A rare and beautifully produced "accordion" book by renowned novelist and poet Anne Michaels and acclaimed artist and writer Bernice Eisenstein that will cause a stir for both its form and its content.Anne Michaelss resonant book-length poem--which unfolds on one side of the pages of this accordion book--ranges from the universal to the intimate; as she writes of historical figures for whom language was the closest thing to salvation; on the other side; we have Bernice Eisensteins luminous portraits of and quotes from such twentieth-century writers and thinkers as Paul Celan; Nelly Sachs; W. G. Sebald; Anna Akhmatova; Primo Levi; and Albert Einstein. The poetry and portraits join together in a dialogue that can be read in any direction and any order; in a format that perfectly reflects the thematic interconnectedness of this collaboration: "an alphabet of spirits and spirit; an elegy of remembrance" (Eisenstein); "just as a conversation becomes the third side of the page . . . the moment one life becomes another" (Michaels).
#2652545 in eBooks 2013-12-03 2013-12-03File Name: B00A5MRE7A
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A compelling portrait of a female literary artistBy Michael J. MazzaThere is an interesting story behind "The Snow Palace;" the play by Pam Gems; the playwright herself tells this story in an introduction to the book version of the play. "The Snow Palace" is about Stanislawa Przybyszewska; a Polish woman playwright who was working in the 1920s. She wrote a 600-page play about the French Revolution. Gems herself edited the play down to a manageable length; and it was produced in 1985. But Stanislawa herself continued to haunt Gems; and the result is this intriguing play.The opening pages of the book note that the play was first performed in early 1998; toured the UK for 6 weeks; and had its London premiere in December 1998. The play takes place in Stanislawas wretched; cold little wooden hut; where she is working on her epic play. As she works on the play; she is visited by both her family members and by figures from the Fench Revolutionary era.The themes of this play include gender roles; the place of the artist in society; coming to terms with a problematic family background; and the human Utopian impulse. Stanislawas fascination with the French Revolution is explored in particular. Ultimately I think the audience is left to ponder whether Stanislawa is insane; or is merely an unappreciated eccentric genius. Overall; "The Snow Palace" is a biting; often painful look at female intellectualism and female artistic creativity in a cold (literally) world that doesnt seem to understand.