Indignation, by Phillip Roth.
A very short book, basically a novella, about a boy's college experiences.
The book (Roth's 29th) tells the story of a young Jewish boy, Markie, and his attempts to escape an over-protective father and anyone else who intrudes on his drive to get straight A's in college.
The father is a butcher and, through his experiences helping his father with such tasks as eviscerating chickens, Markie has learned to be ruthless with others, even important administrators of the college. In his intense desire to be alone, he dreams of transferring to the "University of the North Pole, where there were no phones, hospitals, or doctors, just polar bears who stalk the ice flows where the undergraduates -- naked in subzero temperatures . . ."
Eventually in a moment of weakness, when he is recovering from the flu, and consumed by a confusing feeling of undeserved guilt, Markie agrees to join the Jewish fraternity that he has declined all year.
He realizes, correctly, that this was a huge mistake. He had gone against his nature and given in to a born leader, Sonny Cottler. This move has changed his destiny; Cottler would turn out to be "the angel of death."
In this small book, Roth has managed to cram a multitude of meaning. The voices of characters seem true, each to their own nature; and his descriptions of the outside world mirror the struggles of Markie, while still remaining true to the real beauty of nature, sometimes menacing and and at other times comforting.
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