The North China Lover: A Novel

The North China Lover: A Novel
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fabulous

Marguerite Duras elobrates even further with this Novel!

A must read for someone who has watch 'The lover'

An Important Addition

A Compelling Novel of Memory and Eroticism

The North China Lover: A Novel
Marguerite Duras
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Duras, Marguerite | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Lover

The Lover

Ravishing of Lol Stein

Four Novels: The Square / Moderato Cantabile / 10:30 on a Summer Night / The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas

Black Shack Alley

ASIN: 1565840437

Amazon.com

Hailed in France as "an incomparable pleasure," Marguerite Duras's 1991 novel is a spare, beautiful retelling of the dramatic experiences of her own adolescence. More daring and truthful than any book she wrote previously -- including The Lover, it emphasizes the realities of her youth in Indochina and reveals much that her earlier works concealed.

Book Description

An elegant new paperback edition of one of Marguerite Duras's most important books.

Far more daring and truthful than any of her other novels, The North China Lover is a fascinating retelling of the dramatic experiences of Duras's adolescence that shaped her most famous work. Initially conceived as notes toward a screenplay for The Lover, this later novel, written toward the end of her life, emphasizes the tougher aspects of her youth in Indochina and possesses the intimate feel of a documentary. Both shocking and enthralling, the story Duras tells is "so powerfully imagined (or remembered) that it...lingers like a strong perfume" (Publishers Weekly). Hailed by the French critics as a return to "the Duras of the great books and the great days," it is a mature and complex rendering of a formative period in the author's life.

Customer Reviews:

fabulous.......2006-07-25

this is like a writers version of a directors cut of "the lover"...
if you loved the lover then you will love this :)

it fills in a lot of details that were not included in "The lover"...

answers some of the questions you might have been asking about "the lover"...

Marguerite Duras elobrates even further with this Novel!.......2006-01-17

I read this book because I love the movie. Marguerite Duras's novel is a fascinating retelling of the domestic experiences of her adolescence that have shaped her work. This book is far more daring and truthful, it emphasizes the tough realities of her youth in Indochina and reveals much that her earlier works concealed. This book both shock and entrance me. It's initially written as notes towards a film script for the "The Lover"; the book has grainy, film tic qualities of a documentary. Gone are the romantic and nostalgic readings of the past.

Here are the humiliations and passions of the poverty-ridden world in which Duras grew up: the intense sexuality of the young woman who was her friends and classmates, a group of adolescents impatient for the experiences of adulthood while still caught up in the conflicts of childhood. From one book to another, the lover has changed by counting his bankroll in front of the destitute whites, the older brother ready to kill for his drugs, the younger brother is transformed, the "child", and herself express differently with her stubborn desire and her pain.

Neither her worldly success nor the fuss about the "The Lover" have caused this novelist to deviate an inch from her desire to tell all, about the freshness of desire, the violence of loving, which makes us understand the work. Everything is here, immediate, sensual. "The North China Lover is a brilliant book that is both stunning and diabolical. Highly recommended.

A must read for someone who has watch 'The lover'.......2005-10-09

This is the first time I've read Marguerite Duras' book and I love her style of writting - superb, beautifully written and her usage of words. The translator get some credit of it - though I cannot compare since I dont know french.

If you have watch the movie, 'The lover', this book is must read. Many of the feeling, reaction .. just cannot be portrait enough in the movie.
From the starting of this book where the child met with the chinese man, it moves me deeply, in knowing their passions, their suffering and their seperation - far much than express in the movie as we will have a much broader idea.

I am not indicating that the movie is bad; it isnt at all. But, it is through this book that, the author has bring you into their capturing world, as if, you were there; you feel their pain and their love affairs.

An Important Addition.......2003-01-29

Considerable addition to "The Lover", actually much better. Her notes which include her ideas as to how the book should be filmed are particuarily fascinating.

A Compelling Novel of Memory and Eroticism.......2002-05-02

In 1984, Marguerite Duras won the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary award, for her short novel, "The Lover". That novel told the simple story of an adolescent French girl living in Vietnam in the 1930s. She meets an older Chinese man who becomes her lover. It is a sparely written novel, shifting in time and narrative perspective, often difficult to follow. It is also a novel charged with memory, yearning and erotic feeling.

"The North China Lover", written several years later and published in an English edition in 1992, is a kind of extension of the earlier novel, written with much more detail, inhabiting the interstices of "The Lover". Like its precursor, "The North China Lover" tells a powerful tale of love between the twenty-seven year old Chinese man and the barely teen-aged girl whom he meets on a ferry crossing the Mekong River. Once again, neither the Chinese man nor the girl has a name. However, unlike the earlier novel, many of the other characters are identified and the narrative of "The North China Lover" is considerably more detailed. Originally written as notes for a screenplay of "The Lover", the narrative of "The North China Lover" is episodic, described by one reviewer as having the "grainy, filmic qualities of a documentary." It is also more linear in its story line, easier to follow than the earlier novel, but still characterized by the nouveau roman influences that permeate Marguerite Duras' writing.

"The North China Lover", like its precursor, is a compelling work of memory, eroticism and yearning that, in true Duras style, conflates literary imagination and biography. Read it slowly, languorously savor its eroticism, and let it linger in your mind long after you've closed the book.

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The North China Lover
Marguerite Duras
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PRWTDY

Average customer rating:
The North China Lover
Marguerite Duras
Manufacturer: Flamingo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIJI6A

Amazon.com

In this engrossing adult fantasy tale, the fascinating Phèdre nó Delaunay fights to save her queen and country in a battle whose greatest weapon proves to be Phèdre herself. This sequel to Carey's accomplished debut novel, Kushiel's Dart, finds Phèdre, now Comtesse de Montrève, once again plying her skills as an anguissette--a courtesan for whom pain becomes pleasure--and her talents as a spy. She uncovers a conspiracy of treason and murder and begins an adventure that takes her once more to distant lands in the company of an intriguing cast of characters--and a new confrontation with her old enemy, Melisande Shahrizai.

There's some evidence of haste in this novel: the writing is not always as tight and controlled as it was in Kushiel's Dart. Nevertheless, Carey's fans will certainly enjoy this return to Terre d'Ange, and those new to her work will find a satisfying combination of fantasy, sex, and adventure, as well as a smart and engaging heroine. --Roz Genessee

Book Description

Mighty Kushiel, of rod and wealLate of the brazen portalsWith blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealedPricks the eyen of chosen mortalsThe land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.Phegrave;dre noacute; Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phegrave;dre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber--and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark.The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phegrave;dre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown.... and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.

Customer Reviews:

A Heroine that commands armies and the hearts of those who love her........2007-08-07

I couldn't believe I read 912 pages in a few days! The power & imaginative writing is nothing short of incredible as Ms. Carey weaves a tale that includes everything from light S&M to love, respect, passion & obsession to murder, torture, hatred and deception. The action is written so clearly that even when many duels and hand to hand are being fought, it was easily followed. The description of the places she has travelled is excellent as are the interesting people she meets. She is constantly portrayed and called a [...], a [...] spy, a pain-bearer, but in the end she wins the hearts and souls of all and they find in her an ally, friend, lover bar none. And then there is Joscelin....the man who has her heart. I am so glad I found this series.

THIS BOOK IS BLESSED BY ELUA.......2006-12-30

LOL.... I LOVE THE IMAGINATION AND THE FACT IT IS WRITTEN SO... FOR ME TO SEE THROUGH A WOMENS EYES IS VERY INTERESTING... I LOVE HER FIRST BOOK AND I HAVE FRIENDS WANTING TO BORROW THIS BOOK, "I TOLD THEM TO GET THEIR OWN!"

Good adventure fantasy.......2006-10-11

"Chosen" continues the adventures and political intrigues of one of the most unusual characters I've seen as star in a fantasy story.

The story itself is good, workmanlike, and sustained (i.e. long) adventure. Phedre, the heroine, knows of a plot against the queen, and gives up her life of relative ease and comfort to hunt the traitor down. She succeeds, and that's where the adventure really begins: to an island prison where people are sent to be forgotten, into a stormy sea, off with the pirates, into the cave of sacred torment and wisdom, and more. It's right down to the wire, but Phedre succeeds in the end. She's no fighter herself, but is always surrounded by soldiers or armed adventurers, and usually in charge of the band.

Phedre herself is a striking character. Some god-given quirk of genes has given her a magical ability to heal from wounds, and an equally magical short-circuit between her senses of pain and pleasure - leaving her with urges that give plenty to heal from. Maybe they're god-given talents, but it wasn't a very nice god. Also, Phedre is a priestess in a cult that holds the body to be a temple, and it's the priestess's holy duty to encourage active kinds of worship at that temple. For all its steamy potential, the author describes only one passage of Phedre's carnal devotions. Given that pain thing, one is all I wanted.

If you have a long trip coming up, this book's 600+ pages of thud factor will keep you amused for at least a few hundred miles. I've read better, but this one was good enough to keep me interested in Phedre and her adventures

//wiredweird

A wonderful sequel!.......2006-10-03

Once again, Carey delights with this new addition to her Kushiel series.

Phedre is once again discovers a web of trechery that could lead to the fall of her country, and her Queen. Pitted against old foes, aided by her ever constant Joscelin, a man who broke all his vows to aid her, Phedre once again saves all she holds dear.

A brilliant continuation of this gripping saga.

Good though not as good as the first.......2006-09-18

The first book was brilliant one of my favourite ever and most likely if it never existed this book would be a 4. Its still a good book but when its the continuation of the story of phedre and josceline it becomes a must read.

Plot - Phedre finds out melisande is in la sessimistra and starts playing her game again to find her. Lots of travelling happens josceline and her fight alot much the same as the first book.

I find where this book lacks is in the 2nd half where it just seems there is a lot of filler, you can see the ending coming half way through the book and then suddenly it detours and phedre just seems to be filling in time far from the action till the exciting stuff begins again. In contrast kushiels dart was a constant roller coaster till the very end.

I havent mentioned much of the positives here but hopefully you have read kushiels dart and that should tell you what to expect here, rest assured 'chosen' is very well written and enjoyable to read just not the perfect book the first one was.

In the end i give it 4 and a half stars, a well made continuation but no classic like the first. Reading the third soon, ive heard i wont be dissapointed.

Average customer rating:

An extraordinarily complex, moving achievement
Good first half of a story. What next?
A tragedy

The Sundering (SFBC Omnibus)
Jacqueline Carey
Manufacturer: Science Fiction Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy)
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ASIN: 0739456903

Product Description

This is a two-in-one volume with both of Jacqueline Carey's top sellers Banewreaker and Godslayer. (Inside jacket: with her successful Kushiel series, Jacqueline Carey proved herself a force to be reckoned with in the fantasy field. Now she returns with another extraordinary epic, a shattering tale of gods at ware and the mortals they use in their deadly game.) Once the Seven Shapers dwelled in accord. First-born among them was Haomane, Lord-of-Thought, and with his six sibling gods, they Shaped the world and its children to their will. But Haomane was displeased with Satoris' Shaping, for he thought his younger brother too generous in his gifts to Men, who made war upon Hoamane's Children, the Ellylon. Though the First-Born asked his brother to withdraw his Gift, Satoris refused. So began the Shapers' War, which sundered the world and cast Satoris and his kindred to opposite ends of a vast ocean.

Customer Reviews:

An extraordinarily complex, moving achievement.......2007-07-13

Yes, I have read and loved all the Kushiel series; they are astonishing, wonderful books. Yet those who pick up the two volumes of the Sundering because they loved Phedre, and come away disappointed and complain the books fail to measure up, are missing the point entirely. These books are a different genre, and a different kind of accomplishment; they are a fantasy epic which is also a philosophical and ethical critique of the epic genre.

Of course, the similarily in narrative structure to the Tolkien epics is conscious and purposeful. Almost every character from the Lord of the Rings is found here: Gandalf-Malthus, Frodo-Dani, Aragorn-Aracus. Previous reviewers may have missed that the arguable "heroes" of this story, Tanaros Cavaros and the "Misbegotten" Ushahin Dreamspinner, are analogous to the leader of the Ringwraiths and Gollum. And Satoris Banewreaker, of course, is the Sauron who the Elves/Ellylon so lyrically claim to be bent on the destruction of all that is good and beautiful, working tirelessly "to cover all the world in a SECOND darkness!!!"

I wonder, how many of us who read and loved the Lord of the Rings ever wondered why Sauron would wish such a thing? Did the explanations of his motivations ever seem thin? Sauron was supposed to have created the Orcs "in savage mockery" of the Elves; a force of pure evil, needing no purpose other than destruction, with no desires, even in creation, except to mock and ruin. What Carey's epic is meant to show, and it succeeds beautifully, is that there are no such villains. There can be no races, such as the Orcs in Tolkien, without redeeming characteristics. To exist at all, especially to exist as a living community of any kind, living creatures must manifest certain virtues. The "Orcs" on the Sundering epic are ugly, certainly, and the "Elves" fear and despise them; yet Carey shows the Ellylon hatred and fear of the trollish Fjel as a product of their own limited aesthetics and the enmity between their races. The Fjel lack the beauties and brains of Elves and Men, yet they are real creatures, and therefore, in order for them to continue as a race at all, they must reproduce and rear their children, they must have some forms of love and loyalty. As this epic unfolds, the awareness grows in the reader that the "orcs" of Tolkien could never have been anything but a savagely distorted picture, a lie wrought by those who hated them from a distance. The power of the Ellylon to tell their stories with beauty, and thus inscribe their point of view as history, is explicitly thematized by Carey's hero Tanaros, who reminds the lovely Ellyl lady that every story has two sides, and that no Elf or Man has ever listened to the stories of the Fjel.

Tanaros himself stands as one of only two counter-examples; he himself is a Man, one who once served the ruling house of the oldest of Men's kingdoms. Once a hero in the best epic style, a loyal general who loved his king and his wife, now he is the most famous villain of his own race of origin. Long ago, he discovered his wife's new child to be, not his own son, but the son of his own best friend and beloved liege. The power of his loves fueled the violent madness of his hatred when those loves were betrayed, and he killed both his wife and her lover. Only in the service of Satoris can he re-discover loyalty and purpose, as only Satoris was willing to allow him the "dignity of his hatred" and allow him the chance to make a new life. The kingdoms of Men call Tanaros "Wifeslayer" the worst of comicbook villains, and see his service to Satoris as simply confirming how evil he is; a man who killed both wife and king could only flee to bad black Satoris in his evil dark fortress. Yet Carey shows us Darkhaven through the eyes of Tanaros as a haven, a place of beauty and dignity, and Satoris as the being who has given Tanaros sanctuary-- as well as a love that has never failed nor been untrue.

The Darkhaven of this epic, this Mordor, was built by Satoris after his first war with his older brother, who, wrathful at his younger brother's refusal to obey, burned the world with the fires of the sun and left Satoris wounded and scorched. Darkhaven is dark not to symbolize evil, but because light hurts as well as illuminates, and because fire is the weapon of the elder Shaper who believes, on thin grounds, that his own will is the entirety of truth and goodness, and that Satoris' refusal to obey him is the essence of wrong and evil. Darkhaven is guarded by Fjeltroll and staffed by madlings, and here is the poignant heart of Carey's vision. For Tanaros is only one of the ambiguous and complex heroes of this story. The other is his counterpart Ushahin, like Tanaros a byword for evil among the Elves and Men of this world, and like him a product of the very world and races who fear and hate him.

Ushahin Dreamspinner, unique in this fantasyworld, is half Ellyl and half mortal Man. The Ellyl, children of Haomane FirstBorn, are a race gifted with mind and heart, rationality and love, but immortal, and without the gift Satoris was asked to give to every other race: Desire. It was Haomane's command that Satoris withdraw Desire from Men which Satoris refused, the refusal for which he is called the Sunderer. Desire is an ambiguous gift, and one both Men and Elves find easy to blame for the crime one Man committed upon a daughter of the Ellylon; the crime of rape. Ushahin Dreamspinner was conceived in that rape, abandoned by the kindred of both parents, and almost killed in childhood by a crowd of other children with rocks. His appearance is all the more monstrous for the remains of remarkable beauty ruined, elegant bones shattered and ill set, wide-set eyes permanently dilated and crazed; he embodies all the horror of human cruelty and callousness, and walks in their dreams to show them the image of a child's fist with a rock breaking another child's face to bits. Called "The Misbegotten" by both the races from which he sprang, Ushahin serves Lord Satoris for the sanctuary Satoris gives to all the mad and broken of the world, those Ushahin calls to Darkhaven where they are safe and loved.

It is Satoris' relationship with Ushahin and his madlings that thematizes the true heart of this amazing critique of epic storytelling, this reply to Tolkien's brutal aesthetic of bright beautiful Elves versus nasty ugly orcs. When the lovely Ellylon lady arrives in Darkhaven and learns that it is a sanctuary for madlings, for all those beings broken and maimed by the cruelty of the world, she is of course appalled. The lovely, the perfect lady, of course she cannot fail to feel pity and mourn for the victims of cruelty and neglect who find safety and love in Darkhaven. Yet she protests they could be fixed, that Satoris ought to heal them and make them pretty again, a response that Tanaros shows in its selfishness with his reply: "To my lord Satoris, she is already beautiful." He loves them as they are, and finds the beauty they have in themselves, not needing to transform them into pretty elf maidens to find them lovely. Similarly, the Ellylon cannot realize the limitations of their own attitudes towards the half-elven Ushahin; they blame Satoris for not "fixing" him, never imagining that it is tghe Dreamspinner himself who refuses to be "healed" to erase the signs of what has made him what he is.

The Elves can only imagine beauty as being like themselves: perfect, tall, glowing with light, and above all, lucky. The scars of the unlucky, of all those who have been hurt, the stories of all those whose lives have been shaped by pain-- they can only see those things as flaws to be erased. What the limited aesthetic of the Ellylon cannot understand as valuable is the same thing that disappears in the caricatures of "orcs"-- the values and features of *life*. Life that struggles through pain and trauma, life that nurtures young, life that makes the best of ambiguity, life that goes on imperfectly.

It is finally an aesthetic of life with which Carey counters the simplistic aesthetic of epic in the Tolkien vein. In place of a god whose mysterious will must be obeyed as the definition of Goodness, we have a god who wishes only to live as he sees best, and survive the despite of his older brother's wrath. Haomane First-Born believes his own vision to be the definition of truth and reality, and his own will as the determiner of goodness. In such a belief-system there can only be one kind of choice: obedience is good, and defiance, evil. Counterpoised to that simplistic lie, Carey gives us a meditation on the nature of choice as life-determining, or choice and responsibility, of truth itself as ambiguity and complexity.

Good first half of a story. What next?.......2007-04-15

I love Jacqueline Carey's series about Phedre, beginning with Kushiel's Dart. It is one of my favorite stories. I also enjoyed The Sundering, though not as much.

The Sundering is a takeoff on Lord of the Rings, upside down. Sauron is the good guy here, and Gandalf is the bad guy. Frodo is a bit of a dupe, sent to destroy Sauron's power, even though Sauron was much kinder to him than the good guys ever were.

In this story, Gandalf's name is Malthus. "Mal" means something bad, as in malady. Frodo's name is Dani. He is accompanied by his uncle Bilbo, whose name here is Fat Uncle Thulu.

The dwarves are intact, but the elves are here called Ellylon, and are not as short as the elves of LOTR. Instead, they are the size of the elves in the LOTR movie, man-size.

Aragorn is in this story as well. His name is Aracus Altorus rather than Aragorn son of Arathorn. Same guy. Leader of the Borderguard, and the hereditary king. And as in LOTR he is scheduled to marry an elf, the Ellylon beauty Cerelinde.

Sauron, here called Satoris, isn't half bad. He inspires love and loyalty. It is his big brother Haomane who is the real pain in the butt. All of Satoris's brothers and sisters have ditched our world, gone across the sea, I suppose across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in America while the action of the story is in Europe, more or less, though Haomane's home is described as an island, not a continent.

Haomane wages unjust war against Satoris. On Satoris's side are Jackie's version of orcs or trolls, which she calls fjeltrol. They are big and strong and ugly. They are bigger than humans. But they have hearts of gold and are the good guys. The beautiful Ellylon are a bit of a load, conceited as all hell. So while Tolkein made it obvious who to root for because his good guys were cute and his bad guys were ugly, Carey turns that upside down for us. Ugly good guys, cute bad guys.

I was confused with some of her terminology. Souma. Soumanie. Marasoumie. Rhios. Half the time I barely knew what she was talking about when she mentioned these things. Apparently there is a lot of magic in her world, and the souma is a great source of magic.

Her characters are so interesting that I always wish the books were illustrated.

The main additions she has to LOTR are some new characters. Satoris (Sauron) has his three main helpers. I suppose they could be compared to the ring wraiths, and once in a while one of them is a Black Rider, but these three really aren't ring wraiths, and have interesting characters of their own. One of them, Tanaros, is the star of the book.

I enjoyed this book but it cries out for a sequel. Everything about the ending screams out SEQUEL.

A tragedy.......2006-05-27

This is an interesting book. The world is believable. the different races recognizable. It is told from the perspective of Satoris, the third born shaper of the world. He is supposed to be the bad guy that caused the world to be sundered.

And war is coming. It is led by the children of the first born shaper, Satoris' brother Haomane. They are allegedly the good guys. So now we have a classic battle between good and evil, only good isn't that good, and evil might actually be innocent of the charges against him.

I found myself cheering for Satoris as everything about him fell apart. I really didn't like Haomane at all. There are magical weapons, prophecies, but no one becomes all powerful that none can stand before him.

This is a story filled with rich characters, and they experience the spectrum of love, betrayal, honor and pride. This is good story and fine fantasy.

Recommended.

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Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Chosen, Kushiel's Avatar, Kushiel's Dart (Kushiel's Legacy)
Jacqueline Carey
Manufacturer: TOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PRWQC8

Product Description

Hardcover editions

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Kushiel's Chosen

Manufacturer: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HKLNDQ

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Kushiel's Chosen (Kushiel's Legacy)
Jacqueline Carey
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTQAMO

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Kushiel's Chosen (PB)
Jacqueline Carey
Manufacturer: Tor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUR0EA

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Kushiel's Dart; Kushiel's Chosen; Kushiel's Avatar; Kushiel's Scion (Kushiel's Legacy, 1, 2, 3, 4)
Jacqueline Carey
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WFNEDS

Product Description

The first 4 books in the Kushiel's Legacy series, which is set in the country of Terre d'Ange (resembling medieval France). D'Angelines, as the citizens are called, believe they are descended from Blessed Elua and his band of fallen angels. Elua was born when the blood of the crucified Yeshua ben Yosef, the son of the One God, mixed with the tears of the Magdalene and then was quickened by Mother Earth. Scorned by his grandfather, the One God, Elua wandered the Earth with eight companion angels, who had rejected God to follow him. The eight were Naamah, Anael, Azza, Shemhazai, Camael, Cassiel, Eisheth, and Kushiel. The companions finally settled in the land that would be become Terre D'Ange. Elua espoused the precept Love as thou wilt and he and his companions inter-bred with the native populace, creating the D'Angeline people.

Book Description

A superb collection of science fiction and fantasy stories, The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories and Other Stories is a book that transcends all genre definitions. The stories within are mined with depth charges, explosions of meaning and illumination that will keep you thinking and feeling long after you have finished reading.

Customer Reviews:

Pure greatness.......2005-08-03

Wolfe is the best writer at work in SF and fantasy. These early stories prove just how subtle, exciting and completely riveting his writing can be. Each story is a true gem, and each is totally different. The title story (and the variants on that title) all provide insight into the human heart you cannot believe until you have read them, aand the sorcery of the writing just pulls you right into each imaginary world. Irresistable.

Island doctors and their deaths.......2005-06-14

These being the first short stories I've read by Gene Wolfe I went into the read curious, hopeful and genuinely unsure how they'd turn out. I'll be upfront w/my bias; I think Gene Wolfe is an amazing author.

The good news: I'm even more impressed by his writing and stories than I was before.

The bad news: Not every story is amazing; such is reading short fiction collections.

Overall, I rate this as an excellent collection of short fiction, and unless you simply have an aversion to the fantastic, I would highly recommend it. And if you already like Gene Wolfe? Look for familiar devices, such as memory and sense perception. He winds such nice paths...

An uneven collection, but there are some fantastic stories.......2004-04-20

THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR DEATH AND OTHER STORIES AND OTHER STORIES (yes, it's supposed to be titled that way), first published in 1980, is Gene Wolfe's first collection of short stories. It brings together 14 works published in the 1970's, some of which originally appeared in Damon Knight's "Orbit" anthologies. Like with any collection of short stories it ranges widely, but the volume does contain some of Wolfe's finest pieces.

The first story in this book may make the reader wonder why exactly Wolfe receives so much praise, for "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories" (1970) is a very immature work, an unconvincingly written tale of child whose love of pulp adventure magazines helps him escape a broken home. The next story, "Alien Stones", dates from two years later and shows a dramatic improvement in Wolfe's writing. On the surface it appears to be about a spaceship crew exploring an abandoned alien vessel, but under the surface hints at a darker story. Wolfe, like Larry Niven in his 60's hard science-fiction works, unfortunately underestimates the progress of technology---his spacecraft's computer uses CRT's and manual switches---and his far-future female character seems supiciously like a stereotypical ditz of the early 1970's. Nonetheless, the strong storytelling and intricate plot more than make up for this.

"Three Fingers" is a short diversion, an enhibition of Wolfe's droll sense of humour. "Tracking Song" is another of the high points of the volume, the chronicle of a journey on a frozen world where humanity has evolved into myriad diverse forms. The narration is reminiscent of Wolfe's first great novel, THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.

If this collection begins with Wolfe's weakest story, it ends with one of his best. "Seven American Nights" is the record of an Iranian visiting a bizarre post-apocalyptic America for less than honourable purposes, an ironic reversal of the phenomenon of 60's hippies visiting the Middle East for drug tourism. The novella contains the hallmarks of Wolfe's finest writing: unreliable narration, casual relevations, fantastic world-building, the perpetual feeling that the reader isn't getting the whole story, and an ending that shows that all the plot's secrets were really right there in the text all along. This is a powerful work, and it is worth buying the entire collection just for it.

While perhaps not ideal for the reader who hasn't read anything but Wolfe yet, this is an excellent work to turn to next if you enjoyed one of his accessible works like The Book of the New Sun, PEACE, or THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS.

Wolfe's best collection........2003-03-25

His Castle of Days comes at the second place.
One other reviewer called this a perfect introduction to Wolfe. It certainly is. Do not begin with The Fifth Head of Cerberus. That one might turn you off.
Wolfe is at his best in these short stories and he keeps publishing them. I hope an additional collection will appear. Even in his novels Gene Wolfe holds tight to his concept of creating tiny gems of writing. Every chapter in the Book of the New Sun could be seen as a short story. Some of them might well stand alone. Will make some weird reading, but that's Wolfe.
This is a review of this collection, so I will return to this book now. This language is one of the best prose I have yet encountered. Vladimir Nabokov is another superb stylist. If the language won't sedate you the ideas will.
This is so good! On par with the greatest of short story writers. Certainly the top of SF in general.
I'm not giving away anything. Just buy yourself a copy and start reading, slowly. Give it the time it needs. SF readers are generally not used to this kind of writing, but don't think you can't handle it. I don't think that many non-SF/F readers come here, but that's fine. They don't know what they're missing.
Other readers recommended the more favorite stories in this collection. Follow their advice. Start with them.

Don't get no better than that.......2003-01-08

This collection features some of the best Science Fiction short stories ever written, and is probably Wolfe's best collection. It exemplifies his amazing ability to construct a fantastic new world, with unforgettable imagination and scenery, using the Baroc-like prose with the archaic and ancient echoing in the background.

If you still haven't read anything by Wolfe, and prefers not to begin with his mega Suns series, this could be a great starting point.

Most recommended:
- The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories
- The Death of Dr. Island
- Tracking Song
- Seven American Nights

(I wish there was a 6 stars scale)
Read it!

Gene Wolfe Reads: "A Solar Labyrinth," "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories"
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Gene Wolfe Reads: "A Solar Labyrinth," "The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories"
Gene Wolfe
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Wolfe, Gene | ( W ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories: And Other Stories
Gene Wolfe
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Customer Reviews:

It is remarkable history.......2007-01-12

Who were these people?
Here we see people burnt alive, flayed alive and tortured.
Mostly for being "too good", "too brave"
or just very totally strange in a religious way.
People pray to these people...
No one at Amazon books would fit...
they can't even spell Fedorov
right ( a saint of modern physical science and mathematics).
You don't find Srinivasa Ramanujan or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi here either.
It is a long history and I've even found names of saint not in the book!
A good reference when dealing with Spanish/ Mexican place names.

Not patronizing (pardon my pun).......2006-01-08

As a Rome-based freelance writer who frequently publishes articles about the Vatican and its history, I knew I needed a good reference book to help me recognize saints in history, art, and tradition and understand why they are important. I did some research to decide between this volume, the Oxford Dictionary of Saints, and the Delany's Pocket Dictionary of Saints and I decided to buy this one.

Then some time passed, and I decided I needed still more information and so I bought the Oxford version about a year later. And six months ago the Delaney edition found its own place in my book shelf. And do you know what? After familiarizing myself with the new additions to my religious library on their arrival, I have hardly opened either of the Penguin edition's rivals.

To be clear, none of these books contains all the information in the other two, but I believe this edition -- in terms of authoratative (even if sometimes brief) biographical information, good organization, data on symbolism related to saints, a helpful glossery of terms, and an impressive bobliography -- is the best to have if you'll only buy one book.

As another reviewer here pointed out, the book's great weakness is its lack of significant information about patron saints. And that's important, because many lay people first decide to learn more about the lives of saints because of the patron saint of some area of interest (the Delaney book is best in that regard).

But I believe that flaw is more than compensated for by the book's strengths. At the risk of envoking a tired cliche, the book is written in a fact-packed and yet accessible style that makes it a good option for the novice and a valuable resource for more experienced saint watchers.

Best Out of Three.......2000-11-16

Of the three dictionaries of saints that I use (Delaney's Pocket Dictionary of Saints and the Oxford Dictionary of Saints are the others), this possesses the most benefits. It not only includes the usual capsule biographies (don't expect any book of saints to include the same information) and appendices about Patron saints and symbols, but also a glossary of terms used in hagiography (the study of saints), something which neither Delaney nor Stone offer. If the book has any weakness, it is that the list of patron saints is too brief and incomplete. (Delaney's appendix is the best of the three, but his work has other faults.) Attwater and daughter also do not treat us to discussions of saintly relics (one of the joys of Stone's excellent work). Despite these minor flaws, I would choose this volume over the other two were I able only to own one of the books. (It is better, still, to own all three.)

Excellent Book on Saints.......2000-06-05

This book is a great addition to the library of anyone who wants to know more about the lives of the great men and women of the Christian Faith. It includes Saints from the New Testament/Apostolic Age until the modern day. Each entry gives an excellent description of each Saint's life and work. It also has the reason for canonization (martyr, bishop, etc.) and the date it occurred, the date of birth and death, and the person's feast day in the Church (usually in the western calendar). Although the entries usually include only the basic information (about half a page on average), at the end of each entry the authors have added a reading list for those who wish to learn more about each Saint. The book also has an introduction that addresses such issues as sources, confessors, martyrs, and canonization. A glossary of terms is present, which includes a basic definition of words that may be difficult for some (e.g. Monothelism and Cenobite). The Dictionary has a useful appendix that contains a list of patron Saints, emblems, and a calendar of the feast days of the Saints listed. Although The Penguin Dictionary of Saints is very useful, I should mention that it includes mainly Roman Catholic Saints. Many of those canonized only (or deemed more important) in the Eastern Orthodox Church are not present, although the authors have included most of the universally accepted Saints (and even many minor ones) from both the East and Great Britain. Overall, this is an excellent resource that no Christian should be without; I use it all the time.

Very Percise and Great Refrence Book.......2000-05-10

This book has to be the best of its kind. The information is enough to give you a basic understanding of each saint listed in this book. Very good book for preachers and history majors to have handy.

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