Nicholas Maes
Forfatter af Laughing Wolf
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Image credit: Uncredited image found at JewishToronto.com
Værker af Nicholas Maes
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Statistikker
- Værker
- 8
- Medlemmer
- 65
- Popularitet
- #261,994
- Vurdering
- 4.1
- Anmeldelser
- 5
- ISBN
- 25
Nicholas Maes has carefully researched Davies' life, and faithfully takes us through it, year by year. I learned a good many interesting things about Davies, and as I knew very little about the course of his life beforehand that was a good start. Maes clearly relates actual events in Davies' life or in his family history, to events and characters in his books, and that too is interesting and illuminating. It is this relation of fact that pushes my rating up to 3 stars.
Why, then, given the positive approach to the subject, factual information, and linking of Davies' life and fiction did I find this a disappointing biography? I'm afraid it is because of a complete lack of art in the writing. It isn't boring - it would be hard to be boring about such a fascinating man - it's just plodding. There is no shape or insight to it, no sense that Maes has looked at Davies life and work and brought them together for his readers with the extra 'something' that distinguishes great biography. Too many parts of the book consist in 'conversations' between Davies and his wife, collegues or friends. Putting in an author's note to say that these have been 'reconstructed from secondary source material' does not in any way excuse this - they are speculation, and poorly done.
Even worse, he has attempted to include this 'something' by pinching the literary conceit of a conversation between the daemon Maimas and the lesser Zadkiel, angel of biography, from Davies' own book 'What's Bred in the Bone'. This is a homage too far - and he does it so badly, it's painful.
This is a handy accumulation of facts about a great writer, and it helps the reader to understand the origins of some of Davies' themes and character, but it is not good biography.… (mere)