Status
Available
Collection
Publication
New York : H. Holt & Co., 1999.
Description
"A fan is like the thighs of a woman: it opens and closes." And so begins this lush, historical novel--a mixture of imagination and conceit, passion and suspense. In a tense courtroom during the French Revolution, a young fan-maker, renowned all over Paris for her sensual and graphic objets d'art, is on trial because of her collaboration with the Marquis de Sade. Heads will roll unless the independent fan-maker, erotically cast in the shadow of Sade, can justify her art and friendships to a court known for its rigid and prudish proprieties. . . .
User reviews
LibraryThing member caerulius
This novel is a rara avis, a strange, lyrical bird that is by turns beautiful and grotesque. The Fan Maker of the title is being tried before the French court, and if she is convicted, she will be beheaded.
What is the charge? Apparently, her friendship with the infamous, imprisoned Marquis de
An interesting peek into the French Revolutionary world and political moral dichotomy, as well as the baroque debauchery within the mind of deSade (as interpreted here by Ducornet). Note: no original deSadeian text is at work here.
What is the charge? Apparently, her friendship with the infamous, imprisoned Marquis de
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Sade, her lesbianism, her luxuriance and libertinage. The Fan Maker makes marvelous fans, often pornographic in design, and often designed as theatrical puzzles. She defends her life before the tribunal, even as the Marquis sits in prison, fuming and bleeding the violent prose that she has assisted him in writing- a fictional account of a religious zealot cleric who has gone to the new world to "cleanse" it and himself of "evil". An interesting peek into the French Revolutionary world and political moral dichotomy, as well as the baroque debauchery within the mind of deSade (as interpreted here by Ducornet). Note: no original deSadeian text is at work here.
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LibraryThing member goth_marionette
So I have never reviewed a book that I have not finished but this time I will. The book reads well and it flows along smoothly but I am a third of the way into the book and set it aside to read other books. Why? Because I have yet to come across the conflict. So far it reads like a diary with no
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hook to keep the reader turning the pages. So the main character is on trial, big deal. She has not appeared concerned by this matter so why should I be. Maybe one day I will pick the book back up to finish it because I hate to not finish a book I started but other books will draw my attention first. I gave this book two stars because the dialog is well written and the stories aren't bad, they just aren't good either. Show Less
LibraryThing member poetontheone
It is a surprise and a shame that I had not encountered this novel earlier, only learning of it recently through a post on Dennis Cooper's blog. Ducornet weaves an incendiary and narrative around the time, place, and character of the Marquis de Sade that is brimming with eroticism, poetry, and
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critiques of historical powers and the hypocrisy of moral dogma. She magnificently captures the spirit and voice of de Sade while at the same time unleashing the originality and depth of her own imagination.. Like the beautifully detailed and lurid fans it describes, this novel is an exquisite artwork that evokes both alluring and horrible images. Show Less
LibraryThing member jonfaith
Here is what I wonder on my worst days: If the guillotine exemplifies Nature--perpetual, blind, deadly, inescapable-- and if Man is Her servant, and the Revolution too, then there is no hope. Then would I, and gladly, see the universe perish.
My humble gratitude extends to Samadrita. This was such a
Ducornet's novel alternates between the caustic and the sumptuous and remains truly remarkable. The novel is a pastiche of sorts, encompassing court proceedings, personal letters, dreams and a fantastic book of the imagination.
My humble gratitude extends to Samadrita. This was such a
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welcome detour. The Fan-Maker's Inquisition wrestles with moral hypocrisy. How sound that is in these uneven times. My best friend was recently interviewed on Al-Jazeera about the Charlie Hebdo tragedy. It was a very polite interview and I sat champing, hoping that mention would be made of satire from Sade to Godard. It didn't occur.Ducornet's novel alternates between the caustic and the sumptuous and remains truly remarkable. The novel is a pastiche of sorts, encompassing court proceedings, personal letters, dreams and a fantastic book of the imagination.
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