Amazon Consumer’s Reviews About To The
Hermitage
I love deconstruction!
Malcolm Bradbury's novel, To the Hermitage
deliberately binds together different ways of writing to be self-consciously
postmodern. He's writing against the totalising concept
of Enlightenment Reason, hence the fragmentary nature of the novel, and manages
to do so in a highly entertaining way.
The
story is an interesting and lively read, working on many different levels. The
story of the narrator going to Russia in the Diderot project,
is nicely interwoven with the tale of Diderot (then). This break in the
narrative is deliberately postmodern, and does little to disrupt the story.
Intertextuality is a strong theme in the novel, 'books breed
books', and Roland Barthes' 'death of the author', are a main feature, with a
little Foucault thrown in for good measure. Again, this doesn't disrupt the
entertaining aspect of the novel, but adds to it. Both tales are engaging, and
there are many funny moments, as well as some poignant ones too.
Even
if you aren't a fan of postmodernism, there should be enough here to entertain,
as well as to make you think.
Published on 20 Jan 2003
By an Amazon Costumer
To Russia with reason
One
of the outstanding figures of the Enlightenment in France, Denis Diderot
compiled the famous Encyclopedia. Malcolm Bradbury's book is also encyclopedic
in approach, being a hotchpotch - very much in the spirit of Diderot, actually
- of historical anecdotes, tableaux, and light-hearted observations of the
world. The 'novel' - which it is not, really - seems unable to decide what it
is doing, and the constant switch between the account of Diderot's visit to
Russia in 1773, and the current odyssey of a bunch of, mainly Swedish,
academics across the Baltic, is of doubtful significance. Some of Bradbury's
travelogue humour is amusing, though, and the Swedish penchant for earnestness
is keenly drawn.
Published on 11 Mar 2002
By an Amazon costumer
Five star historical entertainment
I absolutely LOVED this book and couldn't
put it down. A mixture of fiction and history, it intertwines parallel stories
set in modern day St Petersburg and the St Petersburg of Catherine The Great. In several places I found myself laughing out
loud. Having been to the Hermitage museum and also having studied the period of
history, it probably made the book more relevant to me, but such knowledge
isn't necessary for enjoyment. I would recommend this excellent piece of
literature to anyone. Read & enjoy!!!
Published on 10
April 2003
By an Amazon
costumer
Pretentious but Interesting
Like much of Bradbury's humour,this has a strongly pretentious streak to it,particularly in the modern juxtaposition of the
academics' cruise through the Baltic.I suppose it was
meant to say-"Look how clever we academics are",when
really it says,"Look what a waste of time we
are."
This annoying trait is however helped by some good humorous passages.
The throw-back to Diderot's time works better.As
someone who did not know much about this particular figure or the court of
Catherine the Great,I found it educational (if it is
accurate?) and interesting.
As with much of Bradbury's fiction,this
promised a lot without quite producing the goods.
Published on 31 Oct
2001
By an Amazon
costumer
Overrated & Self-indulgent
Malcolm Bradbury maade a great
contribution to post-war British literature, but this isn't one of them. It's a
good idea - parallel stories of a modern party of academics travelling to St
Petersburg on an enigmatic ventue called the
"Diderot Project" and Diderot (a French philosopher) journeying there
200 years before - but it doesn't really hang together. There is some good
writing and occasional flashes of humour, but the
overall impression is of an overblown shaggy dog story. Half the length would
have been twice as good!
The critics were so kind to this, Bradbury's last novel before
his recent death, but he has done much better.
Published on 24 Aug
2001
By an Amazon customer
Ignore the humour, read the story
This book repays
reading if you can get past the barrier of the author's self conscious humour (Look at me: I'm being terribly funny about the
Swedes/academic conferences/Russia). If you can manage not to be so put off by
this aspect of the book, which is strongest at the beginning, then you will be
rewarded by the portrait of Didro (Diderot) and his
contemporaries in Russia and France. The alternate chapters set in the present
work less well. They enable the author to comment on contemporary Russia, but
he doesn't have much to say which is original. He is better on Catherine the Great's court in eighteenth century St Petersburg. By the
end his picture of Diderot is quite touching. The whole book resembles a shaggy
dog story, where the beginning and the end are unimportant but there are good
bits in the middle.
Published on 19 May
2001
By an Amazon Customer
A must read for pseudo-philosophers...
This is Bradbury's
exit piece, an erudite and hugely compelling account of Denis Diderot's
courtship to Catherine the Great. The story cleverly switches between 'then'
and 'now' as we follow a parallel journey by a band of Diderot enthusiasts and
baffled artistes to St. Petersburg. Bradbury's admiration for Diderot (and
indeed his contemporaries such as Voltaire) is evident throughout and by the
end you find yourself treated to an enjoyable tale as well as a brief course in
the philosophies of the pre-revolutionary Age of Reason. This is the late
Bradbury's fine complement to Posterity.
Published on 30
April 2001
By an Amazon costumer
A big canvas and a big smile
Broad in its scope,
supremely well-written, immensely erudite and full of witty and
thought-provoking observations, To the Hermitage brings together many of the
strands found in Bradbury's earlier novels such as The History Man, Rates of
Exchange and Doctor Criminale. In this book, we are
presented with two parallel tales told in alternating chapters, both concerning
the life and thought of the French Enlightenment philosopher, Denis Diderot.
One relates the brief journey of an odd assortment of contemporary pilgrims
from Stockholm to Saint Petersburg under the pretext of researching the
'Diderot Project'. The other recounts an impression of
Diderot's own short, but eventful, sojourn to the Court of Catherine the Great.
In the course of these stories, we are presented with the full range of the
author's intellectual interests and his creative craft. There are musings on
the nature of history, politics, literature and philosophy intermingled with
knockabout farce, sexual high-jinks and tongue-in-cheek satire about academic
life. This book makes you think and makes you laugh. It is a fitting finale to
this author's distinguished career as a writer of highly entertaining fiction.
Published on 6 Feb
2001
By an Amazon
consumer
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