Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: George Sand : A Woman's Life Writ Large by Belinda Jack ISBN: 0-679-77918-3 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.17 (6 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: More summary than biography
Comment: I was appalled by this biography. Belinda Jack made many statements which repeated Sand's own opinion of herself which is not at all the analytical method that should be employed in biography. If all the reader wanted to know was what Sand thought of herself, s/he could read Sand's own biography. The problem here is that Jack believes Sand's own assessment of herself, which, from a great deal of other material in the book -excerpts from correspondence and the like - is quite grandiose. The Sand who emerges from this biography was selfish, self-righteous, and concerned above all with her own happiness. Given that many authors, painters, writers, and others adored her, it appears that Jack managed to leave out just what made Sand likable. While her work was startling for its day, the plots and enormous volume of works make her the modern-day equivalent of Jackie Collins, although probably slightly more erudite and aware of the political turmoil around her. She had many lovers but never divorced her husband and managed only to get pregnant twice. In the mid-nineteenth century, this is an amazing feat. For a woman so well known for her sexual appetites, it's puritanical of Jack not to at least ponder the reasons for this. There are many things implied and intriguing items mentioned and then dropped. The reader has no idea why she disliked her daughter so, why she stayed with Chopin for 8 years if he was such a millstone as she later claimed, and what did exactly kill her. Jack also claims that Sand invented psychoanalysis and field of psychology before Freud! This biography was a complete waste of time and managed only to make me believe that Sand is only - and rightly - known for having slept with an enormous number of people, and famous ones at that, when women of her class were socially stigmatized for this. She was no feminist and did nothing to advance the cause of women's rights, complained about certain inequalities as they pertained to her personally, but did nothing even when she had considerable influence later in her life to do something about it. And for those wondering about Delacroix's portraits of Sand and Chopin: it was a double portrait that was later cut in half. If you want to read a wonderful biography, try Victoria Glendenning's Vita Sackville West.
Rating: 2
Summary: The Times of Sand
Comment: A visit this summer to Sand's home in Gargilesse, France, prompted me to learn more about George Sand, but Belinda Jack's biography was a disappointment. The book recaps Sand's life, raising more questions than it answers about the writer.
Sand's relationships with family members were often contentious, but few psychological insights are shared. One example is the rift between Sand and her daughter Solange. On one occasion, Sand disapproves of Solange's flirtatious behavior. Later, the author is ambiguous about the relationship Solange has with Chopin, her mother's lover. Jack does not connect various episodes to explore the rift between Sand and her daughter. We understand that Sand disapproves of Solange, but have no insight as to character, motivations or causes of the bitterness that Solange harbored toward her mother.
Jack is meticulous in presenting dates of Sand's travels and activities, but very superficial and unquestioning in most else. For example, at the end of Sand's life, we are told she suffered from intolerable stomach pains. A Parisian Dr. Favre is called, and he "decided it was too late to operate." Sand asked that only doctors be allowed to see her, because she felt deeply humiliated by her condition. She died soon after. Jack offers no explanation for the cause of Sand's death.
The book is vague and skims the surface of Sand's life, which we see from a distance -- not as an insider.
Rating: 4
Summary: Lelio
Comment: I have enjoyed several female writers immensely (George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Emma Goldman and, especially, Anna Kavan) but have never read George Sand. However, I do know of the woman by her link to Frederic Chopin. I suspect many readers of this biography - me included - will pick the book up because of their interest in music rather than literature.
George Sand's life was certainly extraordinary, just as she was. And there is no doubt now that I will read at least one of her novels. In those regards this biography is demonstrably a success. But in other ways it failed me. I have named this review 'Lelio' by the name Hector Berlioz (a contemporary of Sand) gave the sequel to his Symphonie Fantastique. (Berlioz is mentioned three times in the biography but only one of these references is indexed.) What is the link with George Sand? Belinda Jack does not explore this. George Sand wrote a short story 'La marquise' in which there is a character Lelio. She later wrote a novel called 'Lelia'. What does the name mean and are there any connections? Music lovers would probably like to know. I turned to David Cairns translation of 'The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz' and he reveals that Berlioz' work came after 'La marquise' and hence may have been inspired by it, but before Sand's novel 'Lelia'. It is notes of this type that greatly enrich works. I suggest that Belinda Jack has failed to provide this type of enrichment in her biography. Here is another example: Delacroix spent a lot of time with George Sand and we are all familiar with his portrait of Chopin - unfinished though it is. We are less familiar with the fact that he painted Sand as well (even more unfinished). The question to ask is why was it not finished. Even more, in the illustrations to the biography why do we only get Delacroix's portrait of Chopin? (You can find the portrait of Sand on the internet.) At another point Belinda Jack reports that Sand's reading included a bunch of writers - one of whom is called Hoffmann. ETA Hoffmann I wondered? No - the index told me it was Ernst Hoffmann, someone I have no knowledge of. By telling the reader upfront that it was Ernst Hoffmann might help avoid possible misunderstanding. But at least it was in the index. There are many people referred to in this biography whose name means nothing to me and it may have been useful to have short summaries of them and their significance. I happen to know who Proudhon was (libertarian anarchist) but I suspect many readers won't. And again, uncommented is the strangeness of the Sand family having a servant with the unlikely name of Carl Maria von Weber - especially strange to music lovers.
But despite these quibbles I value reading this biography and rate it well.
 |
Title: Chopin's Funeral by BENITA EISLER ISBN: 0375409459 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title: Marianne by George Sand, Sian Mills, Marilyn French ISBN: 0786705388 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
 |
Title: Chopin in Paris: The Life and Times of the Romantic Composer by Tad Szulc ISBN: 0306809338 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
 |
Title: Story of My Life: The Autobiography of George Sand (Women Writers in Translation) by George Sand, Thelma Jurgrau ISBN: 0791405818 Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr Pub. Date: July, 1991 List Price(USD): $49.95 |
 |
Title: Indiana (Oxford World's Classics) by George Sand, Sylvia Raphael ISBN: 0192837974 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
