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A review by faintgirl
The Book About Blanche and Marie by Per Olov Enquist
3.0
Another highly peculiar book! The Book About Blanche and Marie tells of Marie Curie, the multiple Nobel Prize winning scientist, and her relationship with Blanche, a "hysterical" female at the Salpetrier, and occasional muse of the great Professor Charcot. The two women, despite their clear differences in background, become close friends when Blanche begins to work in Marie's lab, and they share their thoughts (and despair) about life and love. When Marie has an affair with a married man, her life begins to descend into a seething pit of moral and emotional outrage, and she must decide which path her life will take.
While the events the novel describes are quite gripping, Per Olov Enquist has a very strange sing song, almost poetic style of narration. The sex scenes he describes are so impersonal as to be almost hilarious, and he revists events again and again. But despite this, the book is a quick and easy read, and doesn't suffer too much from these flights of fancy. The plight of Marie as a modern woman embroiled in an ancient scandal is touching, and the unfairness she suffers as a result unbelievable. For this, it's worth three stars.
While the events the novel describes are quite gripping, Per Olov Enquist has a very strange sing song, almost poetic style of narration. The sex scenes he describes are so impersonal as to be almost hilarious, and he revists events again and again. But despite this, the book is a quick and easy read, and doesn't suffer too much from these flights of fancy. The plight of Marie as a modern woman embroiled in an ancient scandal is touching, and the unfairness she suffers as a result unbelievable. For this, it's worth three stars.