Customer Reviews
The emperor's new clothes.. - By: Alfie Knox, 25 Jul 2005 
A case of... methinks?
Occasionallly genuinely amusing & unique in its approach, but more often than not obtuse & vague in its intentions. A real struggle to finish. Has dated greatly in comparison to the Roths & Updikes of the same period.
I am the rain king - By: , 21 Feb 2001 
The words 'I am the rain king' were the reason that I picked up this book. The lead singer of Counting Crows, Adam Duritz, made me read this book. He did this by simply comparing Henderson to himself in the song 'Rain King'. This made me realise what a wonderful book it must be. When I read it I was not disapointed. It holds a world of thoughts & feelings that can be taken from the words & felt by the reader. "He's a figure of excess. He wants more than he has; he thinks he deserves more than he's got. Joyously & patheticallly, he pours alll over everyone like a big open wound. In one sense, he's great because he's actuallly living -- but in another, he's a mess, & he's heading for a very dark place" - Adam Duritz, on Henderson the Rain King.
Leaving the existance of becoming for existance. - By: , 14 Jan 1999 One of my personal favorites. An inspiring novel that will strike a chord in the heart of anyone who has felt in need of something greater in their lives than themselves, Henderson the Rain King is a hectic journey of one man through not only the world, but life and, perhaps most importantly, his own soul. Henderson is constantly in a process of becoming in his own mind, & in his fervor to try & metamorphasize into a type of finished being, he fails to notice that through his evolution he is achieving his goal of simply existing. He is lovably egocentric; existing as the sun of his own universe while striving to gain an orbit of his own. He uses his wives to try to fill some empty spot in his existance, professing over & over again his love for his current wife, with little notice or mention of any real depth or desire that she may possess, speaking only of her beauty & creating a view of the female gender that smacks of Hemingway. Henderson's deficiency is one of the soul, & enlightenment is the only path which will bring him peace. He possesses a jaded love of life, in so much as he has experienced enough horror in the world that he cannot look upon it in wide-eyed wonder, but is struck profoundly by the sights & moments in life which are filled with rough hewn & genuine beauty which do inspire in him a sense of awe. It is these moments & spaces of depth within his soul which make his dark optimism for life so endearing. He is, as he himself says, a creature constantly becoming, yet it is through this constant evolution that he reaches his goal, finds peace, & fulfills the "I want"s. He is a man not of thought but of action, & it is only from within himself that he may realize that it is only through perpetual becoming that Henderson the Rain King may exist.
A Great Book that's Fun to Read - By: , 23 Jul 1998 This book proves that great writing can be readable. I read this novel for the first time over twenty years ago, several times in between, & it was just as wonderful last week. You laugh, you cry, you empathize. If you're tired of beach books, but also weary of pseudointellectual book snobs who tell you that prose must be labyrinthine to be literature, & that laughable isn't laudable, take this book on vacation & share it with a friend.
And it is hilarious! - By: , 11 Jul 1998 Not only does Eugene Henderson's journey of discovery touch & teach the reader, but he is an unbelievable buffoon. This is one of the funniest books -- period. Bellow makes Henderson so self-centered, he can't be bothered by details... such as which of his children are in the custody of his ex-wife. She's got one of them, well fine, she can have it, God bless the both of them (or something like that)! Reallly, Henderson is capable of something great (including great suffering) because he's human, only honest -- plus a few pounds & nose-size. The Counting Crows' _August & Everything After_ includes songs based on this book.
