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Title: Grandes Horizontales by Virginia Rounding ISBN: 1-58234-260-1 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Pub. Date: 07 July, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Engaging topic, shallow execution
Comment: Grand Horizontales is a very readable but careless non-fiction account of the lives of four famous courtesans of 19-th century Paris. Author Virginia Rounding has relied almost exclusively on secondary sources (in other words, she has read books by other people but has not read the letters, newspapers, financial records, etc. that these books are based on). What's more, these secondary sources, she admits, are not reliable. So the reader doesn't know what, if anything, to believe.
There is a lot of bizarre speculation on the author's part: the courtesan La Paiva, born to a Jewish family in Russia, may or may not have been baptized at age seven. Rounding doubts the baptism because the book she read it in is not a very accurate one. Nevertheless, she continues on, speculating about the REASON for this possible event, but offers no hard evidence for her speculation. Apollonie Sabatier may or may not have slept with Baudelaire; Rounding speculates on why the "possible" affair ended. At this I threw up my hands: the book is full of such idle speculations about the reasons behind events that only possibly occured.
To me, the real fascination behind these women was "why these women and not others;" what was the magnetic attraction that held men spellbound? Rounding has made a very readable book, but we are still waiting for a more energetic scholar to write one that really answers this question.
Rating: 5
Summary: I am so spoiled!
Comment: Not only did I pre-order this book, but I get to be the first to review it! Virginia, whom-ever you are, thank you for writing this book. I am fascinated by the lives of courtesans and other beautiful early European women who made their living off their bodies. Without knowing French, only so much information was available to me, and now I am thoroughly gobbling up this book, and all its specilized information on the "demi-mondaines," "grisettes," "lorettes," and other classes of women who shared a career, but in very different ways --and all of whom I knew nothing about before.
Anyone interested in reading about modern call-girls will be stunned to see the parallels the old routines make with the new. With elaborate chapters on several famous courtesans, including the most enchanting --Marie Du Plessis, this book is a plethra of otherwise unavailable information for me. I can't think of a better summer treat!
Rating: 4
Summary: Vertical Challengers...or...The Business Of Doing Pleasure
Comment: This is the first book written by Virginia Rounding, and it is a very impressive debut. She tells the story of four 19th century Parisian courtesans, but also manages to work in a fair bit of French history, covering roughly 1830-1871. She manages to weave together a seamless blend of the cultural and political, and also the comic and the serious. (As an example of the comic, Ms. Rounding mentions that 19th century prostitutes were fond of wearing very large hats in public. Doctors came up with a special reclining chair, to replace the traditional table, so that when the ladies of easy virtue came in for their regular examinations they would be able to keep their hats on throughout the process.) The author selected the four courtesans that she did so that she could demonstrate all the possibilities of living that life. Some of the women were abused when young, some weren't. Some were native born, some were foreigners. Some, when they lost their looks, lost their money. Others remained well-off even after their "prime earning years" were over. The book provides a fascinating look at a world that is certainly strange to the modern (and non-European) reader. The courtesan and her "protector" had a symbiotic relationship. The wealthy man provided money so that the courtesan could live an ostentatious lifestyle- with a beautiful home, expensive clothes and jewelry, servants, etc. Indeed, she was expected to "live it up" to show everyone what a generous lover she had. In return, the man could show the world how "special" he was- after all, he had not only vast amounts of money but he must also be pretty special to win the favors of such a desirable and selective woman. The courtesan was certainly predatory. A man could become totally infatuated and could lose all of his money supporting such a woman. Once the money ran dry, she would move on to greener pastures. On the other hand, the courtesan was totally dependent on the protector. If the man tired of the relationship and found someone new, the courtesan would very quickly have to find a new "sugar daddy" to maintain her extravagant lifestyle. Besides learning about the four courtesans selected for the book, we also learn about some of the men- such as Alexandre Dumas (fils) and Charles Baudelaire, as well as the Goncourt brothers (all of these men, by the way, were sources-through their fiction, poetry, and journals- for myths and legitimate information regarding the world of the courtesan). The author did a tremendous amount of research on the period in question, and she put it all together to create a fascinating look at a world that existed only for a brief time. If, like me, you are interested in 19th century France, I am sure you will get much pleasure from reading this book.
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Title: Courtesans : Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century by Katie Hickman ISBN: 0066209552 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 25 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Strapless: The Rise of John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis, John Singer Sargent ISBN: 1585422215 Publisher: J. P. Tarcher Pub. Date: 24 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant ISBN: 037541181X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 23 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Seven Ages of Paris by Alistair Horne ISBN: 0679454810 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 12 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: Against Love : A Polemic by Laura Kipnis ISBN: 0375421890 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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