Portnoy's Complaint

In class we have been discussing Portnoy's Complaint written by Philip Roth. The book is basically a continuous monologue spoken by Alexander Portnoy. Portnoy is talking to his psychoanalyst Dr. Spielvogel about his various life experiences and memories most of them dealing with sexual frustration. The book has no qualms with explaining everything in detail and not holding anything back. Some people in class viewed the book as slightly pornographic while I, however, viewed it as an interesting read and great discussion. I think that books that are a bit controversial always lead to the best class discussions. It is then that people really get involved and have an opinion about what is being discussed. Anyways getting back to the book, I thought it was comical that both the father and the son suffered from similar plights, the overbearing mother invading their privacy. The son retreats to the bathroom to masterbate which seems to be the only place where he can find solitude and alone time. This act of masterbation is his release of all the tension that builds up within the house. The father on the other hand has a bit more trouble releasing his tension. He is always constipated and has the hardest time releasing what is building up inside. He seems plagued by all of this toxic stuff building up inside of him and strangely enough he also retreats to the bathroom to find solitude. Here is a recent interview with Philip Roth in which he discusses his book and his thoughts now about the book he wrote forty years ago.