Zanoni
by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edward George Bulwer-LyttonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-11-01
ISBN: 1592248411
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Borgo Press
Book Reviews of Zanoni
Book Review: timeless
Summary: 5 Stars
Bulwer-Lytton was a massively prolific novelist of the mid 19th century, and this book (and possibly 'The Coming Race') is likely his best-known work, not so much for its literary merit as for the theme, that is to say, the Rosicrucian backstory of the work.
In its most basic skeletal form, 'Zanoni' is a love story in which several very different men vie, with greater or lesser chance of success, for the hand of the orphaned Viola in 18th century Naples. It is in the interaction between the various men of the story, rather than in much having directly to do with Viola, that the Rosicrucian/occult elements come out, as the immortal Zanoni, one the suitors, and his elemental opposite Mejnour, come into contact with the callow would-be pupil Glyndon, various artists, Frenchmen, etc.
From a literary point of view, the story is well told if long-winded, and the style is definitely of a piece with the times in which it was written, i.e. everything is breathlessly exclaimed, the backstory of characters (particularly Viola) is elaborated on for countless long pages regardless of whether it has any importance whatever to the story, and the dialogue reads terribly cliched in the year 2008. It's a long book, and it takes some commitment to get through. It is not a Patterson novel; you will spend a lot of time with the book.
Is it worth it? If you read it just for the love story, read something else. If, like most everyone, you read it to delve into the Rosicrucian aspects of the story, you will spend even more time with it, as Bulwer-Lytton writes with some insight, but expects the reader to follow along closely with the symbology he often brings up only obliquely; with subtle elements such as the structure of the book itself (comprised of several books, multiple chapters each), and to separate the dramatic elements of the story from the magical. For example, Book IV in which perhaps most of the outright 'Rosicrucian' material appears, is laid out to form a systematic curriculum of progressive lessons, or stages, in the neophytes progress, but is not so identified. It is only upon rereading or looking back and laying this out that the reader can point to this and enjoy an 'aha!' moment.
Some of the concepts loom larger than others; each reader will make up his or her own mind. Nonetheless, the ideas of sincerity, devoted self-application, love of others, self-restraint, and studious devotion to the meditative arts are obviously important. The neophyte can expect to be tested at all times; the story of Glyndon's failure in his studies is the norm, not the exception.
The story does end eventually, climaxing in Zanoni's renunciation of immortality for love, amidst the butchery of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, and the fates of the various characters are fascinating and just.
It is a book the serious reader will get much more out of upon his first and second re-reading. Those who simply scan it for the romantic novel is outwardly seems to be will have missed the point entirely.
Summary of Zanoni
One of the peculiarities of Bulwer was his passion for occult studies. They had a charm for him early in life, and he pursued them with the earnestness which characterized his pursuit of other studies. He became absorbed in wizard lore; he equipped himself with magical implements, -- with rods for transmitting influence, and crystal balls in which to discern coming scenes and persons; and communed with spiritualists and mediums. The fruit of these mystic studies is seen in _Zanoni_ and "A strange Story," romances which were a labor of love to the author, and into which he threw all the power he possessed, -- power re-enforced by multifarious reading and an instinctive appreciation of Oriental thought.Contemporary Books
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