Customer Reviews

The Red Dancer: The Life and Times of Mata Hari

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

 

 

Skinner's first novel is a delight from start to finish and has received woefully muted response on its initial publication (to my knowledge). This book took me on a journey all over the world, made me feel for a historical character I initially had no particular interest in and yet manages to keep that element of mystery that still surrounds the figure of Marta Hari. Skinner constantly launches surprises on the reader with multiple narrators, alternating small chunks of history in a non-fiction format with personal points of view. There are some heart-rending scenes (the fate of Mata Hari's son in Java, for example) and clever cameos (Picasso has a walk-on part) sewn into these pockets of historical background; and there is skulduggery and drama deftly and economically handled which other authors might well have bashed the reader over the head with (in the form of hundreds of pages). Well worth the read.

Strange how Paris was associated with such type of exotic oriental style dancers who, by the end of the day, became involved in espionage activities.
This brunette mundane woman was alleged to have had experience shared by high-ranking military officers of Russian, German, and French nationalities.
In WWI the Netherlands remained neutral and as a Dutch citizen Mata Hari was able to cross borders freely, unnecessarily taking a longer routes by travelling via Spain and England, that her twisted itineraries attracted suspicions she could have been a double agent.
On record tracking, the British discovered that her lovers always ended relationships, prematurely, with silly disputes.
The British in particular interrogated Hari and reported she had said she had been working for the French military intelligence, but the French never confirmed her allegations.
The German Military attaché in Madrid cabled Berlin describing the assistance they were getting from `a German Spy'- code-named H-21. (`H' is probably Hari), French intelligence intercepted the message and was able to relate H-21 to Hari.
Hari was not beautiful as to produce a `killing' association with her lovers like that of `Delilah' on `Samson' for instance. Hari was an elegant woman who wore her dark smooth hair brushed upwards in the style of the day. She was always fashionably and expensively dressed.
When she was incarcerated, her features and eyelids bore traces of the fatigues of eventful evenings.
But whose fault was it that such a weak woman of 41 was, allegedly, able to exercise a malign influence on the destinies of Germany, France and England.
What was the mettle of the ineffectual officers on whose sides there was Hari on one hand and the destinies of their countries on the other.
Hari was executed by firing squad at WWI when France was at the lowest point in the war with Germany.
The French vented their anger on Mata Hari
A woman victim of weak characters of the men in charge of the destinies of Europe ...........

I picked up this book, hoping to find an exciting story about Mata Hari's life as a spy. Apparently Richard Skinner did not think we'd be interested in that--I read the whole book and still have no idea what country she spied for, how successful she was, or how she eventually got caught. Any time I found myself getting caught up in the story, Skinner abruptly changed narrators. If you want to read this book to learn more about Mata Hari, you will be let down.

I found this book to be fragmented. The content of some chapters had a very vague connection to the subject and were not necessary. Enough detail was not given in several chapters. I would not recommend this book.

I have been aware of the name mata hari for many years. However, I suddenlt became fascinated with this extraordinary woman's life story when it was dramatised on radio 4 in the autmn of 2003. Red Dancer, follows in that vein. Rather than an hostorical biography in the traditonal sense, the author presents a series of what are effectively vignettes whereby different characters in the story tell their own tale of this ambitious, talented, notorious but ultimately tragic woman. I found it very absorbing particularly as there is a clever balance of imagined accounts of her life as told by others and historical and media information (press cuttings etc) from the time. Well worth a read

The story is a fictionalized account of the life of Mata Hari, a renowned dancer, spy, and courtesan. Appropriately in this novel, every significant moment in Mata Hari's life is told through the eyes of men who wandered into her sphere. Because of the POV remove, the resonance is a little diluted, but so is -- thank god -- the angst. Told from her point of view, this story would have been a bawler from beginning to end. Even the good stuff that happened to her wasn't really that good, apparently. However, the several scenes that are set in her point of view are fairly clinical: she places her belongings on a bedside table, adjusts her costume, has dinner, etc. Nothing really of note, but those scenes, I think, are the best ones, because in them we see the truest glimpse of the woman: matter-of-fact, persistent, and a little insecure.

The main thing to keep in mind about this book is that it's an art piece: it never pretends to be chronoligical, consistently fictional, or consistently historical. It's all over the map; sometimes the narrative story is interrupted for long stretches with essays about such things as absinthe and cubism. I think in some spots the writer was reaching too far to make an obscure point, but some of those digressions were really worth it and helped build the ultimate atmosphere of confusion and irreality.

In general, this book was not a waste of my time. I enjoyed it and even managed to learn a little more about turn-of-the-century stuff. And that firing squad scene at the end will stick with me for a little while, I think.

Skinner's first novel is a delight from start to finish and has received woefully muted response on its initial publication (to my knowledge). This book took me on a journey all over the world, made me feel for a historical character I initially had no particular interest in and yet manages to keep that element of mystery that still surrounds the figure of Marta Hari. Skinner constantly launches surprises on the reader with multiple narrators, alternating small chunks of history in a non-fiction format with personal points of view. There are some heart-rending scenes (the fate of Mata Hari's son in Java, for example) and clever cameos (Picasso has a walk-on part) sewn into these pockets of historical background; and there is skulduggery and drama deftly and economically handled which other authors might well have bashed the reader over the head with (in the form of hundreds of pages). Well worth the read.

Brian Howell...

This book was very disjointed. Each semi-fictional chapter about Mata Hari's life was followed by a chapter about an aspect of her times. I learned quite a bit about dowsing, the invention & use of the Zepplin balloon, the Orient Express, the roots of cubism, & the history of absinthe. Unfortunately for Skinner, I found these interspersed chapters to be much more interesting than the chapters dealing directly with his primary subject. His style of writing left me confused as to what was fiction & what was truth. In addition, the story is told from so many conflicting points of view that it is impossible to piece together a cohesive picture. Stick with the non-fiction biographies of Mata Hari for a more interesting & cohesive read.

so maybe this book is a little postmodern--hence the other reviewers irritation at its fragmentation. however, i really appreciated the multiplicity of points of view in the novel--skinner allows you to reach your own interpretation about mata hari rather than spoonfeeding you his own conclusion about her. the writing is pretty good, but not outstanding, but the book is very effective in it's evocation of orientalism and of an era.