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dettarte's review against another edition
3.0
2.5⭐️
Riconosco la bellezza di questo libro. Mentre lo leggevo, rendendomi conto del suo valore, cercavo di farmelo piacere. Alla fine, non vedevo l’ora di metterlo giù. Probabilmente non l’ho letto nel momento giusto.
Riconosco la bellezza di questo libro. Mentre lo leggevo, rendendomi conto del suo valore, cercavo di farmelo piacere. Alla fine, non vedevo l’ora di metterlo giù. Probabilmente non l’ho letto nel momento giusto.
seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review
It's an incredible story, but I decided to stop learning French for a moment so... Looking forward to picking it up again < 33
lampe's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
kekemo's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
dajna's review against another edition
3.0
ALLEGRIAAA!!!
Ok, era tanto che avevo in giro questo libro, e a parte la Nothombe non conosco scrittori belgi, e poi pare sia un classico, e insomma va letto... solo che a fine lettura non so bene che pensare. Il travaglio di Hugues mi lascia abbastanza indifferente, però la descrizione della città mi ha fatto venir voglia di partire subito. La vicenda è senza tempo, nonostante la prima edizione sia del 1892: per me potrebbe essere stata scritta ieri.
Leggo su Wikipedia che potrebbe essere una rivisitazione del mito di Euridice: ci sta. Anni e anni di letture, dai miti greci a Stephen King, mi hanno insegnato che un amore morto è meglio che rimanga tale. I ritornanti, siano essi il defunto o una persona a loro molto somigliante, riescono sempre a deludere i vivi.
Ok, era tanto che avevo in giro questo libro, e a parte la Nothombe non conosco scrittori belgi, e poi pare sia un classico, e insomma va letto... solo che a fine lettura non so bene che pensare. Il travaglio di Hugues mi lascia abbastanza indifferente, però la descrizione della città mi ha fatto venir voglia di partire subito. La vicenda è senza tempo, nonostante la prima edizione sia del 1892: per me potrebbe essere stata scritta ieri.
Leggo su Wikipedia che potrebbe essere una rivisitazione del mito di Euridice: ci sta. Anni e anni di letture, dai miti greci a Stephen King, mi hanno insegnato che un amore morto è meglio che rimanga tale. I ritornanti, siano essi il defunto o una persona a loro molto somigliante, riescono sempre a deludere i vivi.
arianna__'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nina7schmidt's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
likecymbeline's review
2.0
This felt like the most 19th-century thing I've ever read. We've got a lot of melancholia, some pre-Raphaelite hair, a deep fetishism of Catholicism, and a melodramatic climax. It surprises me that this novel made people want to go to Bruges, which is described as being only varying shades of grey. But then again, the aforementioned melancholia pervading the novel is represented as artistic/intellectual/attractive, so perhaps it isn't such a surprise after all.
This book is ultimately conventional and underwhelming, though to be sure it is a more than fair glimpse into its period.
This book is ultimately conventional and underwhelming, though to be sure it is a more than fair glimpse into its period.
scarlet_begonia21's review
4.0
This was a fascinating little Gothic novel, ripe with eerie poetic melancholy and described as "the" Symbolist novel. It tells the tale of a widower (Hughes) who moves to Bruges after his young wife's death only to become enchanted and obsessed with a young dancer (Jane) who resembles his dead wife:
"So complete was his hallucination that it banished all consciousness of treachery to the woman that he had adored. No fleeting shadow of skepticism disturbed the blissfulness of his illusion."
The prose is lyrical and beautiful and I found myself loving so much of the writing and getting caught up in the often heavy-handed repetitions of how death-like the city was. In one scene, Bruges is described by its "drizzling rain, the forsaken streets, the desolate canals, the pervasion of winter, [and] the carillon announcing the death of the hours." There were many further references to the "dead town" or "dirgeful town;" the entire book hinged on this oozing gloominess.
I liked many of the Gothic references, including a few Catholic chapels, religious ceremonies, his cult-like obsession with both his dead wife (he has a shrine of her stuff, including strands of her blonde hair), and some supernatural elements. One of my favorite quotes:
"Occasionally he speculated as to what awaited him in the future, living as he did under the shadow of the supernatural, but the intoxication of the resemblance of Jane to his dead wife again recurred to divert his reflections, strengthened by the influence of the passion for analogy which led to identifying himself with the dead town."
There are scenes where Hughes walks to his house near the quays, thinking and rambling, which reminded me of Romantic Gothic characters walking in the moors (like in Wuthering Heights or Return of the Native); although quays are man-made docks or wharfs, they lined the canal that Hughes walked along and I felt there was a similar allusion to the meditative connection with nature.
Overall I loved this, and it had a great and symbolic ending that wasn't too obvious but looking back makes a lot of sense. I will probably buy this in print so I can underline all the beautifully poetic prose.
"So complete was his hallucination that it banished all consciousness of treachery to the woman that he had adored. No fleeting shadow of skepticism disturbed the blissfulness of his illusion."
The prose is lyrical and beautiful and I found myself loving so much of the writing and getting caught up in the often heavy-handed repetitions of how death-like the city was. In one scene, Bruges is described by its "drizzling rain, the forsaken streets, the desolate canals, the pervasion of winter, [and] the carillon announcing the death of the hours." There were many further references to the "dead town" or "dirgeful town;" the entire book hinged on this oozing gloominess.
I liked many of the Gothic references, including a few Catholic chapels, religious ceremonies, his cult-like obsession with both his dead wife (he has a shrine of her stuff, including strands of her blonde hair), and some supernatural elements. One of my favorite quotes:
"Occasionally he speculated as to what awaited him in the future, living as he did under the shadow of the supernatural, but the intoxication of the resemblance of Jane to his dead wife again recurred to divert his reflections, strengthened by the influence of the passion for analogy which led to identifying himself with the dead town."
There are scenes where Hughes walks to his house near the quays, thinking and rambling, which reminded me of Romantic Gothic characters walking in the moors (like in Wuthering Heights or Return of the Native); although quays are man-made docks or wharfs, they lined the canal that Hughes walked along and I felt there was a similar allusion to the meditative connection with nature.
Overall I loved this, and it had a great and symbolic ending that wasn't too obvious but looking back makes a lot of sense. I will probably buy this in print so I can underline all the beautifully poetic prose.