Reviews for George Sand: A Woman's Life Writ Large

The average rating for George Sand: A Woman's Life Writ Large based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-12-01 00:00:00 MANUEL GARCIA SORIA DAVIS Before I give in to my review I would like to express my admiration and respect for such a woman, as George Sand was, in her historical context and struggle to find herself, her true self. As an author of the XIX° century, whose prolific work has undoubtedly shaped modern and contemporary minds (once rediscovered), George Sand was presented to me during high school and now, at university, as a woman not so far from my XXI° century fellow women. For what regards her thoughts on equality, institutional, social and cultural matters, even political involvement, in her I have often found an inspirational advocate of stark truths. Having expressed these thoughts, I will begin my review by stating that this book, to my relief, is not a romanticised biography, as often most are. All this is spite of the Romantic Age and of Sand's scorching love life. At least that is how I see it. Belinda Jack's biography presents itself as a quite detailed, fragmentary analysis of the objective type. Never boring or difficult to comprehend, this exploration of Madame Sand's life is a 360° account, with the exception of few missing pieces between letters and writing which were either posthumously censured or destroyed by the author. In it the reader finds an itinerary of life, feeling, body, mind, family, friends, religion, society, convention, questions, intimacy, exposure, struggle, love, antagonism, drama, sexuality, self-discovery, art in its many forms and retrospective analysis of the psychological kind that Freud would expose nearly a century later; all of this is blended perfectly and with outstanding constancy with Sand's writing, be it correspondence, articles, theatre or novels. It is a complete work, in-depth and containing a wonderful series of interludes made of quoted fragments from novels, letters and dairy entries from, to and regarding Sand. It is also thanks to these direct sneak peaks that the reader can better and more intimately appreciate the great persona she was as well as her fictional writings. As a student of letters I have encountered a professor who, with quite some authoritarian belief, told us in class how unimportant and useless he finds this "need to teach and study the lives of authors". In his experience, the life of an author had little, if any, impact on their work. Although I find his Contemporary Italian Literature course interesting, I am compelled, by personal and academic experience, to wholeheartedly disagree! It might be an arguable matter, no doubt, but I honestly believe that without the life, family, choices, environment, culture and so much else that sums up the individual experience, authors (and all artists) would not have become who we know them to be. "Know" being too big a word to describe our crossing paths with writers, both deceased and alive, when not partaking intimately to their lives. To this belief, in my opinion, Sand makes no exception. This biography has satisfied my personal and academic need to better know and understand the human behind the written word. While reading Jack's account, with every discovery of George Sand's evolution, I felt more and more curious about her, her work, how she saw the world around her, how she exposed her findings in her prolific writing and how she perceived her fame, as well as some insight behind her creative process. All this and more can be found in this book, where the Epilogue takes in account how Sand's work and influence continues, with a period of posthumous pause, to mark the world, especially female writers; it even makes comparisons between biographies written from the beginning of the XX° century, when the major rediscovery occurred. As I've previously said, it is an easy read, almost devoid of difficult vocabulary, but for a few words among which some in French. Mind you, when I say "easy", I don't mean simplistic as a book for children. The language is well balanced and with a good flow to follow. It even makes a fast read, but I preferred to take my time and enjoy it fully. In conclusion, this is the biography I have been looking for! Extensive, detailed, insightful, definitely not dull, objective and honest. I recommend it from the bottom of my bookworm's heart.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-11-25 00:00:00 Geoffrey Stone Sand (aka the Baroness Aurore Dudevant) came from mixed aristocratic blood and working class blood, and cross-class relationships figure into both her life and her writing. She was hugely prolific, full of contradictions and had many famous lovers and friends, from musicians Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin to author Gustave Flaubert and artist Eugene Delacroix. This biography was well told and kept me turning the pages. My only criticism is that it seemed some sections of the book and of Sand's life were rushed - 7 years with Chopin pass in just a few pages, for instance. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to those who like French literature, strong women or just generally enjoy well-written biographies.