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The Ghost Writer
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Plot Summary of The Ghost Writer
"THE GHOSTWRITER has been published in 1979.

Nathan Zuckerman is a young American writer who's just published three successful novelettes. He sends his last work to his father, a member of the New-York Jewish community and must face his disappointment in front of the written description of family events that could provoke antisemitism among Nathan's readers. Nathan leaves New-York for Massachussetts where he meets his father in literature, Lonof, a secluded writer leaving with his wife and a beautiful young woman in a house lost in the country. Nathan will observe, during 24 hours, the real life of a man who's dedicated his life to literature. He will understand the secret relationship between Lonof and the young woman staying at his home who's also looking for the image of a father in Lonof."

Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Ghost Writer
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's
Life of a profession: - writer
Inside culture (main char) - Jew
Family, struggle with Yes
Struggle with: - Father (or standin)
Culture clash? - family young v. old guard
Outside culture (society) - American American
Job/Profession/Status story Yes
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality - Jewish
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - small businessman
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb: Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast
Forest? Yes
City? Yes
City: - New York

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Unusual Style: - a lot of stream of consciousness - No single main character?
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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Philip Roth Resident Scholar Profiles

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