Otherworldly tales of haunting beauty and a welcome addition to the canon of classic Russian literature in English.
Symbolist masterpiece by the writer whose work Vladimir Nabokov ranked among Russia’s greatest literary achievements.
Boris Nikolaeyvich Bugaev (1880-1934), better known by the pen name that means “Andrew the White,” was an exponent of what translator Stone calls the “short-lived utopianism” of a movement that perhaps naïvely assumed that literature can make a difference in the world. Even so, Bely’s work is marked by a deep pessimism, and if some of it foreshadows magic realism, there is always dark sorcery at work. These four “symphonies,” a cross between prose poem and novella, manifest both idealism and doom. In “Northern Symphony,” a set of short, numbered paragraphs resembling a kind of syllogism, he writes, with foreboding. “1. Big as the mountains, the houses bristled and swaggered like overfed swine. / 2. To the timid pedestrian they winked with their countless windows, turned their blind walls to him in a sign of disdain, or mocked his secret thoughts with columns of smoke.” In the second, “Dramatic,” symphony, he concludes a series with “7. The ascetic’s glowing face smiled, even though it was cold. / 8. But clouds covered the horizon. / 9. The day was extinguished like a sad candle.” It’s an extraordinary poetry, and if the conclusions don’t always follow from the premises, the overall effect suggests the power of language as a tool of enchantment and, at times, incantation. Much of these symphonies are given over to a kind of fairy tale, although a few of them speak to Bely’s interest in politics, as when he imagines a crowd of anarchists and social democrats arguing over who is more leftist: “Over tea they threw verbal bombs,” Bely writes in a mashup of Marx and Lewis Carroll, “expropriating other people’s thoughts.” The sole shortcoming of the book are its too-scanty notes, though the ones that are there speak to telling facets of Bely’s method, such as his naming characters after birds, which would not be apparent to the reader without Russian.
Otherworldly tales of haunting beauty and a welcome addition to the canon of classic Russian literature in English.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-231-19909-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Columbia Univ.
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.
A French art historian’s English-language fiction debut combines the story of a loving relationship between a grandfather and granddaughter with an enlightening discussion of art.
One day, when 10-year-old Mona removes the necklace given to her by her now-dead grandmother, she experiences a frightening, hour-long bout of blindness. Her parents take her to the doctor, who gives her a variety of tests and also advises that she see a psychiatrist. Her grandfather Henry tells her parents that he will take care of that assignment, but instead, he takes Mona on weekly visits to either the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, or the Centre Pompidou, where each week they study a single work of art, gazing at it deeply and then discussing its impact and history and the biography of its maker. For the reader’s benefit, Schlesser also describes each of the works in scrupulous detail. As the year goes on, Mona faces the usual challenges of elementary school life and the experiences of being an only child, and slowly begins to understand the causes of her temporary blindness. Primarily an amble through a few dozen of Schlesser’s favorite works of art—some well known and others less so, from Botticelli and da Vinci through Basquiat and Bourgeois—the novel would probably benefit from being read at a leisurely pace. While the dialogue between Henry and the preternaturally patient and precocious Mona sometimes strains credulity, readers who don’t have easy access to the museums of Paris may enjoy this vicarious trip in the company of a guide who focuses equally on that which can be seen and the context that can’t be. Come for the novel, stay for the introductory art history course.
A pleasant if not entirely convincing tribute to the power of art.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9798889661115
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Europa Editions
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
