Pikkukuvaa napsauttamalla pääset Google Booksiin.
Ladataan... Enchanted Night: A Novella (vuoden 2000 painos)Tekijä: Steven Millhauser
TeostiedotEnchanted Night: A Novella (tekijä: Steven Millhauser)
- Ladataan...
Kirjaudu LibraryThingiin nähdäksesi, pidätkö tästä kirjasta vai et. Ei tämänhetkisiä Keskustelu-viestiketjuja tästä kirjasta. The contrast between Millhauser's previous excellent novel, Martin Dressler, and his latest novella, Enchanted Night, is similar to the difference between a businesslike day and a very magical night. The entertaining cast of characters is large and varied: a naked girl on the grass, a gang of boys hidden in the town library, a storefront mannequin walking hand-in-hand with her longtime admirer, and a group of girls having tea with a woman after having broken into her house. Many other characters are moving about on this truly enchanted and very active night. Millhauser won the Pulitzer Prize for Martin Dressler, and now he's written something very magical about a hot summer night in Connecticut. Enchanted Night is a fine example of what special heights a short work of fiction can reach - it's a magical novella. (5/01) This strange little book contains a string of vignettes about one night in a small town. Each short chapter gives the reader a new perspective. We hear from a 39-year-old man, the head of a teenage gang of girls, the field insects, a mannequin, and more. We meander through the town with no real goal, just admiring the night and meeting a few people along the way. BOTTOM LINE: The writing was beautiful at times, but the novella didn’t leave any lasting impression for me. “The world, filled to the brim with stillness, suddenly overflows.” In short pieces of prose and arguably some poetry, Millhauser tells the story of one enchanted night in a smallish town in Connecticut sometime in the 1950s (or possibly the 60s?). All manner of activity abounds during the wee hours - some magical, some not. The story is all about desire and longing and the less glamorous 'want' and 'need'(imo). Some of it is whimsical and quite enjoyable and yet I did not enjoy the story as much as I expected to. The reader is watching the happenings of this enchanted night from some distance and it is that distance that I felt acutely. And looking back on it, with rare exception, it seemed the women in the story were objects, enchanted in a way so as to please the men of the story. The manikin comes to life to fulfill the longing in the man who gazes at her in the window. A young woman sheds her clothing privately in the moonlight but watched secretly through the bushes by a man. Still, there are a fair number of laudatory blurbs on the back of the book, so perhaps the story would enchant me more at another time. ei arvosteluja | lisää arvostelu
'Five past twelve. Do you know where your children are?' One hot summer night in a small town in southern Connecticut, while the tide is still going out, Laura Engstrom, fourteen years old, is awakened by the moon streaming in her bedroom window. She isn't the only one to be disturbed by the rising moon. All across town, dreamers are awakening,throwing off the covers. 'This is the night of revelation. This is the night the dolls wake. This is the night of the dreamer in the attic. This is the night of the piper in the woods.' A sequence of short chapters, each a tiny story in itself, introduces the reader to the restless inhabitants of an apparently idyllic American town. Strange children, petty crooks, thwarted lovers and simple insomniacs stalkthe pages of this enchanting short novel, building restlessly to an uneasy climax. Millhauser at his most imaginative and most lyrical, Enchanted Night is full of darkling menace. This is a novel to be read late at Night, in one sitting, preferably with the light on. Kirjastojen kuvailuja ei löytynyt. |
Current Discussions-Suosituimmat kansikuvat
Google Books — Ladataan... LajityypitMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Kongressin kirjaston luokitusArvio (tähdet)Keskiarvo:
Oletko sinä tämä henkilö? |
Here's a sentence from this novella, page 101: I think the reader can usefully use that sentence to gauge his or her likely enjoyment of this novella. Sound interesting? Read this. Sound off-putting? Give this a skip.
I imagine Millhauser as working in a distinctly American brand of magical-realism, which has a sharp focus on the materialistic things around us. He's a bit of a cataloger. For instance: That's the entire chapter titled "Living Room and Moonlight", page 99. Things get bent toward magical ends: here, on other pages, is a storefront mannequin stepping out to stroll along the street with her admirer. And, of course, the dolls, dancing and acting in the town's attics.
For me this is an interesting enough little piece, though fairly insubstantial. I liked most of the writing, but there is the occasional clunker.
( )