Thief's Journal: Amazon.ca: Books

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Convicts' garb is striped pink and white. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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6 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant, accessible intro to Genet, May 15 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Thief's Journal (Paperback)

Genet's "the Thief's Journal" is to me his greatest novel-if that's whatyou want to categorize it as.
The only reason I don't say its his greatest book is because of a wonderful book called "Prisoner of Love", and who knows what may turn up altho I doubt much of anything as he was so private and transient. Anyway, it clearly maps out the genesis of his artistic, sexual, and criminal life. For any gay male reader, it is essential, higher in priority than almost any other gay fiction. Of course, it is essential not just to gays but any serious reader. On a final note it is also quite accessible. so if you tried reading "Our Lady..." or others I think you will be pleasantly surprised and absorbed. If you like French novels of the forties you might also check out the writer Celine. He is quite caustic and brilliant and many of his novels are in English. For cultural referents, Todd Haynes film "Poison" wa in part inspired by Genet and John Waters named Glenn Milstead "DIVINE" from one of Genet's novels. So there you are

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5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful work, Sep 23 2003

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PuppyTalk "BlackMutt" (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thief's Journal (Paperback)

I've read the Japanese translation of this book several times some years ago. It is a well known fact that western languages are so very difficult to transltate into Japanese language, but this book did not seem to suffer as much as others.

It is intellectually very satisfying, the language is exceptionally beautiful, and more than anything else, it is very gentle.

It does not have many dialogs, and not a story, since it's a journal, but it's a very readable book and easy to follow even for someone like me who can only read books in a story-telling format.

If you feel like something gentle, this book is a good companion.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Jean Genet is a magician, Sep 20 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Thief's Journal (Paperback)

Jean Genet suffers a lot, I think, due to popular culture...the fact that his works necessarily involve homosexual activities leads mainstream culture (including even university professors!) to marginalize him beyond all rational limits, and leads conversely, the gay community to celebrate him possibly a little too much...but that's just my opinion. The fact is that he's a master of language, and when he writes about almost anything, it's transformed into an incredible landscape of experience, thought, desire, motives. In most of his purely fictional works he acts as an omniscient narrator to describe exactly why the characters do as they do...and in a way that not only makes perfect sense, but also in a way that the reader probably never thought of. This work being mostly autobiographical differs, actually, not much. If all you asked of this book was to take you into the world of small-time crime and skid row activities of barely post world war II europe, you'll be more than happily surprised. If you demand more, direct transportation even, to the world he was living in, you won't be disappointed.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars In The Age Of The Poet-Assassins
In Jean Genet's complex novel The Thief's Journal, the author has modeled his protagonist, Jean, on himself, and the loose, conversational plot after his own experiences as a... Read more

Published on Sep 24 2002 by J. E. Barnes

5.0 out of 5 stars Among my very favourite books
This book is mesmerising. The distinction between the beautiful and the obscene is folded inside out like a velvet glove. Abjection has never seemed so appealing.

Published on Nov 8 2001 by jacob cohen