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A Case of Curiosities (1992)

par Allen Kurzweil

Autres auteurs: Voir la section autres auteur(e)s.

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7671528,899 (3.81)15
This tale of an ambitious inventor in France as the Revolution looms is "brilliantly playful . . . full of lore and lewdness" (Chicago Tribune). "A portrait of a young mechanical genius in 18th-century France, delivered along with a gallimaufry of odd and intriguing facts and a rich, lusty picture of society in that time and place." --Publishers Weekly   In France, on the eve of the Revolution, a young man named Claude Page sets out to become the most ingenious and daring inventor of his time. Over the course of a career filled with violence and passion, Claude learns the arts of enameling and watchmaking from an irascible, defrocked abbé, then apprentices himself to a pornographic bookseller and applies his erotic erudition to the seduction of the wife of an impotent wigmaker.   But it is Claude's greatest device--a talking mechanical head--that both crowns his career and leads to an execution as tragic as that of Marie Antoinette, and far more bizarre.   "Like a joint effort by Henry Fielding and John Barth" (Chicago Tribune), this "captivating novel" (San Francisco Chronicle) marked the debut of one of the finest literary artists of our time.   "A Case of Curiosities . . . really is brilliant. Also witty, learned, ingenious, sly, and bawdy." --Entertainment Weekly   "What John Fowles did for the 19th century with The French Lieutenant's Woman and Umberto Eco did for the 14th with The Name of the Rose . . . Kurzweil now does for the late 18th century." --San Francisco Chronicle… (plus d'informations)
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My reaction to this book was rather mixed. Set in 18th-century France, it's the tale of Claude Page, son of an herbalist/healer, whose initial notoriety is that he bears a wart on his hand that resembles the king. A physician offers to remove it--but takes Claude's finger as well. Claude is sent to live with the Abbé, an atheistic dilettante, who recognizes the boy's talent for drawing and promises to educate him. However, Claude's main duties involve painting risqué scenes inside watch cases for the Abbé's clientele. When he discovers a talent for mechanical movement, he longs to be free to study the craft. Eventually, he ends up in Paris--but things do not work out quite as planned.

I found many of the characters to be both quirky and unique, but the overall pacing seems to be off. I was engaged in Claude's life in Tournay and his early employment with the Abbé, but there were times when the story dragged or felt repetitive. Things picked up when he got to Paris, but, again, I found myself getting bored, especially with all the descriptions of mechanical devices and equipment. ( )
  Cariola | May 26, 2018 |
I found this book tried to be too clever. I thought maybe it's just my age, and that i might have enjoyed it more 20 years ago when i knew less and was more impressed by clever things - but i found a bookmark from 20 years ago which reminded me that back then i didn't have the patience for the slow pace.
Allen is a cousin of Ray Kurtweil, a true genius. This book pretends to be a retelling of the journal and collection of a genius from a century ago, but it isn't careful enough to feel like history, and it isn't smart enough to feel like genius.
I liked the characters though. Nobody there to fall in love with, nothing happened to be afraid about, but they would have been great friends to hang out with in 19th century Paris. ( )
  andrewlorien | Jan 5, 2016 |
A very different writing style that was at times pulled off well and others found to be tedious. The was distraction and digression that complicated the direction. I thought to myself that the book felt from the beginning as a written version of the movie 'Hugo' -- so how curious that toward the end of the book there was a construction of an automaton. The first 245 pages were generally the precursor of the main theme. One got involved when first Claude was designing various types of toys, but then the writing took on a less personal feel when dealing with the construction of the Talking Turk. So, overall a dissatisfying read. ( )
  skraft001 | Jul 4, 2013 |

A great read: French history, watch- and gadget-making (and all books are one book: it and the just-read Invention of Hugo Cabret each deal with automata). Pleasantly geeky, with cases of curiosities and commonplace books. The kind of faux literary-historical novel that delights me.
  ljhliesl | May 21, 2013 |
If you are a polymath you will love this. ( )
  velvetink | Mar 31, 2013 |
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Nom de l'auteurRôleType d'auteurŒuvre ?Statut
Kurzweil, Allenauteur principaltoutes les éditionsconfirmé
Wit, Joy deTraducteurauteur secondairequelques éditionsconfirmé

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The case of curiosities came into my possession at a Paris auction in the spring of 1983.
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This tale of an ambitious inventor in France as the Revolution looms is "brilliantly playful . . . full of lore and lewdness" (Chicago Tribune). "A portrait of a young mechanical genius in 18th-century France, delivered along with a gallimaufry of odd and intriguing facts and a rich, lusty picture of society in that time and place." --Publishers Weekly   In France, on the eve of the Revolution, a young man named Claude Page sets out to become the most ingenious and daring inventor of his time. Over the course of a career filled with violence and passion, Claude learns the arts of enameling and watchmaking from an irascible, defrocked abbé, then apprentices himself to a pornographic bookseller and applies his erotic erudition to the seduction of the wife of an impotent wigmaker.   But it is Claude's greatest device--a talking mechanical head--that both crowns his career and leads to an execution as tragic as that of Marie Antoinette, and far more bizarre.   "Like a joint effort by Henry Fielding and John Barth" (Chicago Tribune), this "captivating novel" (San Francisco Chronicle) marked the debut of one of the finest literary artists of our time.   "A Case of Curiosities . . . really is brilliant. Also witty, learned, ingenious, sly, and bawdy." --Entertainment Weekly   "What John Fowles did for the 19th century with The French Lieutenant's Woman and Umberto Eco did for the 14th with The Name of the Rose . . . Kurzweil now does for the late 18th century." --San Francisco Chronicle

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