Fires [Hardcover]

Marguerite Yourcenar (Author), Dori Katz (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1981

Fires consists of nine monologues and narratives based on classical Greek stories. Antigone, Clytemnestra, Phaedo, Sappho are all mythical figures whose stories are mingled with contemporary themes. Interspersed are highly personal narratives, reflecting on a time of profound inner crisis in the author's life.

"The unwritten novel among the fantasies and aphorisms of Fires is a classic tale."—Stephen Koch, New York Times Book Review

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This duo by Yourcenar, the first woman to be elected to the Academie Francaise, consist, respectively, of a collection of prose poems and three historical novellas. LJ's reviewer found Fires, with its use of classical themes and figures, to be "striking and captivating" (LJ 6/1/81), while Two Lives was dubbed "stylish" (LJ 4/1/87).
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 142 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux (June 1981)
• ISBN-10: 0374155003
• ISBN-13: 978-0374155001
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,914,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable, April 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fires (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

"I hope this book will never be read." So begins Yourcenar's Fires...a richly dense collection of famous myths and legends stunningly revitalized through the voices and eyes of the heroines. Intertwining the stories are excerpts from Yournenar's own journal taken from the time during which she had written the stories. Achingly familiar to anyone recovering from a broken heart, Yourcenar marries the heartache of this century's woman to women throughout the ages.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful punishment..., June 22, 2000

By 

Ignacio Rodriguez - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fires (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

Love is a punishment, says Yourcenar, and in some intellectual and emotive way this book is one. I've read all of her books, and this is her most felt, chirurgically precise, passionate and torn aproach to what love is and represents in all the roles we - human beings - play at one time or another in our lives. All the possible deceptions, miscommunications and broken hearts are hold in these pages, through the reconstruction and modernization of some greek myths such as Antigone, Achilles and Patroclus, Sapho, and Maria Magdalena (ok, she was not greek!). Along with "Memoires of Adrian" and "Zenon", this is a must-have from Yourcenar.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fires, September 23, 2002

By 

Richard Cunningham (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fires (Phoenix Fiction) (Paperback)

"Fires" is a collection of hybrid love stories. Most are taken from real or mythological ancient Greece. Ms. Yourcenar does a spectacular job giving these old stories a modern flavor without losing their original context. I also recommend "A Blue Tale & Other Stories" by her{The University of Chicago Press}.

Go where the love is. Although in some remote cases it can be a struggle (i.e. Romeo & Juliet; Hamlet), love deserves to be accessible, humane, and democratic. Be not afraid to Love/Live.