1/29/2024 0 Comments Free downloads Tales of Wind![]() Set in nineteenth century Paris, the novel follows three generations of women, Jeanne, a ragpicker's daughter, her daughter Gabrielle and her daughter Simone. I last read this when it first came out in hardcover about 20 years ago-and reading it again, I find I still love it. I would only recommend this to those who love sad, unrequited or never to be ascertained passions and love the grime and cholera amidst the Romantic passion and "arts" of the period. Cold and calculated, as the characters and their self-identity in that last age had so great a disconnect. Right there the book lost the warmness of the first half completely. It lost an entire star for me with the Granddaughter's story and the Vollard legacy, the aftermaths of that story line and marriage of convenience. And similar too, in that dying becomes a kind of sacrificial statement with implied or actual suicide wish. There are lots of flawed characters, as in "Les Miserables", as well. ![]() ![]() So, of course, tons of sorry and failures result. Childish levels of emotive thinking with not a whit of any practical applications for any afterwards. As if a wish for "fairness" and cruel revengeful recompense is deserved and will make it automatically happen. While at the same time individual freedom is practically decimated. It entirely belongs to the French successive rebellions, repeating eras of barricades- where decisions are made in context to what "feeling" of liberty presides highest. Lot and lots of drama and feeling, emotive denial or passionate renderings nearly completely dominant the choices, rather than any common sense or logical thought. All the other characters seem SO romanticized to their good or evil cores. Nandou is a complete and thorough characterization and is the best part of this epic. It's nearly a century of French history within Paris and to me, it just tries to do too much and too dramatically for those many generations. If this book had ended around page 400, I would have given it a four. I have only read two others, but neither were as close to being as well written. This was Kay Nolte Smith's 2nd to last and perhaps best. And even the historical setting in this, though significant, was not quite my cup of tea, especially compared to some of her others.īut the author's mastery of characterization, plot, setting, suspense and inter-human relationships, as well as character self-doubts (a male dwarf's doubts of true love), goals, happinesses, etc., were simply superb.Ĭool book. The reason it is not my favorite is that it did not contain as much philosophical or political/economic ideas that some of the others did, which I really look for in a book. It is not my personal favorite of hers, but I still love it. I have now read all of Kay Nolte Smith's books and looking back on them, probably still agree with my short review below that this book was super-well written and a fascinating story. She published seven novels before her death from cancer at age 61. Two of her novels - Elegy for a Soprano and A Tale of the Wind - were nominated for Prometheus Awards in 19, respectively. Elegy for a Soprano also portrays the life of Jewish Holocaust survivors from Czechoslovakia and Norway. Her novel Elegy for a Soprano is a roman a clef inspired by Rand, Nathaniel Branden, and the circle around them. Mindspell centres on the conflict between science versus religion, with Nolte Smith stating this fiction was written "to challenge strongly the belief in the occult". Smith's Catching Fire is set in the world of the New York theater, with an anti-trade union political stance. Her first novel was the mystery story The Watcher. Smith launched her literary career after her separation from the Ayn Rand circle. ![]() Smith was born in Eveleth, Minnesota and grew up in Baraboo, Wisconsin. She was for a time friendly with the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand, who was her leading literary and philosophical influence. Kay Nolte Smith (J– September 25, 1993) was an American writer. ![]()
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