Customer Reviews

Aureole

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very different - but, very wonderful. It may not be a linear novel - with an actual 'story' - but it is an excellent read. Maso is an incredibly talented writer.

Alright, so maybe not every page works to evoke the space before the moment of _____, but those that do are blindingly evocative, work up a fever. I'm thinking Anju Flying Streamers After.

The Women Wash Lentils. You'd seriously have to die in the middle of the chapter to put the book down.

It's language play, a hypothesis worth testing, worth reading. Think of jazz. It's not Coltrane's Ascension. It's that very same morning but with the shutters still closed. Maybe one day, Carole?

And as far as the stab at post modern notions by a previous reviewer. Just Wikipedia the subject. Why would a person ever want to write Aureole in the face of traditionalist criticism? And the answer is not, "to be cool/different."

Carole Maso has an amazing gift for language. In some of the stories, like "Sappho Sings the World Ecstatic," she makes poetry, using rhythm and rhyme and unique combinations of words. So why is she trying to write prose? She has no talent for plot or dramaturgia; her "stories" go nowhere. They are most likely autobiographical, and real life does not make good fiction. Most authors who write from their own experience actually exert effort trying to turn life into art--but not Maso. Obviously, she is a talented writer. It strikes me as pure laziness--backed up by the postmodern notion of "challenging traditional structures"--that she makes no effort to use her talent to create anything resembling a narrative. I have read three books by Maso and I will continue to read her work because of its poetry. I look forward to a day when I can read a book written by her that does not leave me feeling irritated by her artistic arrogance and general self-involvement.

I bought this book at the recommendation of Amazon.com, but was very disappointed. It is more a collection of seemingly unrelated, unfinished sentences rather than a book with a story and a plot. I read the first third, but ended up skimming the remainder. I guess, it all comes together in the end, but I'm not really sure. I was expecting a good story about women, instead I got something very difficult to follow