- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (May 1 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0802138268
- ISBN-13: 978-0802138262
- Product Dimensions: 2.1 x 1.4 x 0.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 227 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #926,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Argentine writer Andahazi (The Anatomist) fictionalizes, tongue in cheek, the legendary beginnings of the gothic novel in this slender, winningly erudite volume. In the Swiss Alps, where Percy Bysshe and Mary Shelley, Mary's stepsister and Lord Byron live in the summer of 1816, the writers contend with the ambitions of John Polidori, Byron's gloomy secretary, who winds up shocking everyone with the first masterful gothic tale, The Vampyre, but only because he's struck a Faustian deal with a devilish woman. Arch, but never smug or precious, Andahazi's tale centers on the disgruntled Polidori, a brooding, self- important scrap of a man who feels "a delicious pleasure in self-pity," and whose foul mood only improves when he receives a strange series of missives, penned by an enigmatic pariah who refers to herself as Annette Legrand. Readers swiftly learn that Annette is a hideously misshapen but preternaturally intelligent freak of nature, formed from the membranous excrescence that linked her two sisters, Colette and Babette, in utero. Vampirishly dependent upon "the essential fluid that only... men possess," Annette has heretofore relied upon her gorgeous sisters' seductions to provide her with sustenance. Now desperate for the "elixir" that her aging siblings can no longer easily obtain, Annette suggests a bizarre arrangement to the ambitious, fame-seeking Polidori: if he provides her with his seed, she will provide him with an unpublished manuscript of rare depth and inventiveness, which he can pass off as his own creation. Written entirely in a cleverly modulated mock-Gothic style, encompassing references from Edgar Allan Poe's The Gold-Bug to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Andahazi's well-researched tale succeeds as an elegant, clever deconstruction of authorship, imagination and the writing process. This is a short, tricky novel, peopled almost exclusively by broadly limned caricatures and with a plot hinging on a few well-placed double-crosses. As a piece of mock-scholarly, wickedly ironic entertainment, it is an utter delight. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Andahazi, the best-selling Argentine author of The Anatomist, brings his readers another raucous exploration of sensuality and sexuality. The framing characters are familiar enough: Lord Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley, and Mary's stepsister are spending summer 1816 in a Swiss villa, where each vies to write the best vampire story. But the most terrifying story is not of any of these brilliant writers but of John Polidori, Byron's resentful secretary, who makes a pact of sorts with the devil in order to achieve his literary ambitions. Poor Polidori, of course, gains neither fame nor fortune but descends into orgies, opium, and madness. Andahazi's adult tale of literary creation is as darkly humorous and grim as any early 19th-century Gothic novel. This translation of Las Piadosas is appropriate for large collections.DMary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE CLOUDS WERE BLACK CATHEDRALS, TALL and Gothic, about to topple at any moment on to the city of Geneva. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE CLOUDS WERE BLACK CATHEDRALS, TALL and Gothic, about to topple at any moment on to the city of Geneva. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
love it or hate it,
By madhu m (Chennai, India) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Merciful Women (Paperback)
andahazi's delightfully quirky novel about the birth of the gothic novel, the authors involved and thier dark muse has not surprisingly cut readers down teh middle. a quick look at teh earlier ratings suggests that readers have either loved or hated it. i, thankfully, belong to the former group and must admit that i thoroughly enjoyed this devious tale written with sublime black humour. this book is clearly not for the faint or heart or the squeamish but if you are willing to be led down some sleazy alleys andahazi delivers his goods. the translation by alberto manguel is top class and it is hard to imagine this was not written in english. the book does no offer much breadth of scope but what it promises it delivers.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A dark, ironic parody of the Gothic genre....,
By Loxy (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Merciful Women (Paperback)
On a dark stormy night, a group of people holidaying by Lake Geneva gather to read out their stories. It is a competition devised by the dashing Lord Byron, to see who can write the most horrific and terrifying story... one of these people is Mary Shelley....This book is a fantastic parody of the Gothic genre; the dark stormy nights, the mysterious castle and the heaving,storm-tossed lake... all in all, a tremendous read for anyone who enjoys Gothic tales or their parodies. Although sometimes graphic, the story is gripping and the elements of historical truth are enough to keep you interested right up to the thrilling and unexpected end. The book is filled with dark irony, and the intertextual references to the Gothic genre and the creation of that monstrous, classic tale Frankenstien, are witty and clever, but the book can be enjoyed on many levels. I would highly recommend this book, and have bought multiple copies for all of my friends.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Argentinian Ego,
By "diplopito" (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Merciful Women (Hardcover)
This novel is an extreme example of the Argentinian ego: I guess only men from Argentina could possibly dream that the semen they throw away after jerking off will feed --by a dark and horrendous coincidence--, the life of two beautiful women. To make it short, even the semen they throw away is able to give life to another person, how glorious they are!!The review of Donna Seaman above is absolutely ridiculous. John Polidori did exist and he is the author of "The Vampyre," the novel that paved the way for all the future vampyre novels, with Bram Stoker's "Dracula" at its peak. From where does she believe that Polidori is an original Andahazi character can only be explained by laziness: the first five results after querying google for John William Polidori tell the whole story. I only write this review to prevent other readers to spend their time and money in a silly and disgusting book.
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