Great ( )

The two-dimensionality of Clara somehow made this the longest novella I have ever read. ( )

Bionda, elegante, imponente e sempre ben vestita, Clara Velde è la “zarina delle giornaliste della moda”. Benché sia ormai una sofisticata newyorkese, non ha mai perso del tutto quell’aria di campagna che le deriva dalle origini provinciali. Giunta al quarto matrimonio, Clara ha sempre amato un unico uomo, che non l’ha mai sposata: Ithiel “Teddy” Regler, influente consigliere del Pentagono. Il simbolo della loro passione è un anello con smeraldo che Teddy le ha regalato anni prima e al quale Clara è legatissima. Un giorno però l’anello scompare. Sarà per Clara l’occasione per mostrare un volto nuovo, quello di una donna di grande sensibilità, insospettata saggezza e infinita disponibilità ad amare.

Not Bellow's best. An awkward thing, not quite sure if it's a short story or a novel or a novella, sparse in some areas and a bit too much in others. It's not bad, just uncertain. Still good in points. ( )

The cover of my edition depicts a woman's hand tossing a book out of a building. Little did I know just how prophetic this could have been. If I were to have applied the Perl rule, this novella surely would have been tossed.
The story centers around country girl made New York executive, Clara Velde. She's had four husbands, three children and a lover she feels is her soulmate and the man she should have married. Her lover gave her a splended emerald ring which she holds dear. The ring is her connection to this man through the years and spouses which passed their lives. The ring disappears twice, perhaps this creates some sort of epiphany for Clara, it's hard to say.
This book was my first foray into Bellow and perhaps I was expecting too much, perhaps the bar was too high and maybe, just maybe, it was too highbrow for me for surely there is a message in this book. Why else would have it been written. But to tell you the truth the story left me exasperated and too ambivelent to even try to figue it out. I'm just happy to be done with it. The characters left me cold, the dialog was often confusing and it all seemed pointless ( )