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    Venusberg: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Venusberg: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Venusberg: A Novel
    Ebook222 pages6 hours

    Venusberg: A Novel

    By Anthony Powell and Levi Stahl

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Written from a vantage point both high and deliberately narrow, the early novels of the late British master Anthony Powell nevertheless deal in the universal themes that would become a substantial part of his oeuvre: pride, greed, and the strange drivers of human behavior. More explorations of relationships and vanity than plot-driven narratives, Powell’s early works reveal the stirrings of the unequaled style, ear for dialogue, and eye for irony that would reach their caustic peak in his epic, A Dance to the Music of Time.

    Powell’s sophomore novel, Venusberg, follows journalist Lushington as he leaves behind his unrequited love in England and travels by boat to an unnamed Baltic state. Awash in a marvelously odd assortment of counts and ladies navigating a multicultural, elegant, and politically precarious social scene, Lushington becomes infatuated with his very own, very foreign Venus. An action-packed literary precursor to Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Venusberg is replete with assassins and Nazis, loose countesses and misunderstandings, fatal accidents and social comedy. But beyond its humor, this early installment in Powell’s literary canon will offer readers a welcome window onto the mind of a great artist learning his craft.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
    Release dateOct 30, 2015
    ISBN9780226314266
    Unavailable
    Venusberg: A Novel

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    Reviews for Venusberg

    3.5/5

    19 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A melancholy farce, set in the early 1930s in the diplomatic community of an unnamed Baltic country based on Estonia or Latvia. Similar in tone and treatment to early Evelyn Waugh. Uneven, but with some brilliant passages and astringent characterizations. Count Bobel: "In Russia we have an expression -- 'nitchevo.' It is difficult to render into another language. It is in reality untranslatable. It means 'nothing' or, more freely, 'what does it matter?' It is a very popular expression, characteristic, in a way, of our people. I tell you this because I think this is a moment when such a philosophy of life might be of value to you. Say to yourself 'nitchevo.'"
    • 4/5
      Very unexpectedly funny book. Had no idea what to expect, although the cover had a certain whimsy and silly looking characters that made me chuckle. And the book did even more than that. Silly, pompous people interacting desperate to convince themselves of their own importance can only be funny in the hands of a good writer. I have many Powell books on the shelf and am even more excited now that i am aware of the subtle humor involved. What really clicked was the main character Lushington continually finding himself in the thick of ridiculous situations, most of which were not his doing - life just kept thrusting itself into his routine.....a situation i find myself in with too much regularity.......and i felt better knowing I may not be alone!!!