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La revedere … Philip Roth vorbeste despre faima, sex si imbatranire in ultimul interviu

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Cand in noiembrie 2012, Philip Roth a spus revistei franceze Les Inrockuptibles ca renunta la teren – „Pentru a va spune adevarul, am terminat” – a existat o neincredere raspandita. Cu siguranta, un romancier care se dedicase la fel de simplu artei sale ca Roth nu putea fi serios? A fost posibil ca Nemesis , cel de-al 24-lea roman al sau, sa fie ultimul sau? Ei bine, da, a fost.

Saptamana aceasta, intr-un interviu acordat BBC, Roth nu doar ca isi va reafirma pensionarea literara, ci va garanta, de asemenea, cu finalitate sclipitoare, ca „aceasta este ultima mea aparitie la televizor, ultima mea aparitie absolut pe orice scena de oriunde”.

Ultimul cuvant al lui Roth care, citandu-l pe boxerul american cu greutate mare, Joe Louis, ca „a facut tot ce a putut cu ceea ce a avut”, a fost de obicei inteligent si constient de sine. Este o pensie buna. Vietile literare adesea se incheie prost cu sanatatea precara, respingerea si neglijarea si este vorba despre Roth – cum nu ar putea fi? El si-a dedicat indelungata si distinsa cariera literara sa se reinventeze in nenumarate moduri de tachinare. Acum, la 81 de ani, continua sa-si tampleze publicul.

Marti, BBC va transmite „ultimul interviu”, o conversatie valedictorie in doua parti cu Alan Yentob, filmata la casa lui Manhattan intr-un film pentru Imagine , regizat de Sarah Aspinall.

Acest ultim episod din revederea indelungata a lui Roth il arata pe romancierul, pe care unii il considera cel mai mare scriitor viu din America, intr-o dispozitie de relaxare ludica, recunoscand ca, pana atunci, nu voia sa „vorbeasca, sa vorbeasca, sa vorbeasca, sa vorbeasca, sa vorbeasca”. Acum, el spune, „acum ca nu scriu, vreau doar sa stau de vorba”. Inevitabil, cu privirea pe cititorii sai, vorbaretul lui Roth se refera la caracterul polivalent al carierei sale. A trait multe vieti literare. Mai intai, a existat autorul Wunderkind al revederii, Goodbye, Columbus (1959), un reper debut postbelic. Urmatoarea a aparut infernul plangerii lui Portnoy (1969), senzatia comica de la sfarsitul anilor ’60, supranumita „un soc al albastru salbatic” de Liferevista. „Am primit faima literara”, isi aminteste el. “Am primit faima sexuala si am si faima de om nebun. Am primit sute de scrisori, 100 pe saptamana, unele dintre ele scrisori cu poze cu fete in bikini. Am avut multe ocazii sa-mi stric viata.”

Apoi, a inceput sa se retraga intr-un fel de rancor si a devenit satiristul experimental al trupei noastre (1971) si al sanului (1972). In continuare, la varsta mijlocie tanara, Roth a continuat explorarea sinelui sau turbulent in My Life as a Man (1974) si The Professor of Desire (1977). Mai tarziu, el a alimentat un alter ego-ul literar mai sigur in romanele sale Zuckerman. Cel mai bun era sa vina. In 1997, la mijlocul anilor ’60, Roth a pornit intr-o secventa de romane, reinventari bine facute din trecutul recent al Americii, care au fost salutate de critici de ambele parti ale Atlanticului. Aici, in Pastoralul american , m-am casatorit cu un comunist , The Human Stain, The Dying Animal andPlot Against America a fost o respingere viguroasa a amaraciunii lui Fitzgerald, pe langa faptul ca „nu exista al doilea act in vietile americane”.

Niciun scriitor in memoria vie nu a avut o crestere atat de extraordinara la sfarsitul sezonului. Relatarea proprie a lui Roth despre aceasta trecere de la personal la public este ca, asa cum spune el, „la inceput, este vorba despre [Roth] care va imbatrani varsta, se dezvolta ca scriitor. Atunci nu este vorba despre el. El este urechea, voce, el este observatorul, este ochiul. ” Inainte de pensionare, starea de spirit a lui Roth a devenit valedictorie ( Exit Ghost , 2007), dar inca sfidatoare ( Indignation , 2008).

He reports that, in old age, “the last thing I wanted to do was to make myself more visible then I already was. The visibility unnerved me. And so I moved to the country.” Roth retreated to an isolated farmhouse in Connecticut. He describes, almost for the first time, the conditions under which he wrote the sequence of novels that followed American Pastoral. “I find it very congenial to live in the natural beauty of the place I have in Connecticut. I work during the day, do some exercise late in the day” – he swims regularly – “and so I haven’t lost contact with what I’ve been doing all day.”

This, for many years, was standing for hours at his writing desk, to spare his back, “day in and day out. Then if I’m stuck, and I often am stuck, I walk out the door and I’m in the woods. I walk around for 10 minutes, and I come back and try again.” Roth quotes his own character, Zuckerman, to explain this monk-like dedication: “I believe that we should read only those books that bite and sting us. If a book we’re reading does not rouse us with a blow to the head, then why read it ?”

In 1976, Roth moved to London to live with actress Claire Bloom. But he didn’t feel at home. “I couldn’t write a feature-length book about London,” he says now. “England made a Jew of me in only eight weeks.”Here, Roth’s conversation covers much contentious territory, including the repeated accusations of the novelist’s alleged misogyny. But one tantalising detail is omitted. According to Yentob, when Roth attended a 70th birthday party for conductor Leonard Bernstein, he was seated next to Ava Gardner, who had been living in seclusion in London for several years. Gardner, who had been married to Frank Sinatra, joked to Roth, “I used to go out with a boy from Hoboken”, and the pair spent the evening in intense conversation. In the course of his interview with the BBC, Roth occasionally challenges Yentob with “Go on, ask me about Ava Gardner”, but discretion appears to have prevailed.

“We will leave that to Blake Bailey [Roth’s biographer],” says Yentob coyly.

Roth has never seemed so relaxed or content. Usually, a cocktail of vanity, optimism, and defiance, spiked with raw economic necessity, keeps old writers in the game long after they should have bowed out. Roth has beaten the odds.

When challenged with his 2004 statement that he “could not conceive of a life without writing”, he replies: “I was wrong. I had reached the end. There was nothing more for me to write about.” With a flash of candour, he adds: “I was fearful that I’d have nothing to do. I was terrified in fact, but I knew there was no sense continuing. I was not going to get any better. And why get worse ? And so …

“I set out upon the great task of doing nothing. I’ve had a very good time over the last three or four years.” Much of this has been devoted – in another reinvention – to assisting Bailey, who says he will complete his biography in 2022. To this, Roth jokes: “I’ll do my best to stay alive ’til 2020, but don’t push me. Now that I don’t write, I just want to chatter away. Bye, bye.”

La revedere … Philip Roth vorbeste despre faima, sex si imbatranire in ultimul interviu

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