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Basic Black with Pearls
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Basic Black with Pearls (original 1981; udgave 1990)

MedlemmerAnmeldelserPopularitetGennemsnitlig vurderingOmtaler
1386196,692 (3.57)16
"A brilliant, lost feminist classic that is equal parts domestic drama and international intrigue. Shirley Kaszenbowski, nee Silverberg, is a middle-aged, middle-class woman in a Holt Renfrew tweed coat, a basic black dress, and a strand of real pearls. She may seem ordinary enough, pricing silk scarves at Eaton's or idling in hotel coffee shops, but in fact she is searching for her lover. He is an elusive figure, a man connected with "The Agency," a powerful technocrat who may or may not have suggested a rendezvous based on a secret code in the National Geographic. Her search takes her to the world of her past as a Jewish immigrant in the Spadina-Dundas area of Toronto. She finds the bakeries and rooming houses of her youth still haunted by survivors of postwar Europe and by her own memories of guilt and loss, while the consolations of art, opera, and pornography offer only echoes of her own illusions and desires. Her strange, wryly funny odyssey ends in a dramatic confrontation scene with her husband and "the other woman," as she trades in her basic black for another chance. In Basic Black with Pearls, Weinzweig displays her gift for creating sympathetic characters in a slightly surreal, but always recognizable world"--… (mere)
Medlem:BridgeburgBooks
Titel:Basic Black with Pearls
Forfattere:
Info:General Publishing Company, Limited (1990)
Samlinger:Dit bibliotek, Literary Fiction
Vurdering:
Nøgleord:Ingen

Work Information

Basic Black with Pearls af Helen Weinzweig (1981)

Indlæser...

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» Se også 16 omtaler

Viser 1-5 af 6 (næste | vis alle)
Escaping into Another World

Helen Weinzweig’s novel blends stream of conscious, absurdism, and existentialism into a disconcerting look at a women escaping into another world created by herself in her own mind. She’s escaping a marriage that by all appearances suffers from what many marriages do, boredom, and the repression of one’s own identity in fulfillment of a role.

The novel opens with Shirley in the guise of her alter ego Lola Montez (an actual person who lived in the 19th century as a courtesan and adventurer) reminiscing about spending time in the tropics with her lover. He goes by the name of Coenraad, of Dutch descent, who works as an international spy for an organization called the Agency. When he summons Shirley/Lola, she leaves her home in Toronto, her husband and children, and goes where he directs her. He passes the location of their trysts in codes in the National Geographic. This time he has called her to Toronto, not only her current home, but also the hometown in which she grew up after her mother brought her to Canada. Mysteriously, he hasn’t left a National Geographic for her, but instead a study on elm tree disease that coincides with a botanist convention at the hotel she checks into. She spends the rest of the novel wandering the streets of Toronto searching for the Elm Street where she expects to meet him. Readers learn quickly that Coenraad doesn’t exist, at least not in the real world, and later that she has experienced this type of disassociation from reality before, even had been hospitalized for it.

Her search in the days before the start of the weekend takes her to the various places, shops, factories, offices, and the like, as well as residences, that made up her life as a child and young woman. She also recounts many of her encounters with Coenraad, where they met, how they made love, and snippets of their conversations, though Coenraad proved to be on the taciturn side. In the hotel, after much wandering, she talks up the botanists and she and one, Andy, begin an affair. And this might just be reality. For after she meets Andy, she returns home to her husband Zbigniew. There she meets and talks with Francesca. Francesca has assumed her role as companion to Zbigniew and caregiver to her children. She tells her husband’s history and dwells on his love of his horse and the quiet time he enjoys in the family room, alone, perusing the newspapers on Sundays, which provides a window into how she views their relationship. Francesca and she discuss Zbigniew, concluding that among other things he is an honorable man. Francesca is happy to care for him, as she needs no more than the security he provides. Readers will understand that Shirley and Francesca are the same person. And it’s during this visit that Shirley comes to a realization about herself, about seeking her own fulfillment and joy. As a symbol of this, she leaves her black dress and pearls behind, choosing to wear a colorful dress suitable for the emerging Springtime, as she departs for Andy’s apartment.

In many ways, the novel probably reflects Weinzweig’s own life, especially the idea of subordinating her own life to that of another’s. She did not begin writing until into her fifties. She was married to John Weinzweig, a renowned Canadian composer, and as his wife supported his career and him while raising their two sons. For more about her, read her obit in The Globe and Mail. ( )
  write-review | Nov 4, 2021 |
Escaping into Another World

Helen Weinzweig’s novel blends stream of conscious, absurdism, and existentialism into a disconcerting look at a women escaping into another world created by herself in her own mind. She’s escaping a marriage that by all appearances suffers from what many marriages do, boredom, and the repression of one’s own identity in fulfillment of a role.

The novel opens with Shirley in the guise of her alter ego Lola Montez (an actual person who lived in the 19th century as a courtesan and adventurer) reminiscing about spending time in the tropics with her lover. He goes by the name of Coenraad, of Dutch descent, who works as an international spy for an organization called the Agency. When he summons Shirley/Lola, she leaves her home in Toronto, her husband and children, and goes where he directs her. He passes the location of their trysts in codes in the National Geographic. This time he has called her to Toronto, not only her current home, but also the hometown in which she grew up after her mother brought her to Canada. Mysteriously, he hasn’t left a National Geographic for her, but instead a study on elm tree disease that coincides with a botanist convention at the hotel she checks into. She spends the rest of the novel wandering the streets of Toronto searching for the Elm Street where she expects to meet him. Readers learn quickly that Coenraad doesn’t exist, at least not in the real world, and later that she has experienced this type of disassociation from reality before, even had been hospitalized for it.

Her search in the days before the start of the weekend takes her to the various places, shops, factories, offices, and the like, as well as residences, that made up her life as a child and young woman. She also recounts many of her encounters with Coenraad, where they met, how they made love, and snippets of their conversations, though Coenraad proved to be on the taciturn side. In the hotel, after much wandering, she talks up the botanists and she and one, Andy, begin an affair. And this might just be reality. For after she meets Andy, she returns home to her husband Zbigniew. There she meets and talks with Francesca. Francesca has assumed her role as companion to Zbigniew and caregiver to her children. She tells her husband’s history and dwells on his love of his horse and the quiet time he enjoys in the family room, alone, perusing the newspapers on Sundays, which provides a window into how she views their relationship. Francesca and she discuss Zbigniew, concluding that among other things he is an honorable man. Francesca is happy to care for him, as she needs no more than the security he provides. Readers will understand that Shirley and Francesca are the same person. And it’s during this visit that Shirley comes to a realization about herself, about seeking her own fulfillment and joy. As a symbol of this, she leaves her black dress and pearls behind, choosing to wear a colorful dress suitable for the emerging Springtime, as she departs for Andy’s apartment.

In many ways, the novel probably reflects Weinzweig’s own life, especially the idea of subordinating her own life to that of another’s. She did not begin writing until into her fifties. She was married to John Weinzweig, a renowned Canadian composer, and as his wife supported his career and him while raising their two sons. For more about her, read her obit in The Globe and Mail. ( )
  write-review | Nov 4, 2021 |
Well, I did read this. I didn't have much of a reaction to it--not even enough to write a real review. Wrong book at wrong time, or perhaps I am just struggling in general with reading right now. I don't seem to have a lot of focus. In any event, this book did not speak to me, I'm sorry to say. ( )
  sturlington | Jan 14, 2021 |
why are so many female protagonists in classic feminist literature insane? The answer is so sad when you think about the restrictive lives women led in the past.

In this novel, we see Shirley travelling the world meeting her secret agent lover in exotic places. What an adventurous life she lives! As the story goes on, we begin to wonder if everything...or anything...is as it seems. It becomes harder to tell what's real for a while, then insights come and suddenly we know more about Shirley's life than we realized. This is accomplished through masterful storytelling and great writing. I loved it. ( )
  LynnB | Jan 19, 2020 |
Written in 1980, this cult classic is a noirish portrait of Shirley, aka Lola Montes, who travels the world for clandestine assignations with her spy/lover, Coenraad. Momentarily, for me anyway, her latest destination, Toronto, made me wonder if anything would even happen! Toronto, if you don't know, is the home to the most boring people on the face of the planet. Any city inhabited by depressives, who counter their morbid despair with a grim alcoholism, makes for a bleak backdrop! I blame the terrible weather! However, this dense, textured story picks up momentum with the memories of other happier places in other times. Soon the reader knows Shirley's entire story, and it is not a happy one! Eventually, and this is the novel's beauty, a feminist subtext emerges: lives that are supposed to follow a preordined route -- girlhood, marriage, motherhood, dotage -- can be programmed to accomplish other, greater achievements. Or can they? The finale is first rate! ( )
  larryking1 | Aug 13, 2019 |
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Helen Weinzweigprimær forfatteralle udgaverberegnet
Weinman, SarahEfterskriftmedforfatternogle udgaverbekræftet

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Originaltitel
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Oprindelig udgivelsesdato
Personer/Figurer
Vigtige steder
Vigtige begivenheder
Beslægtede film
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I asked him to take off his mask, but this is all I have, he replied.
Take it off I commanded. He did so. It's no use I still cannot recognize
you--put the mask back on--there that's better now that I know
I don't know you we can talk more easily.
Ann Quin, Passages
Tilegnelse
Første ord
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Night comes as a surprise in the tropics.
When I first read Helen Weinzweig's Basic Black with Pearls several years ago, I emerged in the sort of daze that happens when a book seems to ferret out your most secret thoughts and hopes. (Afterword)
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Ingen

"A brilliant, lost feminist classic that is equal parts domestic drama and international intrigue. Shirley Kaszenbowski, nee Silverberg, is a middle-aged, middle-class woman in a Holt Renfrew tweed coat, a basic black dress, and a strand of real pearls. She may seem ordinary enough, pricing silk scarves at Eaton's or idling in hotel coffee shops, but in fact she is searching for her lover. He is an elusive figure, a man connected with "The Agency," a powerful technocrat who may or may not have suggested a rendezvous based on a secret code in the National Geographic. Her search takes her to the world of her past as a Jewish immigrant in the Spadina-Dundas area of Toronto. She finds the bakeries and rooming houses of her youth still haunted by survivors of postwar Europe and by her own memories of guilt and loss, while the consolations of art, opera, and pornography offer only echoes of her own illusions and desires. Her strange, wryly funny odyssey ends in a dramatic confrontation scene with her husband and "the other woman," as she trades in her basic black for another chance. In Basic Black with Pearls, Weinzweig displays her gift for creating sympathetic characters in a slightly surreal, but always recognizable world"--

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