A Theft

I came across this old book on the shelves of my local public library "Books for Sale" area. From the moment I saw it, it was a novella that I wanted to read, since I have not read Saul Bellow's books for a while. What a pleasant suprise this book has been. Main character is middle aged Clara in her forties, executive in the NYC fashion magazine, woman in her fourth marriage that produced three daughters. It seems that Clara's successful professional life is in complete contrast with her personal life. All of her past husbands were either boring or self indulgent and the man she wanted most in her life is out of reach. Her only connection to him is the emerald ring he gave her 20 years ago in her forced attempt to get engaged to him; their enduring long distance friendship (he lives in Washington, DC while she is in NYC) and her sessions shared between a female friend confidante and a psychotherapist. As we observe Clara, we realize that she is detached from her reality -- we barely learn about her work; we know nothing about her relationship with her daughters since they are conveniently taken care of by the nannies and other house help. Clara's musings on her life dwell on her past and herself and she projects all of her intense feelings on the object of her desire -- the emerald ring. In the course of the novella this object gets lost twice. Each time, the object is found. In every one of these instances, Clara learns a little bit about herself that neither her long time friends, nor her psychiatrist manage to discover in the years that she has been sharing her intimate feelings with them. This is a multi-layered novella and the beauty of it is that in she short 100 pages, Bellow has managed to put so much in. The book will keep you thinking for a long, long time. Great read about one's relfection, alientation and meaning of life.

I enjoyed this novella and found it to be the easiest to read of Bellow's works. I loved the moral dilemma the protagonist faces at the end of the book when the stolen ring is less than "stolen". Some of the other people who wrote reviews said it was slow going, but in some way it's just a slow buildup of the elements and tension in a whodunit where you really have to get a good idea of what the people in the story are like before you can fully appreciate what the event really means in the characters' lives. It reads very quickly and leaves you amused at the antics of these sophisticated (but maybe not so very sophisticated) Gothamites.

This 1989 work is a good introduction to the style of writing that Saul Bellow became famous for. It is a light-hearted story of intrigue mixed with heart-warming characters who are so vividly portrayed. For the uninitiated this is a good beginning for those who would dare to read more by Bellow. If you like this you will love Herzog and Humbolt's Gift. If not, it is my guess that neither of these works would be a satisfying read and even difficult to finish.

The negative reviews here are a surprise, given that "A Theft", one of Mr. Bellow's later short books, is a very fine portrait of contemporary NYC, viewed from an a much married Lady Fashion Mag Exec mother of 3 daughters, who has recently hired an Austrian Au Pair. The young Viennese becomes almost a fourth daughter until the title "Theft" leaves many questions for many of the characters to answer. Simply put, a beautifully done, realistic tale without some of the author's often overdone intellectualizing and denseness. So if you're new to Saul Bellow, this may be as good a place as any to start.

This novella is so beautifully written, I stopped after about twenty pages and re-read from the start to savor the writing. Bellow is so good at describing everyday people and things while subtly showing the bigger picture simultaneously...