I have always been a habitual reader, and like many habitual readers, I am not always that discerning about what I read. I often read what is termed genre fiction, a somewhat disparaging term for books where the plot is dependent on elves or explosions. To counterbalance this, and to learn more about the world of literature, I have made an attempt to read more literary fiction. Literary fiction is the type of fiction where characterization is explored without the use of the fantastic or unusual, and where plot often takes a backseat to characterization. Less charitably, it often involves the psychological and family problems of middle class people from the East Coast. Seize the Day fits both descriptions. It is also written by Saul Bellow, who received a Nobel Prize for perfecting this type of work.
The book is a short novel, or novelette, taking place in one day in the life of a middle class New Yorker, Tommy Wilhelm, who is rapidly running out of money and self-respect. The other two important characters in the story are Tommy's father, Dr. Adler (Tommy changed his name for reasons that perhaps have to do with avoiding his Jewish background) and Tommy's "friend", the pretentious, dishonest Dr. Tamkin, who convinces Tommy to gamble what remains of his money on the commodity market. The book covers the events of the day, including some long conversations between Tommy and these two characters, and also covers some of Tommy's background, such as his attempt as a career in Hollywood and his failed marriage. Beyond the characterization, the plot of the book is driven by Tommy's gambling on the commodities market, which anyone who knows anything about literary conventions or commodity markets will be able to guess the conclusion of.
There are several aspects of the book that a reader in the early 21st century may not quite be in tune with. For one thing, an attempt to subvert the hypocrisy of the 1950s Jewish bourgeois is a battle that may not seem as interesting as when the book was written. This also makes one of the major interactions in the book somewhat murky for me: Tommy's father disapproves of his son's dissipate life, and I am not sure whether this is because he is genuinely worried and concerned about his son's well-being, or whether he is being portrayed as an unsympathetic conformist. The only character in the book who seems highly relevant to me is the slick, insufferable Dr. Tamkin, who has a ready made explanation and story for everything, and who seems to very accurately describe the type of new age con-man who has continued to surround us.
But as interesting as the book is on its own, it has one big problem: Saul Bellow's Nobel Prize. If I had found this book and read it without looking at the name of the author, I would probably have found it an interesting enough book, and an interesting look into a particular society. The problem is this book is held to be an important work by an important author, a master of a literary tradition that considers itself to be the most important form of literature. Is this a good book? Yes. Is this book an incredibly insightful, deeply psychologically moving look into the human condition? That is something I am much less sure of.