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Bezig met laden... The Illusionist (1952)door Françoise Mallet-Joris
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. The fact that Mallet-Joris wrote this novel in 1952 when she was only 19 is amazing to me. The psychological awareness that she has in her descriptions of interactions between characters is fascinating. I thought about this novel and Tamara long after having finished it. Is Tamara a pathetic figure or a tragic character, or both? Take my advice and skip Terry Castle's intro at least until after you've read the book. I believe Sarah Waters would've written a more appropriate and engaging into, but she was relegated to a blurb on the front cover of the edition that I have. ( ) There's nothing especially remarkable about this book except for two things: that the narrator, Helene, is genuinely likeable and that it (uncomfortably and unfortunately) is easier than you would think to really like someone who is aloof and only likes you on her own terms (if she likes you at all.) If I hadn't personally known what it's like to be attracted to emotionally distant people who are (when you get down to the nitty gritty of it) not worth one second of your suffering over them I might have been more irritated by The Illusionist. Tamara, the older woman our narrator is hopelessly (and I do mean hopelessly) fascinated and possibly in love with, is a few shades shy of psychotic. She has never quite gotten over her affair with a woman named Emily so she takes out most everything that makes her miserable on other people, especially Helene. Like anyone else who understands that indifference, not hate, is the complete opposite of love, Helene appreciates it more when Tamara treats her badly. Rather than think the older woman just doesn't care, Helene decides she is hurtful so she can "reduce her to despair." Malice is far preferable to nothing. Tamara is so unpredictable that Helene never knows which version of her she is going to encounter each day: "I wondered if she would have the closed look of her bad days, or the charming look of melancholy which sometimes clouded her eyes, or a smile that I had never seen, but which would be my revenge if I could glimpse it for a moment, that shameless smile of a woman..." Later on, an understanding and surprisingly sympathetic outsider advises Helene: "Listen, there are people who are in love, miserable and worthy of pity...say what you will, there's nothing very loving and gentle about her." Sometimes you need an outsider (or maybe a book that speaks to you) to remind you that not everyone is worth falling in love with, no matter how oddly appealing she may be. Easier to listen to than follow, but this kind of advice (so starkly laid out here and with Tamara as such a good example of what not to like) can stand out when you distance yourself a bit from it all. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Onderdeel van de uitgeversreeks(en)
Bored and lonely, 15-year-old Hélène decides to pay a visit to her father's mistress. Within days, she is captivated by Tamara, a Russian émigré whose arts of enchantment include lingering kisses, sudden dismissals, and savage, rapturous reunions. As long as she submits to Tamara, Hélène is permitted to stay near her: reading forbidden novels, meeting Tamara's bohemian friends, and learning more "refinements of depravity" than the gossiping matrons of her provincial French town could imagine existed. Flemish writer Françoise Mallet-Joris was 20 years old in 1951 when her first novel, Le Rempart des Beguines - published in English as The Illusionist - created a sensation in France. This contemplative, beautifully written book, with its dark undercurrents of desire, has its origins in Madame Bovary and the novels of Colette, and was a precursor to Françoise Sagan's similarly themed Bonjour Tristesse. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)843.914Literature French French fiction Modern Period 20th Century 1945-1999LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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