Bernard Henri Levy's Reading List

The author of “The Genius of Judaism” believes the current political situation in the United States is best illuminated by Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America.”

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By the Book: Bernard Henri Levy (2016)

NYT By the Book column (2016-12-29).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

Vladimir Nabokov · Buy on Amazon

"The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Nabokov's first novel in English. Reading it, one senses, almost physically, the change in languages, the metamorphosis from one language to another — and thus the very work of literature."

Elective Affinities

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · Buy on Amazon

"Goethe's Elective Affinities. When chance puts one of those works in your hands, you're dazzled, as if you were reading the first words of a very young and very talented writer."

The Plot Against America

Philip Roth · Buy on Amazon

"For the United States, it's Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. What better depiction of the country that has just elected — evidently without shame — the incredible Mr. Trump?"

Judas

Amos Oz · Buy on Amazon

"For Israel, I will go for Amos Oz's Judas. I know the story is set in 1950s Jerusalem, but in a way that doesn't matter: The book seems to speak to us solely of today."

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Ernest Hemingway · Buy on Amazon

"The hero is Jordan from For Whom the Bell Tolls."

Chronicles: Volume One

Bob Dylan · Buy on Amazon

"Bob Dylan's Chronicles, which Simon and Schuster published in 2004. I want to read the book because I hope to find in it the secret key to his work and the reason why I find it so admirable."

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