Fascinating fictionalized biography of a brilliant woman who should be as renowned as the men who loved her.
An intriguing debut novel about the early life of muse and intellectual Lou Salomé.
Russian-born Louise von Salomé is determined to receive an education at a young age; unfortunately, her early instructor, Pastor Hendrik Gillot, falls in love with her, despite their 25-year age difference. Lou and her mother, Louise, flee to Western Europe to obtain more suitable, sexually untainted instruction for Lou. At Malwida von Meysenbug’s literary salon in Rome, Lou meets Paul Rée, a writer and gambler. They quickly form a cerebral partnership, and through Rée, Lou meets Friedrich Nietzsche. The three want to establish a commune but are deterred by family disapproval and the refusal of both men to accept Lou’s resolve to devote her whole being to intellectual pursuits, without the constraints of marriage, children or even sexual dalliance. Lou alternates between the two men but eventually grows frustrated with Nietzsche’s instability and his jealous, conniving sister Elisabeth. She and Rée move to Berlin, establishing a salon where Lou thrives, publishing her first book and attracting still more admirers, while Rée grows discouraged. In Rée’s absence, Lou is enticed into marriage—celibate by her insistence—with Persian scholar Friedrich Andreas. Author Atala, with a background in comparative literature and philosophy, brings life to 19th-century historical figures, although at times they seem unnaturally self-absorbed. Less convincing is Lou’s allure, her physical and intellectual gifts notwithstanding. Perhaps true to the spirit of the time, the prose is sometimes overblown and dramatic, like the characters themselves. Lou fears “any touching of loins” despite cohabitation and marriage. While Atala’s novel is well-written and researched, it would be enriched by additional context and depth for some of the secondary characters who may not be as well-known to casual readers. Similarly, development and description of the fabulous European settings are given short shrift. Still, Atala offers a captivating glimpse into a notable period of history and intellectual growth.
Fascinating fictionalized biography of a brilliant woman who should be as renowned as the men who loved her.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1497403260
Page Count: 312
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
© 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.
