Bech at Bay Book

"Bech at Bay" is the last of Updike's Bech trilogy, tales of the life of his libidinous "Jewish" author-persona.

After three books, I still have not accepted Bech as a genuine, successfully-realized literary character, much less an authentic Jewish author. I'm still not sure why Updike chose to emphasize this character's Jewishness or supposed New York origins, except possibly to distance him from Updike's own persona, or out of envy of the New York Jewish intelligentsia.

That said, "Bech at Bay" was an enjoyable read. For me, the volume started slow, with another unnecessary tale of Bech's European travels, this time to Czechoslovakia, apparently intended mainly to remind us of Bech's Jewish consciousness. The book picked up interest with a story of Bech accepting an appointment to preside over the aging remnants of "The Forty" -- an honorary organization of writers, composers and other artists, a society that subsequently squabbles bitterly over past and contemporary artistic values and whether the society should continue or dissolve (and thereby whack up a juicy endowment among its members). This is followed by a tepid and unrealistic account of Bech being sued for libeling a Hollywood agent, and suffering remorse in the process for the fellow Jew who sued him. The penultimate chapter, "Bech Noir," is a bizarre but imaginative and amusing recounting of an aged Bech's finding ways to murder, at very long distance, all the critics who have wronged him in his long career, and is written in a "noir" style. The final chapter finds Bech at age 73 siring a child, winning the Nobel Prize, being found unworthy by his peers of that honor, grappling with what a writer in his position should say in his acceptance speech, and delivering the speech with his daughter Golda in his arms.

Bech at Bay is probably a scootch less than four-star material, but only a scootch IMHO. For those who think about and love literature other than silly page-turners, value the literary life, and prize thoughts more than hunky vampires, it's a very good read. There's a lot to criticize, but through it all there are some very interesting thoughts about real literature and insights into the literary mind.