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3.02 AVERAGE
3.02 AVERAGE
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Before I begin my review, it must be stated that this book is very outdated and contains a lot of misogynistic and racist tones.
An interesting story about self, purpose, love, talent, and circumstance. I enjoyed how certain plot lines would begin, be expanded on, then kind of “cut-short” and a quick finish of “this is what happens in the future”.
The characters were complex and their reflections on their choices, the perceptions of others and the fate of each made me pause a few times.
Overall, however, I found it lacked a strong message and without that the plot and characters were not enough to carry it.
Very fun to know the origins of Svengali! An obviously intriguing character that could have done with more flushing out.
An interesting story about self, purpose, love, talent, and circumstance. I enjoyed how certain plot lines would begin, be expanded on, then kind of “cut-short” and a quick finish of “this is what happens in the future”.
The characters were complex and their reflections on their choices, the perceptions of others and the fate of each made me pause a few times.
Overall, however, I found it lacked a strong message and without that the plot and characters were not enough to carry it.
Very fun to know the origins of Svengali! An obviously intriguing character that could have done with more flushing out.
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism
So, as a Phantom of the Opera fan. Meaning, I don't forget there is a book and I do love the book dearly... I have made it my quest to read all the books that may have inspired the novel. There is Jules Verne's 'Castle of the Carpathians' and then there is Trilby.
...
Trilby is a very interesting story, one of those that is a sad tale for two reasons. One, because of the fate of the main character. The other reason is how fucking antisemitic this book is.
So, once upon a time in France, there were three friends (all male) who lived in one of the famous open-use studios that people would come to play piano, fence, box, model... Our villain and his lackey, a 'gypsy' (another wonderful term) use this flat to play the piano. Apparently this book inspired the use of the world Svengali into common language. (It also inspired Trilby hats, too, but I don't understand.) The villain is very good at playing piano, but he sings like shit and hates everyone and everything. He also hates music too, but he loves playing it just because he can.
A little waif of a girl, Trilby, comes walking in one day to speak to her friends (the three men). Svengali sees Trilby and asks her to sing, she sings and it is downright horrid. But, she is so beautiful and speaks so interestingly (she is a London-er living in France) that he keeps belittling her to sing and poke and make awful comments about her voice.
Now, you ask where does the antisemitism come in? Well, lets just say our villain is described as the stereotypical Jew of 1800's literature: tall, dark eyebrows, beard, ghastly teeth, hoarding money or tricking people into giving money, etc. Every time he is on the scene or when the author refers to something, he has to drop like all these references of how nasty of a Jew he is. In one sentence alone I counted five words that could be used in that way. I couldn't deal.
The youngest of the three friends falls in love with little Trilby and she in return. However, Trilby does have some slight doubts because she is nothing but a milk seller and he is destined for great things (he is a painter and a good one too). So, one evening, he asks her (for the billionth time) to marry him, she accepts. The same night, Svengali apparently causes her eye sight to return to her - she complains that her eyes are poor and that he is able to fix them with hypnotism or reverse psychology. She is indebted to him.
The young man tells his mother and uncle that he wishes to marry her, and so, his mother goes to Trilby and tells her to break his heart and leave him. Trilby does by giving him a letter and leaving France. The young man is heartbroken, and he then goes and ends up having a famous career as a painter and sleeps with other women while hating his newfound fame.
Five years goes by and everyone is talking of the famed 'la Svengali' who sings ever so beautifully. The young man, who recollects with his two friends, goes to see this famed singer that everyone is talking about and to their shock it is her. She is singing so beautifully and they can hardly believe their eyes and ears. She is also the wife of Svengali, which breaks the young man's heart.
... And so, the rest of the story you have to find out is this really Trilby or is there something sinister about this woman?
Let me tell you, if you read the rest of the book to the end you will find out the answer. I suspected as much what happened to Trilby but what I did not understand is what happened to her by the end of the book. It is not really explained and the reason I come up with doesn't really make sense.
Du Maurier, like Verne and Hugo, and other writers of the time, has moments where he speaks about society or Parisian life and it somewhat goes on tangents or derail from what is going on. I honestly skipped over those bits because it didn't seem to add or detract from the story since the story IS about her, Trilby.
Do I recommend you reading this book? Well, in this day and age, we take issue to antisemitism. I don't know if Daphne Du Maurier's dad was antisemitic or that was just 'normal' at the time (which is, in the end, antisemitic) but honestly, it really brought the story down. I was also disappointed to see there have been adaptations of the story and kept to the physicality of Svengali right down to the awful stereotypical Jewish characteristics given in the book.
I think there is an interesting story buried within the gross comments, the mistreatment of Trilby and the boredom of pages of Parisian lifestyle. I'd like to see a movie done that retools Svengali's character, makes the ending more understandable. I just don't get why this book was a sensation but I guess I had to be around back then.
...
Trilby is a very interesting story, one of those that is a sad tale for two reasons. One, because of the fate of the main character. The other reason is how fucking antisemitic this book is.
So, once upon a time in France, there were three friends (all male) who lived in one of the famous open-use studios that people would come to play piano, fence, box, model... Our villain and his lackey, a 'gypsy' (another wonderful term) use this flat to play the piano. Apparently this book inspired the use of the world Svengali into common language. (It also inspired Trilby hats, too, but I don't understand.) The villain is very good at playing piano, but he sings like shit and hates everyone and everything. He also hates music too, but he loves playing it just because he can.
A little waif of a girl, Trilby, comes walking in one day to speak to her friends (the three men). Svengali sees Trilby and asks her to sing, she sings and it is downright horrid. But, she is so beautiful and speaks so interestingly (she is a London-er living in France) that he keeps belittling her to sing and poke and make awful comments about her voice.
Now, you ask where does the antisemitism come in? Well, lets just say our villain is described as the stereotypical Jew of 1800's literature: tall, dark eyebrows, beard, ghastly teeth, hoarding money or tricking people into giving money, etc. Every time he is on the scene or when the author refers to something, he has to drop like all these references of how nasty of a Jew he is. In one sentence alone I counted five words that could be used in that way. I couldn't deal.
The youngest of the three friends falls in love with little Trilby and she in return. However, Trilby does have some slight doubts because she is nothing but a milk seller and he is destined for great things (he is a painter and a good one too). So, one evening, he asks her (for the billionth time) to marry him, she accepts. The same night, Svengali apparently causes her eye sight to return to her - she complains that her eyes are poor and that he is able to fix them with hypnotism or reverse psychology. She is indebted to him.
The young man tells his mother and uncle that he wishes to marry her, and so, his mother goes to Trilby and tells her to break his heart and leave him. Trilby does by giving him a letter and leaving France. The young man is heartbroken, and he then goes and ends up having a famous career as a painter and sleeps with other women while hating his newfound fame.
Five years goes by and everyone is talking of the famed 'la Svengali' who sings ever so beautifully. The young man, who recollects with his two friends, goes to see this famed singer that everyone is talking about and to their shock it is her. She is singing so beautifully and they can hardly believe their eyes and ears. She is also the wife of Svengali, which breaks the young man's heart.
... And so, the rest of the story you have to find out is this really Trilby or is there something sinister about this woman?
Let me tell you, if you read the rest of the book to the end you will find out the answer. I suspected as much what happened to Trilby but what I did not understand is what happened to her by the end of the book. It is not really explained and the reason I come up with doesn't really make sense.
Du Maurier, like Verne and Hugo, and other writers of the time, has moments where he speaks about society or Parisian life and it somewhat goes on tangents or derail from what is going on. I honestly skipped over those bits because it didn't seem to add or detract from the story since the story IS about her, Trilby.
Do I recommend you reading this book? Well, in this day and age, we take issue to antisemitism. I don't know if Daphne Du Maurier's dad was antisemitic or that was just 'normal' at the time (which is, in the end, antisemitic) but honestly, it really brought the story down. I was also disappointed to see there have been adaptations of the story and kept to the physicality of Svengali right down to the awful stereotypical Jewish characteristics given in the book.
I think there is an interesting story buried within the gross comments, the mistreatment of Trilby and the boredom of pages of Parisian lifestyle. I'd like to see a movie done that retools Svengali's character, makes the ending more understandable. I just don't get why this book was a sensation but I guess I had to be around back then.
A loving homage to the bohemian life of Paris, overwrought in the extreme. The prose is so laboured that I think it must be at least partly a satire on the Victorian novel, in particular Dickens. What else to make of the encomium to the titular Trilby's feet (and feet generally) that takes up a couple of pages - and echoes throughout the work. Perhaps just an overactive foot fetish?
It is easy to see why the figure of Svengali is one that has stayed in our language. He is indeed a disturbing figure, a person spewing toxic masculinity, whispering to Trilby about death and connecting it, indirectly, to her refusal to offer up her body to him. He could be a model for Weinstein, promising Trilby greatness in exchange for her favours and threatening doom should she disobey.
There are plenty of interesting themes at play - the broken class system, the transcendence of the artist, the existence of God and the role of the church as scientific discoveries shatter the complacency of Victorian England - but there is such a void between this work and the masters of the British 19th century novel that it's difficult not to judge Du Maurier's efforts harshly.
It is easy to see why the figure of Svengali is one that has stayed in our language. He is indeed a disturbing figure, a person spewing toxic masculinity, whispering to Trilby about death and connecting it, indirectly, to her refusal to offer up her body to him. He could be a model for Weinstein, promising Trilby greatness in exchange for her favours and threatening doom should she disobey.
There are plenty of interesting themes at play - the broken class system, the transcendence of the artist, the existence of God and the role of the church as scientific discoveries shatter the complacency of Victorian England - but there is such a void between this work and the masters of the British 19th century novel that it's difficult not to judge Du Maurier's efforts harshly.
dark
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is not out of character for literature of the age. Long winded, and a degree of antisemitism that is jarring. It is a good example of that kind of casual bigotry in the late 19th century. The plot of the book is just slow.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism