Being There by Jerzy Kosinski Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Being There
Book Review: "I like to watch"
Summary: 5 Stars
Terrific, quick read that brilliantly satirizes the influence of television on our society, as well as our ability to delude ourselves into creating false icons. Chance is the Forrest Gump of the 70s, achieving great feats because he doesn't realize that he can't. Enjoy this one....much to chuckle and think about!Book Review: A disturbing reflection on society
Summary: 3 Stars
Every few years I take in a dose of Kosinski, and his time rolled around again, and I chose "Being There." That the novel is disturbing should not be surprising giving Kosinski's body of work. What is surprising about this slender book is the way in which it is disturbing. There is no chilling, psychologically twisted character here. There is, equally, no brutality, of a sexual nature or otherwise. In fact, Chance, the main character, is indeed an innocent -- he has spent his entire life tending to a garden and otherwise confined to one room. He has only interacted with two other people in his entire life -- The Old Man, who took him in when he was just a child, and a maid in the house they live in. And those interactions were minimal at best. Everything that Chance knows about life he has learned by watching television. It is not Chance who is the disturbing factor of this book (however, the confinements under which he lived his life is certainly disturbing); as the story unfolds, we quickly realize that it is the society around Chance which is disturbed -- the society each and every one of us live in. And to the extent that the parable is true, it is a chilling view of ourselves that we see. Unfortunately, the book doesn't hold up the longer it goes on, and, in the end, it becomes a parody of itself more than a satire of society at large. When the "old man" who took Chance in takes ill and dies, Chance is unceremoniously thrown out of the only home he's ever known. Wearing one of the old man's tailored suits, he leaves the house and is almost immediately struck by a limousine belonging to a rich society type, Elizabeth Eve Rand ("EE"). She takes him home to be evaluated by the doctors who are caring for her much older sick husband, and he ends up becoming their permanent house guest. As Chance, who is dubbed Chancey Gardner by EE, interacts with the household and its visitors, he relies heavily on the only thing he knows of human interactions -- what he's observed of them on tv. Whenever it is necessary to socialize, he recalls a similar situation he's seen on tv, and mimics. The only topic he ever talks about is gardening, as it is the only thing he knows. So, when he tells the President of the United States, who is visiting Mr. Rand, of the annual birth, death and rebirth of a garden, his statement is taken as a metaphor on the state of the economy, and suddenly a business man and financial advisor is born. Chauncey is hounded by the media, becoming a guest on news programs and interacting with chancellors and ambassadors at social functions. He continues his "metaphor" whenever he speaks, and he is deemed a brilliant by his observers. He has become a full blown celebrity.
That this simpleton becomes a celebrated business advisor, via the machinations of the media, is certainly a strong statement by Kosinksi. And while the novel is disturbing in this regard -- and there's no escaping that it is -- I ultimately found it a bit repetitive, a bit shallow in its own development as a story. It's a wonderful premise and, probably, an important book. However, it begins to fall flat the longer it goes on, not finding any new ground to cover once its point is made. Still, a book that deserves a reading.
Book Review: A gardener in politics
Summary: 4 Stars
Chance, the mentally handicapped hero of this story, has spent all his life working in the garden. Having never been on the other side of the wall surrounding the house he is living in, he has learned everything he knows about the world and its people from TV. Suddenly launched into the real world, dominated by money and power, Chance accidentally becomes a media superstar. Due to his metaphorical speeches about nature, wrongly interpreted as political statements by everybody, he becomes very popular. His road to success leads him straight to the top. Will Chance's emergence find its end in being the next President of the United States of America?“Being There“ is a well written satire criticizing American society and the media in particular. Although this novel is fiction, Kosinski included some personal experience he gained. “Being There“ partly is an imaginative projection of his life. Connecting both, satirical and thrilling elements, Kosinski created a story which is worth to be read. The image of modern society mirrored by this novel will still survive in your mind when putting the book down.
Book Review: A great story!
Summary: 4 Stars
The protagonist of this amazing novel is called Chance. This spelling name "Chance" symbolises the development of the satire 'Being There'.The whole story consists of a number of misunderstandings, which underline the criticism on American political system. The whole novel is well written and easy to read even for students who do not have a lot of previous knowledge in the english language. Also the plot may be interesting for pupils in upper grades.Book Review: A road to success
Summary: 5 Stars
Being There, written by Jerzy Kosinski, is a book about the life of Chauncey Gardiner, a gardener. He has worked all his life in a garden of an Old Man and has never left his "paradise" up to the day the Old Man died. When he leaves the house with its beautiful garden a totally new life begins. He is injured by a car of Elizabeth Eve Rand, wife of an influential financier. She feels pity for Chance and wants him to stay at her house. EE and Chance become friends and because of this friendship she introduces Chance to her other friends. Chance is introduced as a business man by a misunderstanding. From now on he becomes more and more famous. He meets many influential people, e.g. the President of the United States. His road to success has an unusual ending... Being There is an amusing book full of funny parts and a lot of misunderstandings. It is a mirror of today's society. It shows how a normal person can become famous by doing nothing.