ellsoquent's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lauranoonz's review against another edition
5.0
There's very few books that I can't put down and will carry on reading while walking to and fro.
This is one of them, any fan of Susan Sontag's work will enjoy this book and I am sure anyone new to Susan Sontage will become an instant fan. Very interesting, well-crafted story. A must read, and re-read.
This is one of them, any fan of Susan Sontag's work will enjoy this book and I am sure anyone new to Susan Sontage will become an instant fan. Very interesting, well-crafted story. A must read, and re-read.
malenareadssometimes's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kittenscribble's review against another edition
3.0
The story of a romance between vulcanologist Sir William Hamilton and his wives Catherine and Emma (Emma also strikes up a romance with Lord Nelson). Since Sontag does not often refer to her characters by name, though, the names eventually cease to matter. The prose is absorbing, though pretty thick in places. Nice pieces of meditation on one's role in life, especially as the characters encounter the French Revolution, and their world begins to fall apart.
seebrandyread's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Susan Sontag’s The Volcano Lover is a fictional telling of the lives and entanglements of Sir William Hamilton, English ambassador to Naples; his second wife, Lady Emma Hamilton; and the celebrated naval hero, Horatio Nelson, at the end of the 18th century and turn of the 19th. Sir Hamilton’s obsessive collecting, Emma’s common background but meteoric rise to popularity through her own cleverness and fortunate marriage, and Nelson’s military exploits make them an odd trio, but they somehow encapsulate much of what was wrong with yet fascinating about their particular period of history. As the the three become more enamored with one another, they become less concerned with the duties and expectations of their stations. As one would expect, the woman pays a much dearer cost for her indiscretions. Though this story is already laid out in the annals of history, Sontag still raises questions about the nature of history. Whose stories are remembered? How? Why? She reminds us that history is a construct, a carefully curated collection by those with the power and means to assemble it.
catarinaduarte30's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rocilanda's review against another edition
4.0
Never thought a historical novel could get this good - probably because it offers a cloaked criticism to the rest of them. The author's writing is totally contemporary, and it beautifully contradicts the era of the facts.
imclaugh's review against another edition
3.0
The book is flawed but fascinating--
Or. I'm not entirely sure I can speak of "the book." The Volcano Lover lacks the essential Aristotelian quality of drama--unity of action. The result is a novel that gathers momentum only to distend suddenly, like a swamp appearing in the middle of a swiftly coursing river; whenever action nears a climax, the focus will shift to an entirely different subject. But what subjects! The four that most seem to fascinate Sontag are the members of a historical love triangle (Sir William Hamilton, Emma Hamilton, and Horatio Nelson) and the French Revolution. She offers a compelling analysis of each and a plausible theory of how they interacted historically. But they don't always interact well thematically or dramatically--at least in Sontag's staging, though I do not hold her fully responsible.
Sir William, in particular, often falls through the cracks. The novel's first section (of four) is essentially an essay on collecting and collectors, of which Sir William serves as case in point. It is also supposed to serve as a prism to the splendor of the eighteenth-century world right before its demise. We can discern clear points of intersection with subjects that will take the stage later, but the dramatic purpose of this section is tenuous. Where the 1941 film That Hamilton Woman uses William's reputation as a collector to explain, albeit rather obviously, Emma's discontent (she is, both versions of the tale agree, more ornament to him than person), Sontag refuses any link between the two. Emma and Nelson continue to "respect" the older William throughout their affair. Honestly, without dipping into the archives myself, Sontag's read seems more plausible; if anything, Emma enjoyed being an ornament and exploited its advantages (worry not, though, our overtly feminist narrator is crystal clear about the accompanying limitations). Only-- if she didn't think William's backstory was really essential to sparking the affair, or anything else for that matter, she should have left it out.
Or. I'm not entirely sure I can speak of "the book." The Volcano Lover lacks the essential Aristotelian quality of drama--unity of action. The result is a novel that gathers momentum only to distend suddenly, like a swamp appearing in the middle of a swiftly coursing river; whenever action nears a climax, the focus will shift to an entirely different subject. But what subjects! The four that most seem to fascinate Sontag are the members of a historical love triangle (Sir William Hamilton, Emma Hamilton, and Horatio Nelson) and the French Revolution. She offers a compelling analysis of each and a plausible theory of how they interacted historically. But they don't always interact well thematically or dramatically--at least in Sontag's staging, though I do not hold her fully responsible.
Sir William, in particular, often falls through the cracks. The novel's first section (of four) is essentially an essay on collecting and collectors, of which Sir William serves as case in point. It is also supposed to serve as a prism to the splendor of the eighteenth-century world right before its demise. We can discern clear points of intersection with subjects that will take the stage later, but the dramatic purpose of this section is tenuous. Where the 1941 film That Hamilton Woman uses William's reputation as a collector to explain, albeit rather obviously, Emma's discontent (she is, both versions of the tale agree, more ornament to him than person), Sontag refuses any link between the two. Emma and Nelson continue to "respect" the older William throughout their affair. Honestly, without dipping into the archives myself, Sontag's read seems more plausible; if anything, Emma enjoyed being an ornament and exploited its advantages (worry not, though, our overtly feminist narrator is crystal clear about the accompanying limitations). Only-- if she didn't think William's backstory was really essential to sparking the affair, or anything else for that matter, she should have left it out.