Alex in Wonderland, or "Portnoy's Complaint"
1971; Duke University Press; Volume: 17; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/606794
ISSN2325-8101
Autores Tópico(s)American Jewish Fiction Analysis
ResumoAs Alexander Portnoy flies into Israel, free, for the moment at least, of his chronic identity crises, he refers to himself as Alex in Wonderland.' Later when he recites all of this and more from his analyst's couch, he describes that remarkable spell of impotence with Naomi, the Israeli lieutenant. For him there are no dreams; he has life instead. What appear as nightmares to other men are his daily bread. He lives the melodramatic, the disproportionate, the ironic coincidences, and the terrifying ironies. Didn't his mother actually threaten him with a knife; didn't his testicle recede; didn't he break his leg chasing Christian girls; didn't he ejaculate in his own eye the first time he attempted to have a sexual experience with a girl; isn't he impotent in Israel; doesn't he propose to and attempt to seduce and rape a girl a Jewish girl who looks just like his mother? Alex is indeed in Wonderland; his literal world is topsy-turvy. His real world is what other men fantasize, and his fantasies are of marrying and having children, playing softball and eating dinner.
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