I Revisit Saul Bellow’s “Ravelstein,” A 2000 Novel About Love and Tenderness–And the Coming Crackup of the GOP

here you go:

Ravelstein, Saul Bellow’s roman à clef about the last years of philosopher-provocateur Allan Bloom, may be the best post-9/11 novel published in the year 2000.

Ravelstein has as many virtues as its subject has grabby, endearing vices. It’s a subtle portrayal of the blurred boundaries between eros, philia, paternal, and filial love. It calls attention to its own provisional nature: “I may return to this subject later,” the narrator says, but “I probably won’t.” It’s a loving portrait of a man who was both an appetitive personality and an inspiring teacher: “He didn’t ask, ‘Where will you spend eternity?’ as religious the-end-is-near picketers did but rather, ‘With what, in this modern democracy, will you meet the demands of your soul?’”

more