- Hardcover: 128 pages
- Publisher: Chatto & Windus; First Edition edition (16 Dec 1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0701160888
- ISBN-13: 978-0701160883
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 12.7 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,000,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Full of delight and humor..."The Matisse Stories" is studded with brilliantly apt images and a fine sense for subtleties of conversation and emotion." --"San Francisco Chronicle"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
This special edition contains three stories - "The Chinese Lobster", "Medusa's Ankles" and "Art Work" - haunted in different ways by the paintings of Henri Matisse.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Three separate short stories, each inspired by a different painting of Matisse, which deal with surface and beauty.
The description of a middle-aged woman going to her hairdressers after it has been refitted with garish lights, and coming out with a stiff old ladies hairdo, is completely haunting, beautifully observed and has stayed with me for years.
I have to say that, although not as famous as her other work, this is my favourite AS Byatt. Highly recommended.
The description of a middle-aged woman going to her hairdressers after it has been refitted with garish lights, and coming out with a stiff old ladies hairdo, is completely haunting, beautifully observed and has stayed with me for years.
I have to say that, although not as famous as her other work, this is my favourite AS Byatt. Highly recommended.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This little book is a constant source of pleasure akin to a perfect piece of jewelery. It contains three stories, each with a Matisse painting at its heart. The commentary on life within each few pages will haunt you.
I first read it in the mid 90's yet 15 years on, it still captivates and intrigues. It includes moments of release, moments of clarity and twisted revenge, moments of considered cruelty; each is so exquisitely crafted that each re-reading burnishes their brilliance.
Whenever anybody asks me about passion for colour and obsession, I refer them to the second story and Batchelor's Chromophobia and as such this book transcends the tag of short story collection. The Djinn and the Nightingale's Eye is the only other Byatt that captures this concise elegance and is also well worth a read.
I cannot recommend this highly enough - I suggest you will return to it time and time again.
I first read it in the mid 90's yet 15 years on, it still captivates and intrigues. It includes moments of release, moments of clarity and twisted revenge, moments of considered cruelty; each is so exquisitely crafted that each re-reading burnishes their brilliance.
Whenever anybody asks me about passion for colour and obsession, I refer them to the second story and Batchelor's Chromophobia and as such this book transcends the tag of short story collection. The Djinn and the Nightingale's Eye is the only other Byatt that captures this concise elegance and is also well worth a read.
I cannot recommend this highly enough - I suggest you will return to it time and time again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Byatt in tranquil mood, with three lovely stories inspired by Matisse. I enjoyed them all: the heartbreaking tale of Susannah who enjoys having her hair done at the local salon while it's calmly beautiful and decorated with the splendid Matisse pink nude (though as that particular nude has little in the way of hair it might not have been the best picture to pick!) and who has a fit of rage when the hairdresser redoes the salon in trendy black and silver; Debbie the woodcut artist who makes a surprising discovery about the artistic talents of her cleaning lady, and is then able to stand up to her painter husband, Robin; and, best of all, the two art history lecturers who meet over a delicious Chinese meal to discuss a troubled student. Influenced by Matisse's wonderful colour palette, Byatt writes in a beautifully vivid and painterly style, creating the most wonderful scenes and interesting situations for her characters. The writing is much more relaxed than some of her novels, and there's a sense that the stories have been written with real enjoyment. I particularly liked the descriptions of artworks: those created by the characters in the second story and those by Matisse in the third.
A beautiful book, and a good gift for anyone art-loving.
A beautiful book, and a good gift for anyone art-loving.
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