Amazon.com: The Samurai (9780231075428): Julia Kristeva, Barbara Bray: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1992

A portrait of Parisian intellectuals of the 1960s as seen through the eyes of Olga, a young Eastern European who comes to Paris to write a literary thesis, and finds herself immediately swept into the world of a group of young leftist thinkers and writers known as the "Samurai".

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } A portrait of Parisian intellectuals of the 1960s as seen through the eyes of Olga, a young Eastern European who comes to Paris to write a literary thesis, and finds herself immediately swept into the world of a group of young leftist thinkers and writers known as the "Samurai".

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a quote on the cover of Kristeva's first novel, Elaine Showalter equates the Bulgarian-born critic and psychoanalyst with Simone de Beauvoir. Like de Beauvoir, Kristeva was at the center of an intellectual movement, and like de Beauvoir she has written a roman a clef about French intellectuals, the "brave samurai . . . fueled by an extreme of tension, an expenditure of energy, that may threaten one's vital equilibrium." Unfortunately, an "extreme of tension" does not fuel this novel, which by all rights should be a gripping account from the intellectual front. As an integral part of the magazine Tel Quel (she was married to its editor, Phillipe Sollers), Kristeva knew firsthand the likes of Barthes, Derrida, Foucault and Lacan--all of whom appear here. But no matter how often Kristeva writes "what you say is marvelous," no character--not even her fictional stand-in, Olga--is as compelling to the reader as they evidently were to the writer. The image left by Kristeva's account of the various intellectual posturings--through Paris, China and the U. S.; through love, adultery, sex and even childbirth--is one of self-congratulatory narcissists unimpeded by any real concern for enlightenment.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kristeva combines her knowledge of psychoanalysis, politics, and linguistics in this novel about the leftist intelligentsia of Paris in the late 1960s. Olga, a young scholar from Eastern Europe, becomes involved in the literary circle and falls in love with its leader, Herve Sinteuil. Others in the circle are modeled after well-known scholars. They participate in student riots, visit China, and live somewhat decadent lives. The title identifies them as modern counterparts of the Japanese warriors who also were poets and calligraphers and who were completely willing to face death in order to experience everything. Both sensual and brilliantly written, this novel is full of ideas and will appeal to thinkers. Recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Ann Irvine, Montgomery Cty. P.L., Md.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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