Bit of an eye opener
|
As a long-time, (over 30 years), admirer of Mary Renault's writing I found "The Masks of" lives up to it's title, offering some intriguing insights into an author who can be frustratingly allusive, particularly in her earlier contemporary novels.
The detailed literary analysis makes full use of both contemporary reviews and later commentators, and this book certainly added to my understanding and enjoyment of re-reading the earlier novels.
The analysis of the later novels is equally illuminating, and the arrangement of chapters under subjects: War, Politics, Art, Women, etc., allows the overall reassessment promised in the synopsis. The biographical elements are always present too, often in the form of quotes from Miss Renault's letters, comments and recollections from her partner Julie Mullard, and photographs, mostly from Miss Mullard's collection.
(I do hope a collection of Miss Renault's letters can be published one day).
The only thing I was doubtful about was the indefatigable detection and decoding of Freudian sexual symbolism: there is no mention of Carl Jung who, according to a letter quoted in David Sweetman's biography of Miss Renault, she much preferred to Freud. But all in all a welcome companion to Mr Sweetman's biography, an interesting read in its own right as well as a guide to her work.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada