Selby Wynn Schwartz
Auteur de After Sappho: A Novel
A propos de l'auteur
Selby Wynn Schwartz is Lecturer in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric, Stanford University.
Crédit image: Selby Wynn Schwartz
Œuvres de Selby Wynn Schwartz
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom canonique
- Schwartz, Selby Wynn
- Nom légal
- Schwartz, Selby Wynn
- Date de naissance
- 1975
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- USA
Membres
Critiques
Booker long-listed a couple of years back, this is an interesting piece of...historical fiction? The author has created a fictionalised account of the interactions between prominent Sapphists and feminists from the late 19th century through to the early 20th century, post WWI. They're an eclectic mix of artists, writers, actresses, playwrights, poets and activists, some very well known (Virginia Woolf, Vita Sackville-West, Sarah Bernhard), others less known (at least to me anyway) such as the Irish architect Eileen Gray, Lina Poletti, Natalie Barney, etc.
Weaving some fragments remaining from Sappho's writing, heralded as the first literary crusader of feminism and lesbianism, the book is a series of vignettes set in Greece, Italy, France and England as the lives of the different key players intertwine, either in real life or through their works.
I found the first third of this book absolutely fascinating, as I learnt about everything from the horrendous laws in Italy forcing a rape victim to marry their rapist to early attempts in the House of Lords to make lesbianism illegal. Whilst there is quite a lot known about British laws against homosexuality, I knew very little about how the hardships of lesbian women during this era, and it was fascinating to learn more about this from some incredibly interesting characters. I was slow at reading it, as I kept stopping on nearly every page to Google more about the characters I was being introduced to.
By the second third of the book, my interest waned a little. There were so many characters it became difficult to keep up with who was who, who knew who and how, and I felt the content, whilst fascinating to begin with, became a little repetitive. The final third piqued my interest again - I knew I was in the final stretches and so settled back into figuring out who each character was again.
4 stars - It's a book I was glad to finish, yet at the same time I'm glad I read it. It's well written, original and I learnt a lot from it.… (plus d'informations)
Weaving some fragments remaining from Sappho's writing, heralded as the first literary crusader of feminism and lesbianism, the book is a series of vignettes set in Greece, Italy, France and England as the lives of the different key players intertwine, either in real life or through their works.
I found the first third of this book absolutely fascinating, as I learnt about everything from the horrendous laws in Italy forcing a rape victim to marry their rapist to early attempts in the House of Lords to make lesbianism illegal. Whilst there is quite a lot known about British laws against homosexuality, I knew very little about how the hardships of lesbian women during this era, and it was fascinating to learn more about this from some incredibly interesting characters. I was slow at reading it, as I kept stopping on nearly every page to Google more about the characters I was being introduced to.
By the second third of the book, my interest waned a little. There were so many characters it became difficult to keep up with who was who, who knew who and how, and I felt the content, whilst fascinating to begin with, became a little repetitive. The final third piqued my interest again - I knew I was in the final stretches and so settled back into figuring out who each character was again.
4 stars - It's a book I was glad to finish, yet at the same time I'm glad I read it. It's well written, original and I learnt a lot from it.… (plus d'informations)
2 
AlisonY | 10 autres critiques | Feb 11, 2024 |
AlisonY | 10 autres critiques | Feb 11, 2024 | 3.5 stars. Beautifully written but I was very aware I was reading the whole time. Also very white…but love the sapphics
I might like this more with a reader’s guide or as the core of a course that reads the works referenced her. It definitely makes we want to revisit To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway.
Prix et récompenses
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 4
- Membres
- 287
- Popularité
- #81,379
- Évaluation
- 3.5
- Critiques
- 11
- ISBN
- 16
- Langues
- 1
I read this due to its appearance on the Booker longlist and like some others on that list it addresses a topic that has already had plenty written about it, which can appear as a criticism, but for me there’s usually always room for someone new’s personal and well-written approach to the subject. This telling is cut up into chapters of short entries, usually 2-3 paragraphs long, increasingly it seemed to me as the book went on following a regularly progressing timeline (whereas the earlier chapters moved back and forth among years more often; I’d have to go back and check to see to what extent this impression is accurate).
In retrospect I see that I particularly enjoyed the entries for Virginia Woolf, so, here’s one such with which to end my impressions, which suggests both the struggle of these women against a restrictive society and within themselves:
… (plus d'informations)