Book Description
This engrossing début novel depicts Sylvia Plath’s feverish artistic process in the bitter aftermath of her failed marriage to Ted Hughes—the few excruciating yet astoundingly productive weeks in which she wrote
Ariel, her defining last collection of poems.
In December 1962, shortly before her suicide, Plath moved with her two children to London from the Hughes’s home in Devon. Focusing on the weeks after their arrival, but weaving back through the years of Plath’s marriage, Kate Moses imagines the poet juggling the demands of motherhood and muse, shielding her life from her own mother, and by turns cherishing and demonizing her relationship with Ted. Richly imagined yet meticulously faithful to the actual events of Plath’s life,
Wintering is a remarkable portrait of the moments of bravery and exhilaration that Plath found among the isolation and terror of her depression
Customer Reviews:
Purple Prose.......2007-09-19
The reason why I brought this book was the first page. I was amazed at how beautiful the prose was. I've owned the book for over a year now, however, and have yet to finish it. The hook was the downfall. I defend flowery writing--to an extent. I love it in books on CERTAIN passages. But this book just never stops. Moreover, I got bored of hearing Silvia whine about her husband while cooking and cleaning and changing diapers. Yes she was a mother, and yes her husband cheated on her, but she was more interesting and did more than that, I'm sure.
Still, I do like the book. I prefer to slowly nibble one chapter at a time (and god willing I'll actually finish it that way). I reach for its rich language when I'm feeling uninspired, and it is pretty heart-wrenching. Its a good try, and Im not at all sorry I bought it. I recommend it to people who also enjoy rich language.
Interesting.......2006-08-15
"Wintering" by Kate Moses is a novelization of the very last days of the life of Sylvia Plath. I have read several biographies of Plath, and two novelizations, "Wintering" and "Sylvia and Ted" by Emma Tennant. Nobody is impartial about the life and death of Sylvia Plath: her varied biographers, people who knew Plath, readers and reviewers on Amazon. Many reviewers felt Moses' book was too emotional and presented in a florid, overly detailed writing style. The same criticism appeared in the reviews of "Sylvia and Ted". I found the writing style totally appropriate to the subject matter: Plath's life was filled with frenzy and drama. I would compare the writing style of both novels to "Blonde", a novelization of the life of Marilyn Monroe. Women of the 50s and 60s strove to have it all, success and recognition, love and marriage. Both Sylvia and Marilyn worked very hard to be good enough, yet no matter how much they achieved, they were always thwarted, their success snatched away and their fragile psyches battered over and over. In Sylvia's case, there were always lesser interlopers who claimed the prize she felt should be hers: her baby brother pushing her from the family spotlight, a situation made worse by the death of her father (by dying, he insured she could never please him), lesser academic rivals making it into a cherished writers' workshop when she did not, her husband Ted's strangely posessive sister, and snotty and snobbish Dido Merwyn, sitting in judgement on Sylvia, an insipid girl student at Smith, a sixteen year old babysitter, and finally and most punishingly, Assia Wevill. In "Wintering", Moses totally nailed the image of Assia eyeing Sylvia's life, accomplishments, and possessions and deciding to take them for herself. We can feel Sylvia's disgust and despair: how could Ted, who knew her soul, prefer the shallow and grasping Assia? But by spewing forth a litter of new, powerful and emotionally laden poems, then dramatically and mysteriously ending her own life, Sylvia did in a way finally manage to win. Sylvia's enemies were left with her leftovers: Ted and Assia were cursed (and weak enough) to remain in her cast-off homes, spending the money earned by her talent and labor, raising her children.
Pretty Good Had it's boring parts though.........2006-06-10
I liked this book overall.. thought it was a good book to read about one of my favorite poets Sylvia Plath. Towards the last half of the book I did lose a bit of interest.. and just wanted the book to be over with.. But it was good.. if your a fan of Sylvia Plath or just interested and want to know more about her then give this book a try.
Justin
a disappointment.......2005-01-18
I had very high expectations for this book, but felt let down in many ways. The first thing that irked me was the writing style, pseudo-Plathian prose which, while dispersed with Plath's imagery from Ariel, came off as dry and dull. In the way that metaphors wake up Plath's The Bell Jar, Moses's misuse of Plath's words put her novel to sleep. Her dialogue seems well below the level of language that Plath, a prodigy and college educated woman, would use in daily conversation, and often seems more feigned and melodramatic than any person would use.
The novel had its good points as well, ingeniously set up with chapters that paralleled the poems of Plath's version of Ariel. Moses depicted Hughes as a neutral to sympathetic character which was a nice break away from the "killer of Plath" image that accompanies many biographies of the Poetess. I most appreciated that the novel ended in December of 1962, two months before Plath's death and, hence, did not touch on Plath's justification of the event.
I would recommend this novel only to someone who loves Plath and needs to read everything about her. Otherwise a biography (like Middlebrook's Her Husband) would relay more information about Plath and Hughes, skipping unrealistic dialogue and failing alterations of Plath's imagery.
Very moving -- even IF a novel.......2005-01-15
I didn't realize a novel about Sylvia Plath's last years was so controversial. Reading the reviews here, I am surprised at how critical people can be with what is admittedly a NOVEL, not an intended biography.
The people here who feel the need to point out that it IS a novel seem to want to rate it lower, as if it somehow degrades the subject.
I would think a novel would be the most appropriate way to capture Plath's life.
I was not a real student of Plath when I read this. I actually received it as a gift. But I read it immediately and I must say I was very moved by the story.
Had this been a novel with no connection to real people it might not have been so moving. But as a story of how things Might have been or what Plath May have felt it seems to open up the pain and tragedy of the story.
This work is definitely one sided. For the Plath beginner, it made me choose sides concerning Hughes and Plath's mother. It is probably too powerful as a novel in that sense.
But as a novel, it allowed Moses to go where she otherwise couldn't have gone. I applaud her for a tremendous first novel that moved me and interested me in a subject I had avoided until then. It succeeded in making me realize the highs and lows of a life gone astray. I closed the book both angry FOR Plath and angry AT Plath. But I was also grateful to Moses for giving me something accessible to approach Plath as a person without losing her in her work.
I would recommend this for anyone just starting to examine Plath and her works. Certainly this is an excellent vehicle to examine the works, the person and even as a case study of someone who can never quite live up to their own goals of perfection and achievement even in the face of success.
-Mike
Average customer rating:
- Read the Referenced Literature to get Maugham's Meaning
- Ed Norton improved Somerset Maugham's ending
- I Liked the Movie Better...
- BOOK VS DVD
- great book
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The Painted Veil
W. Somerset Maugham
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Movie Tie-Ins | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0307277771
Release Date: 2006-11-14 |
Book Description
Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s,
The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.
The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive.
Customer Reviews:
Read the Referenced Literature to get Maugham's Meaning.......2007-10-06
To better understand Somerset Maugham's "The Painted Veil," it's helpful to know some of the referenced literature that inspired the author. In the preface of "The Painted Veil" Maugham makes note of an interesting Italian legend of adultery and murder that first inspired the novel. Also, the title of the novel is taken from a sonnet by P. B. Shelley that begins "Lift not the painted veil which those who live call Life", which chastises people who choose to live in fear and illusion rather than embrace hope and face the reality of their imperfect relationships. The primary relationship in "The Painted Veil" is that between Kitty and Walter Fane. Kitty, a superficial socialite groomed by her ambitious mother to make a successful match, in desperation marries shy Walter. She escapes society's scorn with him in Hong Kong, where Walter has a government post as a research microbiologist. Bored with Walter's worshipful version of love, Kitty falls for the personable and politically powerful Charlie Townsend, who is married. The balance of power shifts, however, when Walter discovers Kitty's infidelity and forces her to "lift the veil" and also face some hard truths. In an act of revenge, Walter accepts a post to the dangerous city of Mei-tan-fu, beseiged by a severe cholera epidemic. Kitty can do nothing else but accompany him to what she thinks will be her death. Yet in this city of death, Kitty and Walter are changed by the people they meet: Deputy Commisioner Waddignton and his mysterious, devoted Manchu Lady, and noble Mother Superior, who left a privieged life in France to devote her life to Chinese orphans. What will be Kitty and Walter's fate and the fate of their marriage? And if one survives living in the shadow of death, is it possible to easily resume former relationships? Walter's cryptic line "The dog it was that died" holds the answer. Read the English rhyme "An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" to find out what Walter means.
Ed Norton improved Somerset Maugham's ending.......2007-09-25
The novel is eloquent, especially in its description of the feelings of Kitty, Walter's wife. Her need for affection and recognition is palpable, but Walter is so highly-strung, even for a Brit, that he can hardly hold a conversation. The plague in the remote region of China, which Walter (and later Kitty) try to alleviate, makes Kitty grow. This part is deep and moving. But Walter does not change at all; he is the same intolerable, reticent, unforgiving husband. He dies without forgiving Kitty. And that's where Ed Norton made a smart revision. His Walter does change and does forgive Kitty, and the process is real and unsentimental. The second mistake of Maugham is that when Kitty returns Beijin, she returns to the arms of her lustful, trashy lover. That right there destroys the immense growth that had taken place in her soul upon seeing the suffering of the plague's victims. Now, at the end of the novel, she hates herself. And rightly so. Ed Norton deserves a lot of credit for revising Maugham's disappointing and confusing ending.
I Liked the Movie Better..........2007-09-22
This is one of those books that is probably rated better if you haven't seen the movie with Edward Norton Jr. and Naomi Watts. The writing is effective but the problem was that I preferred the storyline of the movie over the book. Still, it's worth a read even if you have seen the movie because it fills the characters out nicely. The book portrays Kitty Fane's character more fully than others and seems to be written partly from her viewpoint.
That being said, I adore the movie! The Painted Veil
BOOK VS DVD.......2007-08-28
RECALLING READING THIS GREAT NOVEL MANY YEARS AGO, I ORDEREED THE DVD RATHER RELUCTANTLY FULLY AWARE THAT I WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED.
VIEWING THE DVD I IMMEDIATELY FOUND FAULT AND REALIZED THAT I MADE A GRAVE ERROR. THE PROFOUND PASSSAGES IN THE BOOK WERE SADLY LACKING.
I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK VERY HIGHLY, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO HAD NOT SEEN THE DVD. THE BOOK WINS HANDS DOWN VS THE DVD.
I WAS SAD TO REACH THE LAST PAGE OF THE BOOK. SO MANY TOUGHT PROVOKING PASSAGES THAT WERE UNFORGETTABLE IN THE PAST AND WILL ENDURE IN THE FUTURE.
ROBERT LYONS
RENO, NEVADA
great book.......2007-08-24
I highly recomend the book. It is one of those books that you just can`t put away.
Customer Reviews:
No need for the review.......2007-04-17
C'mon, this is Somerset Maugham. That says it all. If you know him, you do not need my review. If you don't .... well ... perhaps there is a reason why you don't .... ;-) Buy any of the Somerset Maugham's books and enjoy them as millions have done over the close to a century.
Book Description
"My intentions toward you are quite dishonorable. The only promise I make is that there will be a great deal of pleasure for both of us...."
It was a dangerous time in London, as a murderous scoundrel called the Hook terrified rich and poor alike with his dastardly conquests. It was certainly not safe for Anne Fairhaven to walk darkened streets, even with a loaded pistol in her purse.
But desperation made one do reckless things. Anne's young daughter had been stolen from her in a vicious act of vengeance. And with a mother's unyielding love, she vowed to reclaim her child.
Such dire need forced her back into the glittering society she hated. She was willing to risk her life and even dance with the devil himself--the Marquis Mandell, a callous, cynical libertine with night-dark eyes and full warm lips that could tempt an angel to sin.
Though playing the hero was rare for a man cast in a villain's role, Anne stirred something in him that he believed lost long ago. As intrigue and peril lay devious traps, two lost souls discover that somewhere between heaven and hell, there is love....
Customer Reviews:
The Hook hooked me in!.......2000-12-08
I turely enjoyed this book from being to end. No one is safe to walk the streets of London at night. The Hook Is out! Yet Lady Ann dares to walk them in pursuit of her young daughter Norie. She would do anything to recover her from the man who took her. Even if she has to make a deal with the devil, the Marquis of Mandell. The man with the heart of ice and manners of a rake. Together they will Embark on an adventure of almost endless peril. As the learn it's never to late to love.
Book Description
Venice, 1734. Castrato soprano Tito Amato has let fame go to his head. Neglecting his vocal practice for dubious pleasures, Tito finds himself demoted to secondary roles and overshadowed by a visiting star. When the murder of scene painter Luca Cavalieri threatens to close the opera house, Tito jumps at the chance to regain his chance to reclaim his status by finding the killer.
The hunt for the person who wears the mask of Palantinus carries Tito and Augustus “Gussie” Rumbolt, an Englishman making his Grand Tour, into the treacherous depths of the city dedicated to masquerade and pleasure and reveals many facets of its multiple religious faiths.
Customer Reviews:
Good Mystery for a Weekend.......2005-08-05
This book kept me entertained for a long weekend. Tito Amato is a really different detective and the other characters are interesting. I loved learning how things were in Venice at that time--especially the relations between the ghetto and the rest of the city. The plot had a lot of twists and turns, but wasn't overly complicated. Recommended.
Musical mystery.......2005-07-28
Painted Veil is a mild little mystery, fun to read because of its setting, its period detail, and its glimpse into the Baroque world of opera. Hystrionic divas, hysterical directors, a castrato who rested too long on his laurels, down-at-the-heels aristocrats - the book is peppered with colorful characters. Myers' treatment of the Jewish people in Venice is also quite authentic. The pace of the action is less than breathless, but Painted Veil does make a good summer read.
Painted Veil Review.......2005-07-25
Tito Amato makes another appearance in an exciting adventure set in 18th-century Venice. The plot focuses on the Jewish ghetto and the religious hatreds that poison the social climate of the time. Of course, the opera house is not ignored. Tito's investigations are hampered by an obnoxious visiting star who is determined to outdo him on the stage. Peopled with well-fleshed out characters, the plot that seems fairly simple at the start gradually turns more complicated and sinister as it builds to a satisfyingly theatrical conclusion. Painted Veil is an entertaining read for those who like historical mysteries.
Lose yourself in Venice.......2005-07-04
The second installment of the Baroque Mystery series, "Painted Veil", brings 18th-century Venice to life in an engrossing tale of inflated egos, secret societies and religious predjudice.
Tito Amato is back, smarting over losing his star billing at the opera house to a famous castrato from out of town. When the scene painter disappears, Tito jumps at the opportunity to get back into his frazzled director's good graces by finding the man. The painter's body soon surfaces in the lagoon during a citywide celebration. Some want to blame the Jews for the murder, as well as a host of other ills that bedevil the crumbling island city. As the long, hot summer drags on, tension mounts between Venice's Hebrew and Christian inhabitants mount. Nevertheless, Tito comes to suspect that Dr. Palantinus, the masked guru of a mystical society is the real villain.
"Painted Veil" kept me enchanted with the narration of the charming, witty Tito. He's a singer as dedicated to finding justice as he is to regaining the mastery over his voice. All the characters were fully dramatized, and the setting was described in lush, but not overpowering detail. The plot presented a few interesting twists, but I did figure out the identity of the killer rather early. Overall, a very enjoyable read--one of those books you can get completely lost in.
A very good Baroque mystery........2005-04-06
Myers excels at providing us a view of Baroque Venice. Amato is a wonderful, realistic character, surrounded by the cast of the opera and his family. But we are also shown the dark and unpleasant side of this period and city and it's people. The story seems to start with a fairly simple mystery and lots of suspects, but soon turns into something much darker and more complex. This is a wonderful mix of music, mystery and history.
Average customer rating:
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Painted Veils
James Huneker
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GL5RKG |
Average customer rating:
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The Moon and Sixpence
W. Somerset Maugham
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: B000N3E5RI |
Product Description
Reviews:The book contains the perfection of character work, every portrait is definite, every minor character is complete, every point of view is clean cut and with all the finish of the dramatist, the writer has been audacious to a degree that few would attempt. - Publishers' WeeklyMr. Maugham has given us a ruthless and penetrating study in personality with a savage truthfulness of delineation and an icy conempt for the heroic and sentimental. - Times Literary SupplementMaugham is pre-eminent for controlled power, steady vision and novel lucidity of mind. - The Nation
Book Description
When young radio reporter Billy Batson speaks the name of anancient wizard "SHAZAM!" he is magically transformed into the World'sMightiest Mortal -- Captain Marvel! Marked by a distinct art style, CaptainMarvel made his debut in 1939 in Fawcett Publishing's WHIZ COMICS and, fora time, even outsold his publishing rival SUPERMAN. This delightfulhardcover collection reprints the Captain Marvel stories from those earlyWHIZ COMICS, introducing Captain Marvel, Billy Batson, the evil Dr. Sivana,the wizard Shazam!, and more. It also includes the famous "ashcan" editionof the first issue of WHIZ!
Customer Reviews:
Interesting early contemporary of Superman's.......2007-01-10
If you have never read C.C. Beck's original Captain Marvel stories this is a great place to start...the beginning!
Real History.......2006-11-06
If you want to learn about how Captain Marvel came about and his growing pains, this is it. Was too young to read these when they came out and always wondered about his start. A 'must have' if you are serious about the oldies.
Curiously Flat, Albeit Entertaining.......2005-10-06
First, the caveat: vintage comics must be taken for what they are, for good and for ill. They are plot-heavy and character-light. The plots are outrageously unbelievable, with a liberal use of deus ex machina. In many ways, the early Captain Marvel stories found in the "Shazam! Archives" Vol. 1 are the apotheosis of vintage comics, as Marvel faces unlikely threats in impossible stories. However, from the beginning, Captain Marvel had one advantage: the art of C.C. Beck, which, although in its infancy in these first issues of "Whiz Comics," originally published by Fawcett, was already showing the distinct qualities that have defined the Marvel family to this day.
The frustrating thing about this volume is the formulaic approach writer Bill Everett takes in his scripts. He gives the reader a very exciting origin for this new super-hero. Billy Batson, a homeless paperboy follows a mysterious stranger into the subway (pretty irrationally), and is taken to the wizard, Shazam. Shazam gives Billy the power to transform into the adult Captain Marvel by uttering the wizard's name. Billy quickly uses his new powers to thwart the evil Dr. Sivana, and gain himself a job as a roving radio reporter (school not being a concern for child super-heroes at this time).
But after that admittedly stirring origin, the series falls into a pattern: Billy is assigned to report on some odd event, finds some sinister agent behind it (frequently Sivana) as part of a bid to conquer or destroy the world, and then thwarts it handily as Captain Marvel. They stories are not without their charms, of course, with some fun concepts along the way, like Sivana and his daughter Beautia ruling the planet Venus. There are certain things that were unique to this strip, the big one being the fact that Sivana, Marvel's most persistent enemy, knows the secret of his power. Another interesting plot point is Beautia's amorous feelings forCaptain Marvel, which is amusing because of course as Marvel is really still at the age where he finds girls "icky." However, most critics admit that Everett's scripts were serviceable at best, especially compared with that came later under the stewardship of Otto Binder.
If you want to read the whole "Shazam!" Archive series, obviously, you should start here. But be advised that it's a curiously flat, albeit entertaining, volume, and that its going to be a little while get to the greatest material the Marvel family had to offer.
My dad is happy II.......2005-08-03
It was a gift for my dad. It's not possible to get those comics here in Argentina. I just took a brief look at the books, they were a fancy edition, shinny paper, they looked really nice, although a bit smaller than I had imagined. But my dad called me the next day, said he felt like a kid again. He was very pleased.
Delivery time and form was excellent.
My dad's happy I.......2005-08-03
It was a gift for my dad. It's not possible to get those comics here in Argentina. I just took a brief look at the books, they were a fancy edition, shinny paper, they looked really nice, although a bit smaller than I had imagined. But my dad called me the next day, said he felt like a kid again. He was very pleased.
Delivery time and form was excellent.
Average customer rating:
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Alleluia is the Song of the Desert: An Exercise for Lent and other Sacred Times
Lawrence D. Hart
Manufacturer: Cowley Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Lent
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ASIN: 1561012505 |
Book Description
Entering Lent can be imagined as entering the silence of a vast and empty desert that leads to an experience of alleluia. The Lenten meditations in this book lead us to our own interior desert.
Books:
- Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (African and Caribbean Literature Translated from French)
- Yesterday Will Make You Cry
- 52 Pickup
- A Black Englishman: A Novel
- A Home at the End of the World: A Novel
- A Perfect Pledge: A Novel
- Acqua Calda: A Novel
- Amos Camps Out: A Couch Adventure in the Woods
- Arbor Alma/the Giving Tree
- At Home in Thrush Green
Books Index
Books Home
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Ariel: The Restored Edition: A Facsimile of Plath's Manuscript, Reinstating Her Original Selection and Arrangement (P.S.)
Giving Up: The Last Days of Sylvia Plath
Her Husband: Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath--A Marriage
Letters Home
Rough Magic: A Biography of Sylvia Plath
