While desperately lacking elsewhere, the Southwark electronic library seems to have quite a few books by Roth, and so it gave me a chance to read some of his minor novels, which - in case hadn't come across from previous reviews - I generally find much, much better than Portnoy's Complaint.
Indignation as a Jewish campus novel had at times a similar feel to passages of Auster's 4321 (minus the overambitiousness, obviously...) and for that I found it rather enjoyable.
The problem, however, is that I find its time setting (the 1950s) rather dull and boring. Had it been set against the backdrop of the 1970s and the Vietnam War (instead of the Korean one) I would have probably appreciated it more. And another thing I struggled with was the narrator's declaration (later partially retracted) to be reporting from beyond the grave. That's where I normally suspend my suspension of disbelief, regardless of whether it's a book or a movie, just ask William Holden and his opening monologue in Sunset Boulevard for confirmation.
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