I doubt highly I've misread it either, as I read it twice just to make sure. If I could say anything good about it: I enjoyed pages 26, 57 and 60.

There's one character who can't utter a single sentence unless it's an aphorism: 'Sorrow fiddles the ribs and no man should put his hand on anything...the foetus of symmetry nourishes itself on cross purposes, this is its wonderful unhappiness...oh Lord, why do women have partridge blood and set out to beat up trouble?' Relentless verse posing as dialogue.

Mind you, there is an inane line later in the novel where a character says: 'there's no last reckoning for those who have loved too long so for me there is no end. I can't live forever,' she said frantically. 'I can't live without my heart!'I suppose if you pick the odd good sentence and enjoy marvelling at the awfulness of the others, this might just be a good way to spend some time. For everyone else: watch some telly instead.


Inaccessible and Overrated   November 20, 2001
 10 out of 20 found this review helpful

I'll say right up front that this is not the kind of book I would choose to read, and I never would have if it hadn't been a selection of my book group. And when I read T.S. Elliot's introduction attempting to explain how it's a new form of novel and how one needs several readings to truly appreciate the wonderful language and characters, I knew I was in for a bumpy read. What can I say? I don't like stream of consciousness writing, I don't like novels that don't have a strong story, and I don't like poetry, therefore I hated, hated, hated this book. Certainly there is some evocative language, but I couldn't really enjoy it as it was buried in paragraph-long sentences. As for the notion that it's some masterpiece of depicting obsession or addiction-give me a break. It's far too inaccessible and difficult to serve that function, I can think of half a dozen books that do a better job and aren't a trial to read. Fortunately, I can report that my feelings were generally shared by the rest of my book group, including those who love poetry and stream of consciousness writing. A few people also mentioned an anti-Jewish element in the book, which, when combined with Elliot's well-known prejudices make one wonder.


Cover does not do justice to Djuna Barnes' stunning novel   October 7, 2001
 8 out of 18 found this review helpful

Djuna Barnes' "Nightwood" is the most exquisite book written in the English language. Flawed, pretentious, and magnificent. Each sentence breathtaking. The cover of the 2001 Faber & Faber edition, however, is tacky, and does not do the book justice. Books are aesthetic objects.