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demonikchimney's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
_selene_'s review against another edition
Don't go into this expecting the surrealist fantasies of Dali's paintings or even a significant plot; this follows the Surrealist ideals from the idea of surrealism as a way of changing your perspective on the world and daily existence. Breton grapples with the age-old creative struggle of portraying a fully realised portrait of a person, so instead goes for snapshots of their interactions and walks around Paris where Nadja's personality and passions occasionally burst through to him. The noted quotes and collected drawings of her's are glimpses of her own creative inspirations; this book just made me wish she could've had a chance to be an artist such as Breton and the company they kept.
mhmrose's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hswhite's review
3.0
For the whole review: http://lovewritingadventure.com/2014/08/25/review-nadja/
I’ll admit, in the first third, Breton rambles on about who knows what, with very few connecting threads, name-dropping other artists and purveyors of the movement, and I found those sixty pages very difficult to get through. Going back and re-reading the first paragraph, however, gives me a better appreciation for them:
"Who am I? If this once I were to rely on a proverb, then perhaps everything would amount to knowing whom I “haunt.” I must admit that this last word is misleading, tending to establish between certain beings and myself relations that are stranger, more inescapable, more disturbing than I intended. Such a word means much more than it says, makes me, still alive, play a ghostly part, evidently referring to what I must have ceased to be in order to be who I am."
This quote ties in to the last chapter, the one in which Nadja’s absence in a way magnifies her presence. It also identifies the subject of the book: Breton’s search for himself through those with whom he interacts, namely, Nadja.
But the story…?
The action of the novel takes place over the course of ten days, during which, the narrator, André, feels simultaneously repelled by and drawn to the titular character. He drifts in and out of his encounters with her, seemingly addicted to her presence. He holds her on a pedestal and nearly cuts ties with her when she tells him a story of her past in which she displays unsavory attributes. Their time together is primarily spent discussing his own works and those of other surrealists, and the one bit of action that could have made a nice climax in an externally-driven novel was confined to a footnote in the last chapter of this one.
This is a short novel, and worth a read-through. But it’s also important to take into account when it was published (1928), and the fact that it is one of the founding texts for an artistic movement. It is not a conventional novel and therefore should not be read like one. Even taken only at face value, however, it is an interesting rumination on two characters who can think of nothing other than themselves and each other.
I’ll admit, in the first third, Breton rambles on about who knows what, with very few connecting threads, name-dropping other artists and purveyors of the movement, and I found those sixty pages very difficult to get through. Going back and re-reading the first paragraph, however, gives me a better appreciation for them:
"Who am I? If this once I were to rely on a proverb, then perhaps everything would amount to knowing whom I “haunt.” I must admit that this last word is misleading, tending to establish between certain beings and myself relations that are stranger, more inescapable, more disturbing than I intended. Such a word means much more than it says, makes me, still alive, play a ghostly part, evidently referring to what I must have ceased to be in order to be who I am."
This quote ties in to the last chapter, the one in which Nadja’s absence in a way magnifies her presence. It also identifies the subject of the book: Breton’s search for himself through those with whom he interacts, namely, Nadja.
But the story…?
The action of the novel takes place over the course of ten days, during which, the narrator, André, feels simultaneously repelled by and drawn to the titular character. He drifts in and out of his encounters with her, seemingly addicted to her presence. He holds her on a pedestal and nearly cuts ties with her when she tells him a story of her past in which she displays unsavory attributes. Their time together is primarily spent discussing his own works and those of other surrealists, and the one bit of action that could have made a nice climax in an externally-driven novel was confined to a footnote in the last chapter of this one.
This is a short novel, and worth a read-through. But it’s also important to take into account when it was published (1928), and the fact that it is one of the founding texts for an artistic movement. It is not a conventional novel and therefore should not be read like one. Even taken only at face value, however, it is an interesting rumination on two characters who can think of nothing other than themselves and each other.
nadjamonet's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
c_rewie6's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0