Take a photo of a barcode or cover
This book really hasn't aged well.
It was interesting to see what a bestseller from that time is like and I'm glad I read it, I just really didn't enjoy it. It combines probably all of the things we're glad not to see in books anymore: antisemitism, over the top superficiality, terrible morals and framing that just doesn't feel right.
Reading this, I didn't feel that Little Billee was really a better person than Svengali, but Billee was the "hero" because he was a good looking English gentleman, framed as innocent, and Svengali was an ungly German Jew. What more is there to say. Similar things are used for a lot of characters in this book.
I know a lot of classics I like have pinches of problematic things, too, but they also have a lot of good elements that make me overlook them. This book, however, was actually kind of boring. What little story there was was ok, but nothing too special, however, most of the novel is comprised of meaningless accurences and descriptions. In the beginning, I had moments were I thought I might get to like the writing style, it had something to it, but I never really got into it.
The most fun I had with this book was when Svengali insulted someone in German :D However, I think du Maurier expected all his readers to be fluent in colloquial German and French, which was kind of annoying.
It was interesting to see what a bestseller from that time is like and I'm glad I read it, I just really didn't enjoy it. It combines probably all of the things we're glad not to see in books anymore: antisemitism, over the top superficiality, terrible morals and framing that just doesn't feel right.
Reading this, I didn't feel that Little Billee was really a better person than Svengali, but Billee was the "hero" because he was a good looking English gentleman, framed as innocent, and Svengali was an ungly German Jew. What more is there to say. Similar things are used for a lot of characters in this book.
I know a lot of classics I like have pinches of problematic things, too, but they also have a lot of good elements that make me overlook them. This book, however, was actually kind of boring. What little story there was was ok, but nothing too special, however, most of the novel is comprised of meaningless accurences and descriptions. In the beginning, I had moments were I thought I might get to like the writing style, it had something to it, but I never really got into it.
The most fun I had with this book was when Svengali insulted someone in German :D However, I think du Maurier expected all his readers to be fluent in colloquial German and French, which was kind of annoying.