After the Banquet

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After the Banquet
Yukio Mishima
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KF2GPW

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Timeless sentiments

Mishima's strongest writing outside The Sea Of Fertility.

A great book about love, politics and money in 1960s Japan

love it

a woman ahead of her time

After the Banquet (Vintage Classics)
Yukio Mishima
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Japanese | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Mishima, Yukio | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 009928278X

Customer Reviews:

Timeless sentiments.......2007-05-13

This is actually one of the easier to understand writings from the infamous Mishima. The provocative sentiments he evokes in this story gives timeless relevance in every corner of the earth in this romance between an entrepreneuring new rich with noble spirit to elevate her loved one, an aristocrat who ran out of money.

Mishima's strongest writing outside The Sea Of Fertility........2007-03-25

Mishima wrote After The Banquet well into the second half of his career. It was one of his last books before The Sea Of Fertility. So, his worldview was surely fully formed by this point. Yet, the book breaks quite a few of the stereotypes that surround Mishima's work.

First of all, the main character is a woman. This is rare for Mishima, who had quite a reputation for manliness. The last time he had a female protagonist was in Thirst For Love, his second novel. But there, the woman was obviously a cardboard cut-out more than a character, a hysterical "repressed housewife" type who lost her head over a strong, manly young man. Not in After The Banquet, though. Dig this quote: "Kazu...realized that for all her headstrong temperament, she had never loved a man younger than herself. A young man has such a surplus of spiritual and physical gifts that he is likely to be cocksure of himself, particularly when dealing with an older woman, and there is no telling how swelled up with self-importance he may become. Besides, Kazu felt a physical repugnance for youth. A woman is more keenly aware than a man of the shocking disharmony between a young man's spiritual and physical qualities, and Kazu had never met a young man who wore his youth well. She was moreover repelled by the sleekness of a young man's skin." (31-2)

This is a strange statement, coming from a man who allegedly worshipped youth and physical fitness, to the extent that he voiced a desire to die before he ever grew old. Not only is Mishima disparaging young men, he's doing so from the perspective of a woman over fifty. And this woman is not a decrepit and bitter shell like, say, the old Honda in the last two volumes of The Sea Of Fertility, but a vivacious, energetic hell-raiser. Well, then.

So anyway, in After The Banquet, the strong and lively older woman falls in love with a sixty-year-old politician who professes radical views. This happens when she is present at a dinner attended by various old politicians, and she sees that this particular man was the only one at the gathering who still expressed some passion for the present, instead of constantly reliving past glories. This part is well in line with Mishima's supposed views. After all, Mishima was also widely considered to be an old-school nationalist radical.

But, interestingly enough, he never explains Noguchi's political views in the novel. It is stated that Noguchi is a member of the Radical Party, but that's all. There is no way to tell if this party is liberal or conservative. Mishima states that Noguchi likes to lecture his wife on socialism, but not whether he is for or against it. The one scene that depicts a political speech given by Noguchi is full of deliberate comedy. Mishima portrays Noguchi as a terrible public speaker, and the only one of his positions that the book reveals is something silly about banning bicycles in public places. In other words, Mishima is quite consciously poking fun at this principled radical.

Mishima does generally speak with admiration about Noguchi's sense of honour, but within limits. For instance, Noguchi does not allow his wife to buy him a new suit, and prefers to go about dressed in clothes that he bought decades ago. Mishima shows his approval through the wife's eyes, but nonetheless describes Noguchi's behaviour as follows: "Such childish drivel, as anyone could see, covered an undercurrent of narrow-minded dread." (170) In another chapter, Noguchi gets angry at his wife when she tells him about how his friends talk about them behind his back. Mishima's commentary: "This was Kazu's first intimation that her husband's noble mind lacked sufficient powers of discernment." (94)

There's another line of thought regarding Mishima that holds that he didn't really care about politics, he only cared about dying a glorious death when he was still in his prime as a man. This explanation can be plausible, and the book's mild mockery of Noguchi, even as it praises him, may appear to support it. But that still doesn't explain the protagonist, quite old by Mishima's standard. Kazu does think about death, like many of Mishima's characters, but there's a refreshingly convincing materialistic streak to these thoughts. She wants to die as a part of a respected family, and to be buried among dignified people. This objective is more suitable to highly motivated people who build their fortune from nothing on their own than to radical dreamers with some abstract idea of honour or national greatness. And by the end of the book, she rethinks even this position. This is quite different from, say, Mizoguchi's dreams of beauty and fire in The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion -- even though, it must be noted, Mizoguchi ends up deciding that he wants to live.

Perhaps the only aspect in which Kazu might be a "typical" Mishima character is that she never thinks about having a family. It's a bit strange that a woman of fifty would appear to feel no regret about having no children. It may be that she is too cynical to believe that she might want to have children with any man, but nonetheless, in her private moments, she might still wish that she had had children, even abstractly. However, there is a passage in the book that may imply that her thoughts about death are caused in part by her lack of family.

There's a common image of Mishima as a "philosophical" writer, interested in big ideas more than the lives of individuals. But when he had a mind to, he could write about real life with exceptional humour and attention to detail. Kazu's worldliness annoys and upsets her husband. And it seems that Mishima likes her more than him.

A great book about love, politics and money in 1960s Japan.......2004-01-28

Kazu is a middle-aged woman and the proprietress of a successful restaurant -- the Setsugoan -- in Tokyo. During a banquet for the Kagen Club, she meets and falls in love with Yuken Noguchi, a aristocrat and retired politician. They wed, and soon, Kazu decides to secretly use her wealth to aid her husband in returning to public office, despite protestions and warnings from her friends.

"After the Banquet" is a fascinating look at love and politics. Kazu is head-strong, wealthy and not ashamed to use her money to get what she desires. Noguchi, a few years older than her, is idealistic and stubborn, wanting to stick to win the election on his own. Along with that clash, they are also torn between the modern Japanese woman and the traditional role of the Japanese wife. Kazu wants to be out and about, aiding her husband any way she can; Noguchi is determined to keep her out of politics, at one point even forbidding her to leave the house.

It's amazing to see how Yukio Mishima sets these two opposties together, how they interact with each other and with the world of politics. A great book.

love it.......2002-07-11

the main plotline of this story may not sound very compelling, but this is not the main attraction - what draws you into the story is the way that Mishima is so deft in his character portraits. he give descriptions of things like hand movements and facial expressions in such a subtle way that very early on in the novel you feel as if you intimately know and understand the main characters - so much so that you can see them clearly in your minds eye - not just their appearace, but expressions, feelings, and mannerisms. i think that this is a great strength of mishima's in the novel - in presenting a psychological portrayal of his characters.

After the banquet tells the story of a mature, successful japanese woman who gives up her restaurant business to devote herself to marriage with a politician. a politician you say - how boring - but noguchi is different, he has an honesty and vitality about him -"Why don't we drop all this talk about the old days? We're still young after all."

however the relationship is doomed because of an impotant diference - kazu has had to work very hard to gain success in life, even if it meant acting in an immoral way. her husband, on the other hand, has been born into an easier life; therefore respect and integrity are more important to him than 'commercial' success. this all comes to a head when kazu tries to revive her husbands ailing political career, using methods he cannot approve of.

even if you find the plot incredibly boring, you just HAVE to love Kazu. she's not just successful and streetwise - she can act despicably at times, causing us to wonder if she has any feelings at all. you'd think this would make you hate her, but it does just the opposite because although her behaviour can be devious and manipulative, it is at the same time chidish and has an innocence about it. if you've read Chaucer's Wife of Bath then you'll know wht i mean; somtimes you want to strangle her, at others admire her.
even if yu find yourself really not liking kazu, you have to admire her if only for the fact that she managed to make herself so successful having come from a very poor backround - she is a woman before her time.

i just gotta say one more thing - its very interesting to see hoe kazu and nouchi can both be innocent, but in different ways - noguchi in his trust in so-called 'friends', and kazu in her manipulation of people - although it could be argured this shows qualities that are anything but innocent and childish.

ultimately, kazu has to make a choice; unfortunately, she cannot have the successful career and 'wifey' role at he same time. she must choose between conforming and resisting, between acting in her own or others interests.

a woman ahead of her time.......2001-11-06

i loved the main character of this book,Kazu,who burned with ambition without an outlet until she met and married an elderly politician. She risked everything to help him succeed in office,with disasterous results. Her energy and optimism are an inspiration,especially when placed in the setting of post WW2 Japan.

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AFTER THE BANQUET
MISHIMA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GR7O7E

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After the Banquet

Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HA03AU

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After the Banquet

Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0425020118

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After the Banquet

Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFLB1U

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After the Banquet
YUKIO MISHIMI
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NNCP98

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After the Banquet 1ST Edition
Yukio Mishima
Manufacturer: KNOPF, ALFRED A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V69BAI

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After the Banquet.
Yukio. MISHIMA
Manufacturer: Secker & Warburg, 1963. 1st UK Edition.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0000CLUB6

The Banquet Book: A Classified Collection of Quotations Designed for General Reference, and Also As a Aid in the Preparation of the Toast List, the After-Dinner Speech

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The Banquet Book: A Classified Collection of Quotations Designed for General Reference, and Also As a Aid in the Preparation of the Toast List, the After-Dinner Speech
Cuyler Reynolds
Manufacturer: Omnigraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Quotations | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

Public Speaking | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0780803019

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The Shadows Stay Shadowed

Great writing, not-so-great characters

good read

poetic romp

Good display of talent yet very complex story
Ombria in Shadow
Patricia A. McKillip
Manufacturer: Ace Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

McKillip, Patricia A. | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0441010164
Release Date: 2003-02-04

Amazon.com

As Ombria in Shadow demonstrates, World Fantasy Award winner Patricia A. McKillip (author of Riddle-Master, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, and other novels) ranks with Ursula K. Le Guin and Jane Yolen as one of the great fantasists of the 20th century--and the 21st.

The Prince of Ombria lies dying, and already his sinister great-aunt, Domina Pearl--called the Black Pearl--is seizing power. The Prince's heir is a child, a boy too young to oppose her, and the Prince's nephew is a powerless bastard, an artist preoccupied with sketching the decaying city. No one lives who may stop the Black Pearl's ascent to the throne, or so it seems. But beneath the streets of Ombria lies a second, shadow Ombria, a buried city inhabited not only by ghosts, but by a powerful, mysterious sorceress and her creation, a girl sculpted from wax. But the sorceress is a woman of uncertain allegiances, and her beautiful young assistant has become fascinated by the Prince's bastard nephew--and has caught the malevolent eye of the Black Pearl. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

Ombria. It is a city that echoes with the footfalls of sapphire-heeled shoes...that holds its breath as a straw-haired apparition glides through its streets...that sees its dreams-and nightmares-take shape in the drawings of a bastard-heir. It is an enchanted time and place envisioned by World Fantasy Award winner Patricia A. McKillip, acclaimed author of The Tower at Stony Wood...

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"Ombria. It is a city that echoes with the footfalls of sapphire-heeled shoes that holds its breath as a straw-haired apparition glides through its streets that sees its dreams and nightmares take shape in the drawings of a bastard-heir. It is an enchanted time and place envisioned by World Fantasy Award winner Patricia A. McKillip, acclaimed author of The Tower at Stony Wood. When Ombria¿s prince, Royce Greve, breathes his last in palace rooms high above the city he leaves his young son at the mercy of his ancient great-aunt, Domina Pearl a woman who has plotted her rise to power in Ombria for far too many years to allow a little boy to stand in her way. Already she has thrown Greve¿s pretty mistress out into the streets, where no one would expect her to live an hour. The boy will take her a little longer. Meanwhile, in a dreamlike underworld peopled by Ombria¿s ghosts, a sorceress weaves her spells and brews her potions, never revealing her real face or true heart. And somewhere in between, the struggle to rule the whole of Ombria both its light and shadows will rest in the hands of those whose fractured lives align like the lost pieces of a magical puzzle"

Customer Reviews:

The Shadows Stay Shadowed.......2007-01-09

I loved this book for its poetic language, its characters and its atmosphere. I was surprised, however, that the ending revealed so little. There seemed to be such original ideas brewing beneath the surface of the politics and intrigue. Unless I missed something, it never explained what the Shadow city was, what its relationship to Ombria was, what the shift was, why it happened, or who the sorceresses were. I picked up some implications that Mag may have been half of the shadow city, but it never said, and it didn't say whether she was related to Ducon in some way. I suppose the characters' lives were fixed in the end, but I was still confused. I wanted a more in-depth revelation of the nature of this world.

Great writing, not-so-great characters.......2006-11-10

The writing is gorgeous, which is a given for McKillip. But all three characters are exactly alike -- and, while two are women, the third is supposed to be a guy! Plus, the actual quest got a little murky for me. I was never sure exactly how our main characters are supposed to save Ombria. Longer review available at my Impatient Reader website; see my Amazon profile for the URL.

good read.......2005-08-31

I stayed up until three finishing this book. It is a good solid fantasy book with enjoyable, believable characters.

poetic romp.......2005-02-06

Ombria in Shadow is a great book. Patricia McKillip's true conquest is one of language. It took me two chapters to really find a groove with the reading, but once I did, the book wasn't long enough. I kept wanting the chapters to be longer, I kept wanting to spend more time with the characters. For me, that's a mark of great writing.

For anyone who reads fantasy, here's a chance for something different. For anyone who pointedly doesn't read fantasy, here's a chance for something different. I would definitely say that this is a reader's book.

Good display of talent yet very complex story.......2004-07-17

From reading this book one can tell that Patricia A. Mckillip is a very good author. Her use of literary devices are spectacular and the story is quite in-depth. I did enjoy this book, but I was very confused throughout most of it. It's somewhat thought provoking yet too far out to actually relate to. Something was lacking as well, I'm not quite sure what it was. Perhaps it's that in the beginning of the book there wasn't much plot development. Although regardless of that it still feels like there is something missing.

All in all, I don't regret reading this book. I was just bothered by how some aspects of it are nearly incomprehensible.

Customer Reviews:

Great, fun break from the other novels!.......2002-09-25

The Doctor, Fitz and new companion, Anji Kapoor arrive on a world that honours the planet Earth by showcasing time periods in a fun park manner. Whilst getting lost on the world all three must deal with dangerous dinosaurs, Killer robots, homicidal triplets, talking Sphinx and Elvis impersonators before they can work out what exactly is going on.

Jacqueline Rayner's first foray in to the BBC Doctor Who novels is brilliant. What better way to have Anji's first real adventure than to throw her into a really bizarre situation to flesh out what her character will be like..

Alongside Anji trying to come to terms with the loss of her boyfriend, Dave (Escape Velocity), and trying to deal with this bizarre new life she has with the Doctor, Fitz also must come to terms with the knowledge that he is not the original Fitz Kreiner, only a `remembered' copy. Plus the Doctor is once again showing that he is not the man he was by acting in a more violent manner.

Overall, a great break in the serious books preceding it, very funny moments with great character development. RECOMMENDED!

It's crazy, it's loopy, it's altogether kooky.......2001-12-05

EARTHWORLD is quite an oddity. Not only does it do strange and unpredictable things, but one can't even anticipate when it will be bizarre and when it will become sober. The goofiness peaks earlier than one might expect, leaving the rest of the story to take a surprisingly serious turn (though it's still not all that serious). EARTHWORLD is one of those wacky stories that defy categorization. This is sort of a mixture of Douglas Adams, Terrance Dicks, and Isaac Asimov, with a dash of Red Dwarf and a measure of Blackadder. That doesn't really sum it up, of course, but it does give you the basic idea of what's going on.

The story begins in full romp-mode. Some of the early jokes don't work as well as they might, and right away one wonders if this is going to be a long, dull collection of jokes that are supposed to be funny, but just aren't (the only thing worse than a joke that falls completely flat is a book full of jokes that fall completely flat). Fortunately, the book steadies itself quickly enough and becomes much more assured and enjoyable.

All of the regulars shine with Anji in particular given some very good character development in her first story away from Earth. Placing her in the middle of an action romp while she's still grieving over the events from the previous story might seem like a terrible idea, but its one that ends up being played extremely well. I was worried at first, as all that Anji seemed to be doing was to deliberately distract herself from the issues, and I was afraid that the whole book would be spent avoiding the subject. To my surprise and great enjoyment, the matter was not only brought up, but handled extremely well. The smooth way in which this is handled is fairly indicative of the book as a whole; it starts off light and frothy, but when you aren't looking it becomes something much more subtle and strong.

Any way you look at it, EARTHWORLD was an enjoyable read. It entertains, it amuses and it is very well written for a first novel. There are some companion issues dealt with here that have needed to be addressed for quite some time, and it's nice to see the book not dance around the problems. The opening sections do have an overly light feel to them, and the way that a few jokes fail may give the reader a little pause to wonder if he/she really wants to finish the rest. Fortunately, EARTHWORLD is one of the few Doctor Who books that starts mediocre and rises to the occasion. The final seven pages are pure, understated wonderfulness.

"Earth"-shock.......2001-11-14

Many TV tie-in action/adventure novels have a similar feel to them. A book begins with 150 pages of token plot exposition and character development, and then the final 150 pages essentially ignore the build-up in favor of running around and blowing things up. Major characters die, to lend the book an "adult" feel, and maybe there's a token unconvincing romance.

Not Jac Rayner's "Earthworld" -- Jac (the first woman to solo-write a DW novel in five years) neatly flips the formula on its head. Here the silly running around is confined to the beginning. Earthworld is a wacky historical theme park, built on "New Jupiter" (ha ha) thousands of years in the future. The android park attractions run amok and kill a lot of people offscreen. An Elvis impersonator strips down to (glittery sequined) boxer shorts for an impromptu game of Celebrity Deathmatch. The name of the President of Earthworld begins "John F. ...". See where this is going?

Happily, Jac puts back all the stops and submits a final 100 pages that are more serious and thoughtful than anyone had a right to expect, based on the beginning and middle. Characters suddenly interact in touching ways. There's a thoughtful, happy ending for (most of) the Earthworld characters. The TARDIS crew, fractured for so long, are handled with something akin to tenderness: Fitz gains new resolve, the Doctor begins to function even without his memory, and Anji...

...Anji, in only her second book as companion, is rewarded with a stunning 7-page finale that works through the trauma that befell her in "Escape Velocity", her debut. Especially coming as they do so soon after the silly opening, these final pages left me quite satisfied with "Earthworld" indeed.

Even if broad, miss-the-mark satire isn't your game, you'll still enjoy "Earthworld", a deeper book than usual.

Travelling in space and time once more.......2001-03-31

Following on from the events of 'Escape Velocity', the Doctor, Fitz and Anji find themselves back in Earth's prehistoric past encountering, is short order, a dinosaur and a caveman. Since these two are from different periods, it is plain something is wrong. They soon pass through barriers to other time periods, which also show a similar degree of wrongness. What has caused this? And are they even on Earth?

The first new adventure of the Doctor travelling through time and space following the stranded on earth story arc borrows significantly from the past: we have a beginning that looks like the changeover between the first two episodes of the TV series, a world set up not dissimilar to that in 'The War Games', a Doctor without his memories like 'Spearhead from Space', and so forth. And then it borrows from a movie, the name of which I won't reveal to avoid giving away the plot, but it is something-world, too.

So with all these references, how does the book stand up? Very well, thanks. Despite them, the novel is very much itself - its tone is nothing like those it recalls, and Jac Rayner is obviously in control. The story contains a variety of humorous elements, ranging from light to quite black, but the humour doesn't unduly dominate.

Perhaps most importantly, the characters of Fitz and Anji receive a lot of focus. This is Anji's first book as a full-fledged companion, and she wasn't the most sympathetic character in her first appearance. She ends up far more rounded, and the repeated literary device of her composing imaginary emails to her dead boyfriend helps to deepen both her and her now lost relationship.

Fitz has been out of the books for a while, and there are some facts about the character that really haven't been given due attention. This book helps to reintroduce him as a sort-of lovable loser while bringing these difficult facts to the foreground and having them dealt with - for the moment, anyway. With the Doctor still not having fully recovered his memory, Fitz has many more cards in his hand than either of his travelling companions, but needs to be conscious of what gets out as it may force the Doctor back to the state that his century-long recovery on Earth has been meant to heal.

Character driven and with a fun plot, this book is a good read. It is possibly a little overly backwards referencing for it to be a good start for new readers of the series, but regular readers should enjoy it.

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EarthWorld: Mind Orgasm Energy Leap
Michael Barth
Manufacturer: Self-published, Ashland, Oregon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000RMHJ50

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Wonderful for the philosophically inclined

Realizing Emptiness: Madhyamaka Insight Meditation
Gen Lamrimpa
Manufacturer: Snow Lion Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Buddhism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Meditations | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1559391804

Book Description

Gen Lamrimpa explains in a practical and down-to-earth fasion how to analyze experience to fathom how it has been mispercieved and misunderstood because of our many delusions, and how to use Madhyamaka reasoning to experience how all things only exist as dependently related events rather than in themselves.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful for the philosophically inclined.......2000-09-08

This book is the second collaboration between Gelukba scholar and meditator Gen Lamrimpa and B. Alan Wallace. The first, Calming the Mind, remains the single most helpful book on meditation practice that I have read. While that book focused on stablizing meditation called Calm Abiding, this book focuses on the discursive analytic meditation on empiness known as Special Insight. Also included are two very interesting brief essays on the Nyingma tantric meditation technique Dzog Chen.

Realizing Emptiness is a very technical work and will be of particular benefit to those who have some familiarity with Madhyamaka, especially the Gelukba formulation of this philosophy. For those who do this book is an absolute treasure. Realizing Emptiness fills a conspicuous void in the western scholarly discussion of Madhyamaka -- namely, it contains a valuable discussion about how it is that conceptual thought relates to afflictive ignorance. This occupies the first forty pages or so, and the rest of the book goes through the technique and reasonings on emptiness.

Book Description

Within the last ten years, there has been a distinct shift away from purely theoretical forms of critical enquiry towards the uses of material evidence in literary scholarship. This book responds to this change, providing an introduction to the language and concepts employed in book history and textual scholarship, as these pertain to early modern manuscripts and printed texts. Both forms of textual production are considered together, since the methods used to approach each one are similar. The author takes the reader through the process of examining early modern printed books and manuscripts as artefacts. Firstly, he explains how to look at such documents, how to describe them properly, and how to read their material signs. Secondly, he demonstrates how to use that information, together with an understanding of the processes of production and modification, as a tool for studying the transmission of literary documents. He also makes clear why such matters are important and the purposes to which such information is put.

Book Description

Lurzer's Archive Special Design for Music 1 presents the pick of new CD covers, booklets, flyers and stickers.

Book Description

“Trenchant in its critical analysis, absorbing and sympathetic in its account of his private life, Kezich’s Fellini is a revelation. It effaces virtually everything written to date about the Italian maestro . . . This engrossing biography mirrors its subject. It’s affectionate, garrulous and often rambling, and in sudden flashes of brilliance it offers a penetrating view of Fellini’s life and art.” —Peter Cowie, The Nation

“Few writers are able to approach Fellini with the privilege of intimate experience and friendship . . . Kezich fills the pages of this biography with uncommon detail and artistry, presenting a chronicle that weaves life with film, fact with fantasy, in a style reminiscent of the great director’s avant-garde style . . . For the aficionado of Fellini’s works, this narrative of his life provides a sea of subtle, precious anecdotes. To those yet unacquainted with the Italian master, the book is an introduction not only to the man’s life, but his art, also. It’s a captivating read.” —Karoun Demirjian, The Christian Science Monitor

“Kezich’s forty-year friendship with the maestro allows him to offer up an intimate and lively portrait of Fellini filled with revealing anecdotes and psychological insight.” —Michel Ciment, author of Kubrick and Kazan on Kazan

Customer Reviews:

Hagiography, not biography.......2006-04-26

Tullio Kezich claims to have been a long time friend of Federico Fellini and perhaps that's one of the several reasons this biography is very disappointing.

Kezich approaches his subject as an insider, someone who shared the same social circle and perhaps artistic pretensions. (Kezich is descibed as a film critic, author of numerous boks on cinema and a playwright.)

The book is worshipful of Fellini, talks a lot about parties, drops a lot of names, but gives precious little information about Fellini. What information it does provide reads more like a campaign tract for sainthood. Comments such as "[t]he grief over his death is indescribable" add nothing to our understanding of Fellini as man or artist.

The situation is not helped by Kezich's writing style which, charitably, can only be described as bloated and pretentious. Perhaps the blandness is partly due to translation. Paragraphs run on forever, sentences are often incomplete and reminiscent of a high school student trying really, really hard to be impressive.

Amazingly, for a book about one of the greatest of all film makers, there is not a single photograph. Likewise the author presumes that any one reading the book will remember every detail of Fellini's films, most of which I haven't seen in 30 years or so.

I had hoped for a biography that would lead me into Fellini's life and mind. Instead all I got was a list of parties he went to and some fluffly, adulatory prose about great his movies were. I already knew that --- I wanted to know more about Fellini made such great movies. Not in this book.

Jerry

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Fellini, a Life
Hollis Alpert
Manufacturer: Paragon House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1557780005

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Fellini: a Life
Hollis Alpert
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MVRFGE

Fellini: La Vida Y Las Obras/ Life and Works (Tiempo De Memoria/ Time for Memories) (Tiempo De Memoria/ Time for Memories)

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Fellini: La Vida Y Las Obras/ Life and Works (Tiempo De Memoria/ Time for Memories) (Tiempo De Memoria/ Time for Memories)
Tulio Kezich
Manufacturer: TusQuets
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Fellini: A Life
Hollis Alpert
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LBRFKQ

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Fellini: a Life
Hollis Alpert
Manufacturer: Paragon House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PHODDI

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