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Now I am grumpy. I have been struggling to understand what Bellow was saying with this book. Giving up in the middle was to acknowledge defeat. Now, on completion, I have come to the conclusion it was a total waste of time.

The book is said to be a comic adventure story. In fact, that is all it is. As you read, assorted philosophical themes are hinted at. I mistakenly thought that the book might have something of value to say. Why? Well because we are often in the central character’s head. He is a thinking sort of guy, and he travels to Africa. He ought to have something of consequence to tell us!

So, who is the central character? He is twice married and in his middle fifties. He has four kids. He goes by the name of Eugene Henderson. Yep, that is him in the title. He is your typical Bellowian schmuck, but in this novel, also exceedingly wealthy, strong and handsome. A thinker too, which misleads readers!

Henderson ponders suffering, death and the whole purpose of life. He goes off to Africa to find himself. He has so much money he doesn’t need to work, as most everyone else must do.

What is drawn is absurd, totally beyond believability. It borders on fantasy. Forget trying to understand the book in terms of the ordinary criteria of reality. Perhaps Bellow is saying something about reality. Maybe that what each person sees as reality is defined by their own life circumstances. As a result, we each define realty differently. Take this a step further--that which may seem absurd and fantastical to one could be reality to another. My thoughts follow this path because the villagers' lives in Africa are difficult to view as possible. Or maybe, I am just desperately searching to give the book a meaning it doesn't have.

The humor is a mix of both the crude and the intellectual. One I like, the other I don’t. It is not without humor, but most of what happens is simply so absurd it is hard to get your head around events, let alone laugh.

The story is too long and drawn out; it needs tighter editing.

On reaching the end, by observing how events are tied up, the book’s message is revealed. What is said is corny and pedestrian. The ending is shockingly bad, Henderson returns (view spoiler)[home to his wife, feeling, at least for the moment, full of love for her. At the age of fifty-six, he says he will begin medical studies (hide spoiler)]! Tell me, is that even the teeniest bit realistic?!

Besides Henderson’s schmaltzy decision (view spoiler)[to return to his wife and family (hide spoiler)], absurd and fantastical events unroll at the story’s close. They are bizarre and totally unnecessary extensions of the tale--a dancing bear and a young Persian-speaking orphan boy who snuggles up asleep on Henderson’s lap (view spoiler)[on the plane trip home to America (hide spoiler)]. Add on that the two are accompanied by a lion cub and aided by a sweet, understanding and of course pretty air hostess! The ending, in my view, just couldn’t have been worse!

I was wrong to assume Bellow was actually saying something of importance with this novel! I believe readers are simply to laugh, but the story is just too weird for me to laugh at. Its humor is not my kind of humor. At Wikipedia I found this:

“A week before the novel appeared in book stores, Saul Bellow published an article in the New York Times entitled ‘The Search for Symbols, a Writer Warns, Misses All the Fun and Fact of the Story�. Here, Bellow warns readers against looking too deeply for symbols in literature. This has led to much discussion among critics as to why Bellow warned his readers against searching for symbolism just before the symbol-packed Rain King hit the shelves.�

Reading this has been a chore. I have searched to find a reason to like it. I have failed.

Joe Barrett narrates the audiobook. I dislike his dramatization, particularly of the native Africans. French words are not translated, and Barrett’s French is deplorable. Maybe we are meant to laugh at this too. Since, it is not hard to follow the limes of the text, I am willing to give the narration two stars.


*Herzog 4 stars
*The Victim 4 stars
*Seize the Day 3 stars
*Dangling Man 3 stars
*More Die of Heartbreak 2 stars
*The Adventures of Augie March 2 stars
*The Actual 2 stars
*Henderson the Rain King 1 star
*Humboldt's Gift maybe
*Ravelstein maybe