The graduate charles webb pdf download

Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! It's the summer of in suburban California and Benjamin Braddock has the world at his feet. He's just graduated from university with a teaching scholarship, his dad has bought him a fancy new Italian sports car, and all the Braddocks' friends and neighbours have been invited to a house party to celebrate. There's just one problem. Benjamin refuses to leave his room. He's worried about his future. His parents are perplexed.

The stalemate is broken when Ben agrees to give the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs Robinson, a lift home. She's the same age as his mother, fabulously sexy, and bent on seduction. Polly is a Sony award-winning director and producer of radio drama. Now that's he's stopped sleeping with Mrs Robinson, Benjamin has become obsessed with her daughter, Elaine. Now, at last, he understands the purpose of his life. He drives through the night to Berkeley, determined to find Elaine and marry her.

Elaine, however, has other plans. There are no reviews yet. Why oh why would a girl like Elaine even consider a nut job like Benjamin?! After awhile the whole thing just feels repetitive and annoying, but you keep reading in the hope that it's leading up to something important.

Trust me, it's not. Aug 25, Shovelmonkey1 rated it liked it Recommends it for: would be seducers. Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: books list and danielle Shelves: books , bookcrossing-books , read-in Probably best known as a film and for those famous lines "Mrs Robinson, are you trying to seduce me? Either that or your object of lust is particularly obtuse.

In fact, much of this book and the bumbling inanities of the young Benjamin Braddock provide a clear selection of examples of how NOT to practise Probably best known as a film and for those famous lines "Mrs Robinson, are you trying to seduce me? In fact, much of this book and the bumbling inanities of the young Benjamin Braddock provide a clear selection of examples of how NOT to practise the art of seduction.

A Graduate he may be Never ask the person if they are trying to seduce you. Forcing them to say, "Umm well yes, as it goes, I was trying to get in your pants" is a sure fire mood killer. Folding your clothes prior to coitus. Nothing says control freak and lack of spontaneity better than a neatly folded pile of clothes on the bureau or chair.

Referring to sex as coitus. Watch Big Bang Theory and see why. Telling your paramour that they're a drunk. If you stop them drinking it might make it harder to get them into bed in the first place note here that I am not suggesting that drunkeness equals the word "yes" Once that tipsy haze has gone, she'll see you for the buffoon you really are Benjamim Braddock, and clearly Mrs Robinson needs to be wearing the thickest beer goggles possible.

Describing the first encounter as climbing on top and beginning the affair. She is not Ben Nevis, or any sort of peak to be scaled. You are not planting a flag insert appropriate pole joke here and frankly this sentence implies that she has all the sexual allure of a bunk bed. Chatting about your lovers child pre or post the bumping of the uglies, and musing on how you may go on a date with them at some point. OK, so the offspring in question is your own age but this is so not cool. Ending the affair by politely thanking someone for their time and the instructive nature of your well-organised and sanitised couplings.

You send polite letters about the instructive and educational nature of an event to your grandparents after they've sent you a nice jigsaw for Christmas. This is not the best way to leave your lover. Referring to your now jilted paramour as "an older woman".

Even if the age gap crosses the border into geological time scales, do not, under any circumstances draw attention to it in the format of the written word.

This sort of thoughtless penmanship will never lead to anything good. Public humiliation, trial by peer and parent and a social meltdown will likely follow by way of revenge. Ultimately this was a very easy read and Webb's stilted dialogue really pushes home that awful cringe factor of a world imploding and the fecklessness of unseasoned youth. But if you're entitled to a mid life crisis as popular culture would have us believe, then why shouldn't you be allowed to indulge in some splendid cusp of adulthood melt down.

Failed to get out all your angst during your teenage years? Then follow the fine example set by young Benjamin Braddock and self-destruct on your 21st birthday instead. After all, if 40 is the new thirty doesn't that mean that 21 is the new, er Oh, Mrs Robinson! View all 4 comments. Nov 17, Bren fall in love with the sea. Shelves: family-drama , new-york , saw-movie-and-read-book , classics , better-or-worse-than-expected , fun-books , romance , read-and-reviewed , literary-fiction.

But please, Mrs. This is difficult for me. I cannot do this book justice in a review. Classic, fantastic, must read. A neurotic boy wonder returns to the suburbs to deliberate on the predetermined future laid out before him, and sets about breaking every taboo imaginable under the sun, but mostly sleeping with an older woman and trying to marry her daughter simply because grown-ups told him not to. Mar 29, Sarah rated it did not like it. It's probably pretty obvious that I didn't like this book.

It was pages of a book that was mostly dialogue so it should have taken 5 minutes to read, or three hours at most. What about some of those Martin Amis ones I've been drooling over? Reading I really need a new purse Reading Maybe I should do a reading challenge for postmodernism next year R It's probably pretty obvious that I didn't like this book.

Reading I really need a new purse Reading Maybe I should do a reading challenge for postmodernism next year Readi Or this year? I need to research postmodernism Reading, dammit Re It was totally absurd.

I had several specific complaints, although I just didn't like the writing in general. As I said it's almost entirely dialogue. This included about uses of the word "What? For the men who just flinched, I don't usually believe in ball kicking.

I never got the feel of any kind of a love story because he seemed to just be bullying the woman into agreeing to marry him, after stalking her exhaustively. He was really obnoxious and domineering. And frustrating. The good news? I found a purse and ordered some books View all 11 comments.

Dec 26, Rossy rated it did not like it Shelves: one-star , ya. This book was pointless! The dialog was so boring Ben and Elaine, I hope you really end up together and leave your poor parents alone.

Robinson was not great, but she was the most interesting one and the one who acted with purpose. I didn't like her husband or This book was pointless! I didn't like her husband or Ben's parents, but I guess they were ok, too, because I understand where their actions came from. Yes Elaine, you should "fall in love" what was that?!?!

It wasn't even infatuation with a guy you've only been out once a few years ago and now once again, the guy who confessed on your first date that he had an affair with an older woman, and then the second time you see him, he tells you it was your mother Also, when your mother tells you he raped her, you should believe him immediately when he tells you it wasn't. Yes, you both should elope and let me go on with my life, please :.

View all 5 comments. Meet Benjamin. He's 21 and just graduated college. No seriously, he's 21, not a fifteen year old delinquent from a broken family. The author tells us so even though he forgot to make him act like it. Benjamin is mad at the world for being so materialistic. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you all!. I hate Mrs. Robinson, but I'll sleep with her anyway, I hate my parents for loving and supporting my useless ass, and I hate Elaine for being forced to date her a Meet Benjamin.

Robinson, but I'll sleep with her anyway, I hate my parents for loving and supporting my useless ass, and I hate Elaine for being forced to date her against my wishes.

I know! I'll treat her like garbage and I'll never have to go out with her again! Oh, look. She cries when I treat her like shit. I love her and am going to marry her! Now if I stalk her enough and repeat the same things over and over, maybe she'll agree! She is one of the least fleshed out characters I've ever read. She has no personality and her wavering between sad and angry falls very flat. The only understandable character in the entire novel is Mrs.

Her actions and emotions actually made sense to me and she was the only part of this book that I found enjoyable to read. I think reading this novel in my early twenties was another experience as compared to watching the movie. Robinson', etc. Du I think reading this novel in my early twenties was another experience as compared to watching the movie.

During that time loosely called, 'The Period of Identity', in the midst of some Thai and foreign hippies in search of the meaning of life in the world, it was mysterious for us then.

However, we thought then we needed to finish our studies and had our work to do first. I think I'd find the copy kept somewhere and reread it soon. View all 16 comments. Aug 09, Shirley Revill rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction , classic , romance.

I read this book ages ago and also watched the film. Now I have the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel running through my head. Pure nostalgia. I read this just after the film was a smash hit, it was OK, well written cute story of growing up. Man, this book was weird! Sort of like Hemingway with an autistic protagonist.

I guess it's supposed to be social commentary, about suburban Americans caring only about the way things look. The first chapter was difficult to read, about Benjamin being so rude and awkward to the party guests.

His first night with Mrs. Robinson was pretty funny, though. But since I already knew the plot even though I haven't seen the movie yet , the twists lacked a punch. Also, you never find out quite why Ben is Man, this book was weird! Also, you never find out quite why Ben is so disillusioned with college, or what he really did during his three-week escape.

View 2 comments. May 04, K. Absolutely rated it liked it Shelves: love-story , core. This was an easy read for me. I was in college when I read this novel after seeing the equally successful film on TV rerun. I was able to relate few years after when I had a short affair with an officemate 15 years my senior. However, there was no Elaine that ended the short affair. We just got tired of each other. Looking back, I think I was somewhat influenced by this.

Well, I was very young then so it was just part of growing up. Sep 28, Syndi rated it it was ok. Ok I know this book has so much buzz because it is very controversial. But for me, the main character is not really well develop. I can not understand the how the main character thought.

I can not connect either with the character. Not for me. This was like reading the movie, only less so. I've always wanted to read the book because I liked the movie, but wow, the film is mostly the book line-for-line, minus a couple of events, and plus a lot of atmosphere. It seems to be a celebration of aloofness and self-centered decadence, or perh This was like reading the movie, only less so.

It seems to be a celebration of aloofness and self-centered decadence, or perhaps two sets of those things: one set for the older generation and one for the younger, expressed in different ways and unable to intersect except through confict and seduction.

Interesting concept, but underdone. And nobody says "plastics. It's also interesting to look up the author and see what became of him. I still like the movie, BTW - the artistry of the film easily glosses over some of the story's preposterousness.

I was never enamored with the film The Graduate as was most of my peers. But I did sit in awe at the performances of Dustin Hoffman and the calculated socio-pathology of Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Unfortunately the novel on which the film is based doesn't even have that going for it.

It is a rather pointless story with very unlikable and pathetic characters. Mrs Robinson fares fairly well as she is a cardboard precursor to Desperate Housewives but Benjamin Braddock comes off even more pathe I was never enamored with the film The Graduate as was most of my peers. Mrs Robinson fares fairly well as she is a cardboard precursor to Desperate Housewives but Benjamin Braddock comes off even more pathetic and just as selfish.

Whatever point the author is making is lost under the inane actions of these totally forgettable characters. And the famous lines that the film is known for? Yes, "Mrs. You're trying to seduce me" is in the book but "One word Jul 07, Printable Tire rated it liked it.

I don't really know why I decided to read this one, to be honest. Everyone's asking Ben I don't really know why I decided to read this one, to be honest. Everyone's asking Benjamin what his plan is, but he seems content to throw away a scholarship to grad school and spend all day sleeping and all night drinking beer and watching movies.

This is the part of the book I like most. When it starts entering its famous plotline I start losing interest. Possibly because a lot of it involves dramatic irony concerning Benjamin's affair with Mrs.

Robinson, partly because for whatever unfair reason the content seems dated. While there was some attentive build-up in the last forth of the book it's hard to think of Benjamin as nothing more than a little prick from suburbia with loving, comforting parents, his quest for Elaine clearly standing in for some mysogonistic? The book is more movie script fluff than anything else, with many pages full of breezy, realistic dialogue, so realistic and breezy in fact it matches the pace of the movie perfectly and becomes realitstically repetitive and irritating.

The whole book is so deadpan it's easy to feel removed from the characters, who never reach any emotional depth one of the lasting assets of the novel form but float about with ambiguous motives much like in a film or an Ernest Hemingway story. I guess it's not a bad thing, but one can see how this story in particular makes a better movie than novel, as nothing is really lost if one cuts out everything but dialogue, as dialogue is as far as we ever get at a character's inner world.

I haven't seen the movie all the way through in a long time although I did see a broadway production many years ago starring Jason Biggs but I can't imagine it being very different than the book, other than the perplexing lack of the famous "plastics" conversation, one of the handful of iconic moments people remember from the movie.

The Graduate: the movie, thanks to great performances and cinematography, can be funny and iconic: the book can only pass as cheeky, and so tongue-in-cheek it's practically choking on itself. The action moves so fast by the end that we don't have time to slow down and wonder why everything is happening, which makes this reader for one feel pretty dumb.

But I guess that's life and growing up, right? Apr 24, FoodxHugs rated it it was ok Shelves: watched-the-movie , cheaters-club , boozy-lasses , pov-third-person , disaffected-yoof , love-triangles.

Almost everyone's heard of The Graduate, right? However, if you've watched the film, I'd advise you to skip the book entirely as it reads more like a screenplay more than anything else. At first, I thought I was reading a script and that I'd been swindled out of my money, but no, it turns out that this was the actual novel.

Well, Webb's novel is mostly dialogue-heavy, so don't expect any beautiful desc Almost everyone's heard of The Graduate, right? In the beginning, Webb's detached, sparse, minimal prose was fun because I was flying through it thinking this is easy shit, but then I realised something I wanted some description to liven things up, because the style was becoming tedious. The irony is that there's a very good plot to the story and even a few salvageable characters, but at the hands of a prose stylist, the story would have sung.

However, that's not to say that Webb's prose is terrible. Anything but, I admire the consistency of the tone. As the story's about a liberal arts graduate Benjamin Braddock going through some sort of quarter-life crisis, the barren and flat style fits with how he's feeling emotionally. It's supposed to be a dry comedy, but I found myself getting frustrated with Benjamin's stalker-ish tendencies towards Mrs Robinson's daughter Elaine.

This novel had a lot of potential, but I think the film eclipsed it. View all 3 comments. May 01, Vel Veeter rated it really liked it. Benjamin Braddock is home from college, en route to grad school in the fall, and experiencing an excruciating cocktail celebration at his parents home. He just can't seem to tell them that he doesn't want any of the things he worked for, has no plan for what to do or what this means, and also doesn't know that he's about to throw himself into a nice little destructive spiral.

He see Mrs Robinson at the party, still pretty attractive for her disturbing old age of like 43, and agrees to drive her Benjamin Braddock is home from college, en route to grad school in the fall, and experiencing an excruciating cocktail celebration at his parents home. He see Mrs Robinson at the party, still pretty attractive for her disturbing old age of like 43, and agrees to drive her home, where she offers to have an affair with him.

He panics, her husband comes home, and Ben runs away to go "on the road" for a few weeks, where things don't go great. When he returns, he begins the affair in earnest, and he continues to spiral through the summer. At the end, he breaks off the affair, tries to get himself together, and apparently falls in love with Mrs Robinson's daughter.

You have to decide how serious any or all of the feelings here are. I think plenty of people hate this book, and I get it, I think. I feel that enjoying this book depends almost entirely on just how sympathetic you think the book is for its languishing protagonist. If you think the book is very sympathetic, then you probably wouldn't like the book.

If instead, you think the book is being both critical and ironic in its affection for its protagonist, then the book is a lot more enjoyable. I happen to think that Charles Webb has some shame and embarrassment for Benjamin Braddock.

It's not as cutting as Edward St Aubyn or Philip Roth, but I also don't think it's as self-serious as some of the other reviewers have made it out to be. He's a hapless fool with no direction, no real guidance through his feelings or goals, and untreated depression at a time when only "crazy" people went to psychiatrists. He's wrong for the world and trying desperately and I think hilariously to fix it. Jan 08, Kirk rated it liked it Shelves: sentimental-faves. Just because I'm a print guy I figured I owed it to the history of the novel to read the book on which the movie is based.

If only the history of the novel would have been kind enough to thank me. As other posters note, the big surprise here is that much of what we think of as Buck Henry's wit in the film originated with Charles Webb. That said, Benjamin is a colder character here than when incarnated as Dustin Hoffman, whose nebbishness is the center of his performance's charm. It's also hard Just because I'm a print guy I figured I owed it to the history of the novel to read the book on which the movie is based.

That said, the ending here is as nuanced as the movie, and if you're not a great fan of the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, the minimalism of Webb's style offers a welcome respite from the wall-to-wall acoustic guitars and somber harmonies of "Scarborough Fair. It's a fairly standard pre-hippie coming of age novel, with lots of Holdenesque angst and resentment toward suburban phonies. In the end, what may be more interesting than the novel is the story of its author. Forty-five years after the book's publication, a sequel is reportedly in the works.

This worrisome news comes years after Webb signed over his royalties to charity, lived an itinerant life as a vagabond, and landed destitute in the arms of that most chimerical of muses, the Big Comeback.