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tomleetang 's review for:
Trilby
by George du Maurier
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.