Review
To take issue with Ibsen's creations . . . is of course to pay tribute to their vitality, their instructive meaningfulness. The allusion here, provides a perfect example of that remarkable kinship, that constant intellectual exchange, between Scandinavian artists in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth, between those creative spirits of whom later writers and painters from the same provenance felt themselves the heirs. This interconnectedness is integral to Weinstein's ambitious new account of 'the breakthrough of Scandinavian literature and art, from Ibsen to Bergman', though his concern is principally with the congruity of his subjects' preoccupations and artistic choices. . . . [Weinstein's] style can rise to impressive levels of eloquence, and never more so than when he is writing of painting. (Paul Binding
Times Literary Supplement)
The most ambitious American effort in memory to view Scandinavian culture whole. It unfolds as if the head of our National Book Awards had denounced Scandinavian culture as too hermetic to merit attention in the United States. Almost in reply to such an imagined slight, Weinstein celebrates his subject for projecting a globally influential ethos that transcends any role as merely an occasional producer of world-class artists. (Carlin Romano
Chronicle of Higher Education)
This weighty, detailed, and authoritative but lively tome elucidates the revolution Scandinavia wrought in the world of arts and letters beginning in the 19th century. . . . Weinstein's is a brilliantly told story of how an underpopulated region developed from repressive backwater to cutting-edge artistic fulcrum. (
Atlantic)
This is comparative scholarship at its best. (
Choice)
From the Inside Flap
"Weinstein casts shimmering northern lights and reads deeply by them into the works of many Scandinavian godlike figures. Even better, he reveals to a wider world audience the startling, sometimes visionary, paintings of August Strindberg, Ernst Josephson, and Lena Cronqvist."--Rika Lesser, author of Questions of Love: New and Selected Poems
"Well-written and informative. Weinstein is a brilliant and sensitive reader of texts and an imaginative reader of paintings. There is not a chapter in this volume that I did not learn something from. Northern Arts was a pleasure to read. I know of nothing quite like this book."--Susan C. Brantly, author of Understanding Isak Dinesen
"Throughout his separate studies, Weinstein offers illuminating insights. I have benefited significantly from reading Northern Arts, gaining new perspective on specific works, authors, and artists I thought I already knew."--Reinhold Heller, author of Confronting Identities in German Art
"Northern Arts is a highly original and extremely engaging examination of masterpieces of Scandinavian literature and art that have not commanded the international attention they deserve. The book is full of original insights and critical perceptions. It represents a very valuable and rich contribution to our understanding of a wide range of literary and cultural phenomena."--Steven P. Sondrup, Brigham Young University
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
