The Birth of Venus
Registered by rem_BSM-942247 on 4/6/2005
2 journalers for this copy...
BCIE - Book for April
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Birth of Venus is all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's inability to make up her mind what it is about. Is it a novel about the limited choices available to a woman with talent in Renaissance Florence--marriage or the convent? Or is it a novel about the choices you make to survive in a totalitarian society? As Savonarola takes Florence closer and closer to being an ascetic theocracy, Alessandra, her gay brother and his lover whom she has married for mutual protection find themselves in more and more peril. It could also be a detective story--Allesandra is in love with a painter whose religious mania and fascination with the body makes him a plausible suspect for a series of killings and dismemberments. Some historical novels wear their research too heavily--Dunant's is light, fluent and pacy, but her fascination with the possibilities revealed by research leaves her failing to make choices.
The Birth of Venus is a highly intelligent novel kept from incoherence mostly by the intensely imagined Alessandra, through whose eyes we see the tragic end of a key moment in human culture and whose lively sensibility constantly sparks ideas about art and her time. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Amazon.co.uk Review
The Birth of Venus is all the more fascinating a historical novel for the author's inability to make up her mind what it is about. Is it a novel about the limited choices available to a woman with talent in Renaissance Florence--marriage or the convent? Or is it a novel about the choices you make to survive in a totalitarian society? As Savonarola takes Florence closer and closer to being an ascetic theocracy, Alessandra, her gay brother and his lover whom she has married for mutual protection find themselves in more and more peril. It could also be a detective story--Allesandra is in love with a painter whose religious mania and fascination with the body makes him a plausible suspect for a series of killings and dismemberments. Some historical novels wear their research too heavily--Dunant's is light, fluent and pacy, but her fascination with the possibilities revealed by research leaves her failing to make choices.
The Birth of Venus is a highly intelligent novel kept from incoherence mostly by the intensely imagined Alessandra, through whose eyes we see the tragic end of a key moment in human culture and whose lively sensibility constantly sparks ideas about art and her time. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
I really enjoed this book. Once I read the prologue, I was hooked. It opened up a new world to me and once I started reading I was transported to Renaissance Florence. Allenandra's story was one of amazing ups and downs and held my attention right to the end.
I've given this book an 9/10 because, although it was a fantastic read, it's not a book I'd read again or claim that it changed me in any way.
I've given this book an 9/10 because, although it was a fantastic read, it's not a book I'd read again or claim that it changed me in any way.
The book was posted to lizabeth86 today.
Received today. Thanks Mirp.
Will be donating to THE FRIENDS OF RUSSELL LIBRARY
