wooded island to have sex with Marcia. Polio arrives at camp, taking a diver and Marcia’s younger sister. Did Buddy bring it?
The rest of Buddy’s life is a lonely tale. Oddly, the whole story is told by one of the playground boys crippled by polio, yet it doesn’t feel narrated. We’re inside Buddy’s thoughts, his fears and desires, his disappointments.
Carefully told, beautifully written. I’d like to say “Roth at his best!†but I’m not qualified.