- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Counterpoint (Dec 3 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1887178651
- ISBN-13: 978-1887178655
- Product Dimensions: 16.3 x 11.9 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A postmodern, feminist variation on the Marquis de Sade's book of the same name, this American debut from Scots writer Thompson is a compelling, though abstract, meditation on identity and desire. The nameless male narrator, a handsome, wealthy aesthete whose physique is marred by a deformed foot, owns a portrait of a beautiful young woman named Justine. At his mother's funeral, he spies the portrait made flesh, but the real Justine leaves before he can speak to her. Later, he thinks he sees her again at an art museum, but this slightly less beautiful woman turns out to be Justine's twin sister, Juliette, whom the narrator seduces in hopes of finding her sister. When he does finally meet his reclusive beloved, she tells him that she is being stalked by an obsessive fan of her just-published novel, whom she fears is trying to kidnap her. Then Justine is apparently kidnapped, and Juliette also abruptly disappears, leaving the increasingly delusional narrator to search for the truth. More intellectual entertainment than explicit or transgressive fiction, Thompson's novel recalls John Fowles's The Magus or Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy more than it does the perverse and menacing work of de Sade?which will doubtlessly come as good news to some readers.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Scottish writer Thompsons second outing is her first hereand while some will groan at its jejune, vapid, imitative clunkiness, others will be smitten by its psycho-feminist puzzlings and probings. With debts to Henry James, Oscar Wilde, the Marquis de Sade, etc., etc., etc., Thompson takes a nameless and reclusive hyper-aesthete, makes him god-like of face and club of foot, surrounds him with glorious objets dart in his Kensington Gardens flat, and has him fall passionately in lovewith a portrait on the wall. Whether hes in love with the real Justine or the ideal Justine of the portrait, whether he loves the woman or wants to own her, remain (as theyve long, long had a way of doing) central to the mysteries, mazes, dreams, terrors, and tortures that follow, with an outcome that readers will have to find out for themselves. Our narrator, though, thinking himself divinely blessed by the fate of being spoken to by the real Justine in the stacks of a library ( Why me? Because of your face. It is like Michelangelos Adam reaching out to God ), ends up tricked, then tricked and tricked again not only by Justine but by Justines twin sister Juliette, even to the point of committing a murder (uh-huh, its very, very, very gory) in order to save Justine from a murderer of her ownthough from then on, things go badly indeed for Narrator, who will follow mazes and enter houses hes seen in dreams, find himself behind bars, lose his club foot, and... But one mustnt tell too much. Admittedly, there are brief moments, especially near the end, of psychological interest, mystery, even a certain penetration, though the road to them is well paved with banality (However, I could hardly take what she was telling me seriouslyit read like something out of a bad detective novel). For those, only, who like their mind- and gender-teasers in novel form. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN INTERESTING, GENTLY EROTIC MYSTERY,
By
This review is from: Justine (Hardcover)
I discovered Alice Thompson's JUSTINE quite by accident -- and I'm rather glad I did. I was put off at first when I read about its relation to DeSade's writings -- I didn't really want to read a re-hash of that. Upon further inspection, I decided to give it a try.It's not one of the best books I've read in the last year, but I thought it was quite well-written and interesting. The narrator was just odd enough (in an English way [no offense to you UK residents!]) to make him slightly endearing, even with his rampant obsessive qualities. Without giving away the outcome, I'll add that I suspected what it would be -- but I didn't feel this detracted much from the suspense of the story. There is quite a bit of eroticism at play here -- but it's understated and subtle, not overt. Those readers who might shy away from something labelled 'erotic', thinking to avoid soft-core (or worse) pornography need not be concerned. The erotic/sexual content of the novel is tasteful and not given to over-wrought, photo-like descriptions -- Thompson has exercised subtlety and taste here. I didn't notice that the author was a member of the Woodentops until I was well into the book -- it's nice to see someone who has had some success in one artistic genre branching out into another, exercising her talents and imagination.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN INTERESTING, GENTLY EROTIC MYSTERY,
By Larry L. Looney - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Justine (Hardcover)
I discovered Alice Thompson's JUSTINE quite by accident -- and I'm rather glad I did. I was put off at first when I read about its relation to DeSade's writings -- I didn't really want to read a re-hash of that. Upon further inspection, I decided to give it a try.It's not one of the best books I've read in the last year, but I thought it was quite well-written and interesting. The narrator was just odd enough (in an English way [no offense to you UK residents!]) to make him slightly endearing, even with his rampant obsessive qualities. Without giving away the outcome, I'll add that I suspected what it would be -- but I didn't feel this detracted much from the suspense of the story. There is quite a bit of eroticism at play here -- but it's understated and subtle, not overt. Those readers who might shy away from something labelled 'erotic', thinking to avoid soft-core (or worse) pornography need not be concerned. The erotic/sexual content of the novel is tasteful and not given to over-wrought, photo-like descriptions -- Thompson has exercised subtlety and taste here. I didn't notice that the author was a member of the Woodentops until I was well into the book -- it's nice to see someone who has had some success in one artistic genre branching out into another, exercising her talents and imagination. 3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pretentious and underachieving,
By A. Whitney - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Justine (Paperback)
I must admit that I have not read any of de Sade's works, so my review may be colored by that fact. However, I felt that the narrator's voice was tiresome and uninteresting. His take on being an appreciator of beauty wore thin on me. Even with a mild deformity, he was uninteresting. I figured out the story line ahead of time and felt nothing about any of the characters. I wasn't expecting an erotic novel, but I was hoping to get what the book jacket advertised, "the wit of Wilde, the sublimity of Poe." It didn't even come close. Save your money or look elsewhere for something more engaging. Sorry.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Interesting,
By Lotan Sharon - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Justine (Hardcover)
Justine, by Alice Thompson, is a very interesting read. I especially liked the way reality and fantasy are interwined and can hardly be separated. It was a very nice book, though I'm sure my reading it in a Hebrew translation has flawed it's charm. But even in translation, the writing is very flowing and it was simply impossible to put the book down (though I did have a test to study to, at the time). All and all, a very recomended book for th lovers of good fiction.
|
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
