The Family Idiot: Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1857, Volume I, by Jean-Paul Sartre by Renee Winegarten Jean-Paul Sartre's monumental study of Gustave Flaubert, L'Idiot de la famille, originally published in 1971-72 is hardly the delightful "novel…
Origins of the Novel, by Marthe Robert by Renee Winegarten What is the source of the human impulse to tell stories and to delight in them? Is there indeed one…
Orwell: The Transformation, by Peter Stansky and William Abrahams by Renee Winegarten There remains something elusive and enigmatic about George Orwell, despite his own numerous autobiographical writings and allusions (about which the…
Love-Hate Relations, by Stephen Spender by Renee Winegarten Stephen Spender's Love-Hate Relations can be taken in at least two ways.
The Idea of Decadence by Renee Winegarten Nowadays, when people actually line up to see an exhibition of paintings by Gustave Moreau or Edvard Munch, or to…
Literary Terrorism by Renee Winegarten "After the national toasts had been given, the first official toast of the day was the Old Man of the…
On the Love of Suicide by Renee Winegarten Among the numerous ancient and modern proponents of self-destruction discussed in A. Alvarez's brilliant, controversial, and moving study of suicide,…
Voyeur Voyant: A Portrait of Louis-Ferdinand Celine, by Erika Ostrovsky by Renee Winegarten The year before his death in 1961 Celine claimed one achievement: it was to have succeeded in getting everybody to…
Malraux’s Fate by Renee Winegarten If only Chateaubriand had visited Napoleon in exile on St. Helena, what a book would have resulted! Unlike General de…
Cocteau, by Francis Steegmuller; Professional Secrets: An Autobiography of Jean Cocteau, writings selected by Robert Phelps by Renee Winegarten In 1965, two years after Jean Cocteau's death, a splendid exhibition of his life and times was mounted at the…
Jews in the Mind of France by Renee Winegarten In France, where nearly all the scenes of the modern Jewish dilemma have been dramatically enacted since the end of…
Literary Revolutionism by Renee Winegarten Today, it is not only the literary avant-garde that is attracted to the idea of permanent revolution in both the…
