Sasha Jensen has returned to Paris, the city of both her happiest moments and her most desperate. Her past lies in wait for her in cafes, bars, and dress shops, blurring all distinctions between nightmare and reality. When she is picked up by a young man, she begins to feel that she is still capable of desires and emotions. Few encounters in fiction have been so brilliantly conceived, and few have come to a more unforgettable end.
I agree with the NY Times review that you can't forget this book once you read it. It haunts you. No other book haunts me. That's why this is my favorite book. You will never forget how Rhys describes Paris, London, Amsterdam. You will never forget Sasha as she searches for SOMETHING to help her survive, something that will keep her from crying in public, something that will bring her clarity and maybe redemption. You will...
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I read the present work and then followed up by reading Rhys's big hit, the novel Wide Sargasso Sea. As a general reader I still preferred this present novel to Sargasso Sea. Here she lets her imagination run wild as she describes the partially alcohol soaked life of a young woman living in post WWI era Paris. The feel and structure of the book is original and the prose and structure has a bit of the feel of Joyce's classic...
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Just about every night is a catastrophe for Sasha Jansen, the heroine of Jean Rhys's excellent novel. In less than two hundred pages, Rhys has effectively captured not only the bitter sentiments of the "lost generation" but also the huge scope of thoughts and experiences of a lonely brand of humans alienated by a cruel, hyprocritical society. The theme of the book comes straight from Sasha's mouth:". . . And I'm very much...
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This is one of several of Jean Rhys' novels of postwar existence in Europe. It focuses on her time in Paris living an existential lifestyle after she returns from London. It along with her other novels Quartet, After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie, and Voyage in the Dark weave a intricate tale of the postmodern experience in all its bleak and nihilistic beauty. This along with her other novels are semi-autobiographical accounts...
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This book is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read all of Jean Rhys's books and this and Voyage of the Dark are the two I really fell in love with. The language was clear and beautiful. The story was bittersweet (okay, more bitter than sweet)without getting heavy and dramatic like Wide Sargasso Sea. I didn't like Wide Sargasso Sea that much. This is the books Rhys should be famous for.
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