The Ebony Tower (Contemporary classics) |
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Author:
John Fowles
By Vintage Classics
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £4.22
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780099480518
ISBN: 0099480514
Label: Vintage Classics
Manufacturer: Vintage Classics
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 1998-01-03
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Studio: Vintage Classics |
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 Falling from the Ebony Tower..., 2006-05-18
The Enigma may well be the most famous story in this collection, but it would be unwise to overlook The Ebony Tower and, indeed, Eliduc, which should be read in connection with this. Aside from the strong scent of eroticism that permeates the story, this novella is mainly concerned with the nature of art, and the individual. Williams and Breasley are both artists who represent a different school of art, and a different historical and intellectual context. The action involves a conceptual clash of these ideas, set amongst the fecund and atavistic French forest. Parellels with the nature of art can be seen in the battles between body and mind (Williams and Anne), and representation and abstraction (Williams and Breasley). There are also a number of close parallels and implicit references to Eliduc, the following short story, but it is by no means a parody. With all of these elements based around a tight, measured prose, and an unchallenging structure, it makes for a highly engaging - and introspective read. One that makes you ask as many questions of yourself, as of art and the novel.
real stuff, lively and alive, 2005-08-03
Enigma is the most famous tale of this book, it is reported in a collection of modern short stories by Penguin Books, but you can't forget the dramatic feeling of the prisoner in the cottage, and the story that gives the name to the book, you will read it every time with great pleasure as it could be new and touching: a Picasso-minded painter casted away on an isolated Provence cottage, with two angels of the Eden for confort, able to make the subject of the tale mad wondering about his choices in life and his marriage. Great!
The book to bring with you on a desert island, 2001-04-06
The Enigma is the story that you could buy this book for. It has everything : mystery, crime and love and you have this uncanny feeling that the characters suddenly become so alive (or the reader so dangerously fictional) that they know who and where they really are (do you?).John Marcus Fielding, MP, suddenly disappears and young detective Jennings is assigned and meets the missing person's almost daughter-in-law Isobel and - yes, there is romance, yet the story is the same. It is still the same issue. Enjoy it (but it might scare you). The other stories are treats, as well.
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