Siri hustvedt frames her 2014 novel, the blazing world, as a compilation of texts by and about the fictional artist harriet burden. Artist harriet burden, consumed by fury at the lack of recognition she has received from the new york art establishment, embarks on an experiment. The absence of women artists in the history of painting is an old feminist topic, but it is one. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two. Siri hustvedt born february 19, 1955 is an american novelist and essayist.
In 2012 she was awarded the international gabarron prize for thought and humanities. The female artist in siri hustvedts new novel is a creative titan whose career has been blighted by the art establishments sexism. Book of the day a woman looking at men looking at women. The idea for this book was born during my first telephone conversation with maisie lord. The description of a new world, called the blazing world, better known as the blazing world, is a 1666 work of prose fiction by the english writer margaret cavendish, the duchess of newcastle. Jul 01, 2014 bookmarks selection the blazing world by siri hustvedt american author siri hustvedt has published three works of nonfiction, two collections of essays, a book of poetry, and six novels, including international best sellers what i loved 2003 and the summer without men 2011.
Siri hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, three collections of essays, a work of nonfiction, and six novels, including the international bestsellers what i loved and the summer without men. The precision of the language makes each detail jewellike and tangible. The blazing world, siri hustvedts sixth novel, plays on the same artworld gender bias as this protest campaign by a group called the. It gives off the warmth and light by which to read, understand. The blazing world by siri hustvedt is a difficult and complex book that in another sense is almost too simple. Mar 05, 2018 the blazing world, siri hustvedts 6th novel, goes for the jugular from its opening paragraph. After she moved to brooklyn, my mother collected strayshuman strays, not animals. Mar 28, 2014 siri hustvedt s new novel, the blazing world, takes its name from the most famous work by the 17thcentury writer margaret cavendish. The blazing world, picking up on themes explored in an earlier hustvedt novel, what i loved, is more than just the story of a life. Feminist critic dale spender calls it a forerunner.
The blazing world book by siri hustvedt official publisher page. The absence of women artists in the history of painting is an old feminist topic, but it is one the blazing world approaches headon. With the blazing world, internationally bestselling author siri hustvedt returns to the new york art world in her most masterful and urgent novel since what i loved. Harriet burdens rage, turbulence and neediness leap off these pages in a skillfully orchestrated chorus of voices both dark and brilliant. Hailed by the washington post as siri hustvedt s best novel yet, an electrifying work, the blazing world is a masterful novel about perception, prejudice, desire, and one womans struggle to be seen. Siri hustvedt is the internationally acclaimed author of a book of poems, six novels, four collections of essays, and a work of nonfiction. Longlisted for the prestigious man booker prize and hailed by the washington post as siri hustvedts best novel yet, an electrifying work, the blazing world is. The novel begins with an editors note, which is part of the overall work and is not a. Siri hustvedts mesmerizing novel, the blazing world, was longlisted for the 2014 man booker prize, and its easy to see why.
The blindfold 1992, the enchantment of lily dahl 1996, what i loved 2003, for which she is best known, a plea for eros 2006, the. Longlisted for the prestigious man booker prize and hailed by the washington post as siri hustvedt s best novel yet, an electrifying work, the blazing world is a masterful novel about perception, prejudice, desire, and one womans struggle to be seen. It is a sophisticated commentary on celebrity, mythmaking. Hustvedt is the author of a book of poetry, seven novels, two books of essays, and several works of nonfiction. The blindfold book by siri hustvedt official publisher. The blazing world is siri hustvedts best novel yet, an electrifying work with a titanic, poignantly flawed protagonist. I had to read this book for a book club which then never happened and if it hadnt been for that, i would probably have given up in the first 10 pages. The blazing world, siri hustvedts sixth novel, plays on the same artworld gender bias as this protest campaign by a group called the guerrilla girls.
Hustvedt has a lot of very entertaining satirical fun in the blazing world, but that particular note of tragedy, though she tries to sound it, remains lost. It is also an intricately conceived, diabolical puzzle that addresses the shaping influences of prejudice, money, fame, and desire on what we see in one another. It gives off the warmth and light by which to read, understand, marvel at it. Cavendish once wrote, and if she be slighted now and buried in silence, she may perhaps rise more gloriously hereafter.
Hustvedt offers a slickly written multiplicity of perspectives an apt format, given that the novel is so deeply concerned with differences of. Excerpt from the blazing world by siri hustvedt, plus links. Mar 15, 2014 siri hustvedts the blazing world is such a book. Hustvedt masks her own authorship of the book with her creation of professor i. A fictional editors note reads, all intellectual and artistic endeavours, even jokes, ironies, and parodies, fare better in the mind of the crowd when the crowd knows that somewhere behind the great work or the great spoof it can locate a cock and pair of balls. The blazing world by siri hustvedt books hachette australia. It gives off the warmth and light by which to read, understand, marvel at it but in order to do so it. Artist harriet burden, heroine of the narrative, stirs up controversy in the new york cultural scene when she enlists three men to pose as the masterminds behind three of her own installations. All intellectual and artistic endeavours, writes the female painterprotagonist of siri hustvedts new novel, even jokes, ironies, and parodies. Siri hustvedts the blazing world is a polyphonic, wrenchingly sad.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the blazing world. But around this core swirl many ideas and philosophies. She hides her identity behind three male fronts who exhibit her work as their own. Hustvedt juggles the many voices and many truths masterfully, drawing the reader into an intricate and a puzzling web. Even by siri hustvedts extremely high standards, the blazing world is an extraordinary book. This article is about the work by margaret cavendish. Siri hustvedts first novel, the blindfold, was published by sceptre in 1993.
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