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Indlæser... The Passion (original 1987; udgave 1997)af Jeanette Winterson (Forfatter)
Work InformationPassionen af Jeanette Winterson (1987)
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. There is no doubt in my mind that this book deserves at least four stars despite the fact that it was soooooo not my thing. If you like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, read this book. It's actually better done, more interesting, and more engaging, but it shares that fantastical quality that I truly dislike. The story follows Henri, a French young man who enlists in Napoleon's army, and Villanelle, an Italian woman who works in the casino. Both characters narrate the story and their lives end up intertwining in a way that leaves one character decimated (I won't spoil it by indicating which one). Winterson does some very interesting things with her writing. Her imagery and lyrical use of language is very, very original and interesting. She can go very, very dark with a scene or a line, and you feel yourself gasping at the thought. She's intrigued me - - from Henri's job preparing endless chicken for Napoleon to Villanelle's cross dressing to another soldier's extreme long distance vision - - she draws the reader in. The plot doesn't really propel you. The details do. Where I think she falters in this book is voice. Henri's voice and Villanelle's are really quite similar . . .in the end, it just all seems like one narrator even though it clearly is not. And of course, I hated the bits of magical realism. It's used judiciously and to make a point, but that didn't make me like it. It just reads as pretentious to me when it is supposed to be symbolic. All in all, I honestly think this book would be absolutely amazing for an English lit class or an ambitious book club (mine is not) to dissect. There's a lot of layers of meaning and symbolism and motivations to discuss. The prose is unique and beautiful and compelling. I'm not sorry I read it, but for me it was admirable, but not really pleasurable. For me, I felt the writing was trying to be quotable and thus felt a touch try-hard - the writing also made me feel quite removed from the characters and thus I felt detached from the story overall. The first third of the book with Henri was tough to get through - I didnt care for it. Villanelle had great promise for a character - but the way this story was set up and the writing just didn't do her justice. There were so many heavy themes in the book but it just felt glossed over. The "passion" also wasnt there for me. The closest it came was the married woman Villanelle had an affair with - but once againt there wasn't really any set up or substance. and then the ending??? like wtf henri? Estamos en Venecia y corren los años en que Napoleón arrasa Europa con sus ejércitos. Henri, un joven cocinero al servicio del general, se enamora perdidamente de Villanelle, una hermosísima criatura de pelo rojizo y pies deformes, que conoce como nadie los secretos de las góndolas y de las salas de juego donde los nobles del lugar apuestan su fortuna entre sonrisas y frases galantes...
We know from her first two novels that Jeanette Winterson is not lacking in a sense of humor and a sense of the absurd, but these qualities are greatly attenuated in The Passion, and one must hope that she does not renounce them altogether in pursuit of romantic high seriousness. In other respects The Passion represents a remarkable advance in boldness and invention, compared to her previous novels, HæderspriserNotable Lists
Med den franske revolution i baggrunden skildres mødet i Moskva mellem Napoleons oppasser og en venetiansk bådførerdatter. Begge kender passionen, som ligger "mellem frygten og begæret, mellem gud og djævelen". No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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I can imagine rating it a bit higher in a different mood, and maybe reading so soon after another book of hers also didn't help. In comparison to Oranges, the more mystical fairy tale type stuff is much more significant while the stuff I liked most, the well observed portraits of real humans, is much more minimal. Whereas that was grounded in her own experience, this isn't really grounded in anything at all - it's a hazy view of the Napoleonic wars and a Venice which is treated as basically just magical. That's fine! But I just didn't get on with it as much, mostly the Venice stuff. Again I feel like this is mostly personal, and mostly about my state of mind while reading it. It tries to tackle Big Stuff about human relationships but it feels a little unmoored? And there is interesting stuff there! Like the title says, it's a mediation on the nature of passion and how we experience it. Which is a cool subject. I just didn't feel it as much as I wanted to ( )