The best thing this novella has going for it is the brevity with which it is written. It's almost like a play--with the large majority of it being dialogue with occasional prose for setting the scene.

As a satire, it's kind of odd and clunky, but that's okay. The first third is an excellent take on a quarter life crisis and the 1960's. The middle section is just sex stuff. And the final half descends into a screwball sitcom.

And for a book written in the early 1960's, it mostly holds up--outside of the lead being a stalker. And it has laughs, an interesting pacing, and some intriguing quotes. It is also almost entirely faithful to the Mike Nichols adaptation.

Recommended. ( )

Aunque graduado con excelentes notas y con un futuro brillante, Benjamin Braddock, un muchacho con una profunda insatisfacción interior, siente asimismo un gran desencanto por el mundo que lo rodea.
Sus padres, para obsequiarle al terminar el curso, preparan en su honor una fiesta íntima con sus amigos. Entre los invitados figura una mujer madura pero irresistiblemente atractiva, la señora Robinson, quién le seducirá más tarde y le irá sometiendo a su antojo, a sus deseos y a sus más inesperados caprichos.
Estas relaciones no hacen más que acrecentar su desequilibrio y su inseguridad frente al mundo, hasta que el amor prende en su corazón y en el de la joven y seductora hija de su propia amante. El camino que Benjamin Braddock deberá recorrer a partir de entonces para ser fiel a su pasión estará erizado de dolorosos acontecimientos. Pero en lo más profundo de su interior él sabe que, al fin, es algo que va a reconciliarle consigo mismo y, tal vez, con el mundo.

Benjamin Braddock returns home from a prestige college on the East Coast with many opportunities, including a work scholarship, in hand. However, he finds himself wondering about the point of anything and simply lazes about his parents' home. Things go from bad to worse when he starts a sexual affair with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner. And it gets even worse when he meets the Robinson's daughter Elaine and decides she's the woman he wants to marry!

In the past, I had often heard of (but not seen) the popular movie of the same title without realizing it was a book. When I saw this title was also on the list of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, I decided I had to read it. It is a quick enough read -- not terribly long and filled mostly with dialogue. However, I really not sure why this story (in either book or film form) is so popular.

Benjamin is easily one of the most annoying characters ever written. His indecision about what to do with his life after graduating college is in fact relatable for many folks. But his inability to truly say that coupled with his lack of basic etiquette, decency, and gratitude are just not acceptable. Some authors can write a story about an unlikable character and make it work, but that's not really the case here.

The latter part of the book where Benjamin basically stalks Elaine after having had one date with her is even less appealing than when he doesn't know what he wants. He claims to be in love with her and want to marry her, but he makes no solid plans beyond that and struggles to face her, let alone have a conversation with her. Elaine is no better with her constant indecision and quite frankly the idea that she would ever consider him after he slept with her mother is laughable. She has other options than this guy with zero personality.

In terms of writing style, the sentences are short and quick with little time given to descriptions of anything beyond the bare bones. As mentioned earlier, its mostly dialogue but there's nothing especially witty or interesting there either. Probably the most common line spoken by all the characters is "What?" followed by a lot of "I don't know."

Again, I really don't know why this book is considered a must-read. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly good either. I would not recommend it to others. ( )

Although I enjoyed reading The Graduate, the movie is superior compared to the book. The vision of its director, Mike Nichols, and the quirkiness of Dustin Hoffman breathes more life into this story about figuring out what you want.

“The point is I don't love your wife. I love your daughter, sir.”

Benjamin Braddock returns home after finishing at college where he had been a brilliant and successful student with seemingly the world at his feet and a brilliant career ahead of him. However, on his return he realises that he no longer wants what he is supposed to want and what is expected of him. Only the wife of his father's business partner, Mrs Robinson, seems to understand him and can get through his apathy which leads to them having an affair. Meanwhile, Mr Robinson, the cuckolded spouse, is trying Benjamin to live a little, to sow a few wild oats whilst at the same time trying to encourage him to date his daughter, Elaine. However, when Benjamin tries to get close to Elaine things begin to turn nasty.

Benjamin has not returned from college as some sort of revolutionary; he doesn't want to change the society about him, in fact he seems quite happy to just loaf about and sponge off it, (I can only assume that the money that he uses to pay for his trysts with Mrs Robinson comes from an allowance from his parents) . Instead he realises that it bores him and he cannot find a place within it. This realisation baffles Benjamin as much as it does his parents. This confusion can be seen in Benjamin's language, much of what he says is said in the form of questions, questions that are never answered. Benjamin is able to have sex with Mrs Robinson but he is unable to have a conversation with her. This is quite astutely done by the author. In the end however, Benjamin despite his attempts at rebellion pretty well fulfils the expectations put upon him if if by a rather circuitous route.

Unfortunately Mrs Robinson also comes across as the only real character within the book. She is the only one whom seems to transcend the humdrum. On one level she appears a monster. She is a smooth and confident seductress who merely uses Benjamin for sex whilst revealing very little about herself using her experience as a weapon against him. She in no way regards Benjamin as an equal. But in many respects she is more a victim of society than Benjamin is. She is also trapped in a loveless marriage as well as being an alcoholic. She neither hates nor loves her husband, their marriage has just become a habit that she cannot or will not break. This also seems to be the case with Mr Robinson even after he learns of the affair.

This book is supposed to be about some sort of rebellion of the young against the norms of society but rather it seems to suggest that marriage is habit forming, it is something to be endured rather than enjoyed. This is a quick read and there were elements of the story that I enjoyed but I have to say that overall this is one of those rare occurrences where, for me, the adaptation outshines the original. ( )