Seize the Day

Seize the day by Saul Bellow puts you into the shoes of a man who finds himself later in life, feeling the endless consequences of the choices he made in his youth. With money troubles, a rocky relationship with his father, a separation from his wife, and placing trust in the wrong people, Wilhelm finds it difficult to get his life back on track. This book contains a lot of dialogue between the characters, with passages of conversation going on for some time. I feel this writing style is what makes the plot work, for the interactions of the protagonist with others and how this branches off into emotions is what keeps the story progressing. I enjoyed the realness of this classic, the chaos of life and how our actions can come back and effect us years after their happening. Wilhelm is young at heart I would say, though being in his mid-forties he remains naive and gullible which has proven a disadvantage as his life begins to fall apart. My copy of Seize the Day has an introduction by Cynthia Ozick. At first the introduction introduced me to the author Saul Bellow, describing his work, what people thought of it and an overall insight to his life. Furthering on from this I felt too much about the book itself was given away, with many quotes and extracts being used. This later on became an annoyance for me as I read the book, feeling I had already read and got the gist of exactly what was happening just from the introduction. Nevertheless, this book was a good read. A 20th Century classic reaching just over 100 pages. This was the first book I have read by Saul Bellow and I am intrigued to read more of his work to see what other plots he brings to life.