That Mighty Sculptor, Time (First Edition)

A collection of essays by the novelist and literary critic takes on such diverse topics as the poet Oppian, Tantrism, the erotic mysticism of the "Gita-Govinda," and more

Working with Kaiser, who co-translated her novels ? Alexis and Two Lives and a Dream , Yourcenar (1903-1987) has rendered the nuances of her original French to subtle and profound effect in a work that is poetic and provocative. The title essay takes its name from a poem by Victor Hugo and echoes the theme that unifies all 24 essays included here: the ravages of time are inescapable, and we must make peace with them or perish in anguish. With characteristic breadth of vision, the author views creation and decay as inextricably linked. She writes, "On the day when a statue is finished, its life, in a certain sense, begins"51 and, as this life unfolds and is publicly received, the statue will "bit by bit return . . . to the state of unformed mineral mass out of which its sculptor had taken it."51 In see fix above meditations on art, history and memory, Yourcenar addresses an impressive variety of subjects, from the nature of conversation in the historical novel to the celebration of the Days of the Dead . The book proves to be a beautiful and appropriate memento mori--one that salutes life while it commemorates death, claiming that though lives pass, life does not.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A posthumous collection of essays that, as in Dear Departed (1991), again reveal the late French Academy member's exceptionally wide range of interests: forceful opinions on everything from the books of Carlos Castaneda to the wearing of fur coats fill this slender, often arcane, but occasionally illuminating volume. Translated and occasionally reworked in collaboration with Walter Kaiser near the end of Yourcenar's life (1903-87), many of the best pieces here confront the issues of time's passage and the nature of life and death. In ``On Some Lines from the Venerable Bede,'' Yourcenar, discussing the introduction of Christianity to the British people, becomes captivated by a description of life as ``the flight of a sparrow'' through a great fire-lit hall while storms rage outside, and suggests that this image also evokes the human mind. In the title essay, she meditates on the transformative effects of time, nature, and the quirks of human judgment on the fates of ancient Greek statues as they return, over eons, to their primal mineral state. In ``The Nobility of Failure,'' Yourcenar departs from relating instances of ritual suicide in Japan to explore the heroic potential of death and defeat. Profound meditations from a woman near her own death--nearly buried beneath a number of less worthy topics and treatments, certainly, but worth unearthing nevertheless. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Yourcenar's contributions to the world of letters--as poet, playwright, essayist, translator, novelist, and writer of short stories--have won her France's most prestigious recognition of a writer: election to the Academie Francaise in 1980. Born in Brussels in 1903, Marguerite de Crayencour (her real name) traveled with her father in Europe, then the United States, where she settled (in Maine, on Mount Desert Island) until her death in 1987, having become an American citizen in 1947. Her travels and immense erudition have turned her works into a mix of historical facts, philosophical musings, and well-orchestrated fiction. Indeed, this translation, which brings together essays published in literary journals, constitutes only a sampling of Yourcenar's wide-ranging interests in art, literature, esthetics, and religion. This volume is not a scholarly edition: it has neither an informative introduction, notes, nor a selective bibliography of critical works to help the reader. Rather, it sheds a partial light on a very eclectic and rich corpus--enough to entice the reader to look for more.
- Danielle Mihram, Univ. of Southern California Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.