Possessions [Hardcover]

Julia Kristeva (Author), Barbara Bray (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1998

This sequel to Kristeva's celebrated allegory The Old Man and the Wolves returns to the corrupt, seaside resort of a mythical town, where the boundaries between East and West, civilization and barbarism, and good and evil are erased.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

All similarities between Possessions and your average hard-boiled detective novel end with the headless corpse that shows up at the beginning of Julia Kristeva's novel. Kristeva, you see, is not your average writer of detective fiction. She is a psychoanalyst and linguistic theorist, the author of books on both language and depression--two themes she weaves through this intellectual mystery. The tale begins with Gloria Harrison, a translator who is murdered and decapitated after a dinner party. Enter Stephanie Delacour, an old friend of the victim and a journalist with a nose for murder. Though Kristeva has provided all the necessary components for a standard mystery--a victim, several suspects, and a detective--she seems far more interested in exploring the psychological issues surrounding her characters than the crime itself. The pages of Possessions are filled with reflections on motherhood, depression, semiotics, and more. So if you're looking for a mystery novel that will stimulate your brain rather than your adrenaline production, Possessions is a good place to start.

From Library Journal

In Santa Varvara, the corrupt eastern European locale of Kristeva's earlier The Old Man and the Wolves (LJ 12/94), Gloria Harrison, a gifted translator as well as devoted mother and sexually passionate woman, is murdered and decapitated after giving a dinner party. Her friend, reporter and amateur detective Stephanie Delacour, observes as Detective Rilsky interviews the dinner guests to uncover the murderer but is nagged by a sense of something omitted and undertakes her own investigation. This is a gripping mystery as well as a philosophical novel, full of sensuality; psychological insights (Kristeva is a psychoanalyst), especially relating to the mother/child relationship; and rich musical and artistic imagery. Bray's translation from the French is competent. Highly recommended for most public and academic libraries.?Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Silver Spring, Md.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231109989
• ISBN-13: 978-0231109987
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,898 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)