City of Darkness, City of Light
by Marge Piercy
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Book Summary Information
Author: Marge PiercyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-08-12
ISBN: 0449912752
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780449912751
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of City of Darkness, City of Light
Book Review: C'est bon!
Summary: 5 Stars
In *City of Darkness, City of Light,* Marge Piercy follows six, count `em, *six* characters through the French Revolution. This turbulent period molds their characters, as each of them plays important roles in, if not the actual revolution, the evolution of France. The end of the book (guessing who will survive the guillotine) is riveting.
As much fun as this book is to read, and as interesting as the history is, there is more importance than mere romp and period to this work. Postmodernism has been touted as obscure and difficult, like *Gravity's Rainbow* or some of the more abstract, narrativeless forms. *City of Darkness, City of Light* is, IMHO, postmodernism as it was meant to be. Piercy reinterprets history from the POV of those who did not have a voice at the time: women. She explores the lives of women during the French Revolution with kindness, emotion, and depth. Her characters range from politically active minor nobility (Manon) to the impoverished (Claire) to the middle class (Pauline), an oftentimes neglected strata of society. There are also male counterparts for each of the archetypal women, including a character that becomes the bloody Robespierre, who begins life as a studious son of a lawyer named simply Max.
In addition to the postmodern aspects of this book, *City* is important because it attempts to discuss what it is to be human, and different types of human, within a larger context, during a historical event. Too often, IMHO, contemporary novels examine one character, doing very little, or nothing. The novel should not be measly navel-gazing. It should be an experience that broadens the reader. I don't mean merely educational or informative. By reading widely, one should understand one's fellow human better, deeper, more intensely. One should feel more. *City* offers you six people to understand in depth, with feeling, and with humanity.
Please do not be intimidated by my classification of this book as "postmodern" or my admonition that it's "good for you," like Brussel sprouts. *City* is readable and entertaining. Like I said, some of the six characters lose their heads at the end, and I'm not speaking metaphorically. Try to guess which ones.
TK Kenyon
Author of Rabid: A Novel and Callous: A Novel
Summary of City of Darkness, City of Light
"FAST-PACED . . . PIERCY BREATHES LIFE INTO THE ACTUAL HISTORICAL FIGURES WHO SHAPED THE REVOLUTION."--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle
In her most splendid, thought-provoking novel yet, Marge Piercy brings to vibrant life three women who play prominent roles in the tumultuous, bloody French Revolution--as well as their more famous male counterparts.
Defiantly independent Claire Lacombe tests her theory: if men can make things happen, perhaps women can too. . . . Manon Philipon finds she has a talent for politics--albeit as the ghostwriter of her husband's speeches. . . . And Pauline Léon knows one thing for certain: the women must apply the pressure or their male colleagues will let them starve. While illuminating the lives of Robespierre, Danton, and Condorcet, Piercy also opens to us the minds and hearts of women who change their world, live their ideals--and are prepared to die for them.
"MASTERFUL . . . PIERCY BRINGS THE BLOOD AND GUTS, THE IDEAS AND PASSIONS, OF THE REVOLUTION TO LIFE."
--The Women's Review of Books
"PIERCY'S STORYTELLING POWERS CAPTURE THE TURBULENCE AND EXCITEMENT OF [THIS] LIBERATING ERA."
--The Boston Herald
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