Madame

Madame tells the story of a self-absorbed Polish teenager as he pursues intellectual maturity, and the woman of his dreams, his French teacher 'Madame', in the communist-dominated Warsaw of the early 1970s. Libera paces his exuberant young hero's fulminations, fantasies and discoveries beautifully, building a remarkably subtle characterisation of a free mind in a repressive culture. This is one of those rare novels which reminds us why we love books. A consummate literary entertainment. Number of Words in Auth: 2 Formats : EPUB Number of Formats : 1 Has Cover : Yes Single Author : Antoni Libera Original Source : Mirc Undernet New 01 31 A Sorted Author by LN, FN: Libera, Antoni Title Length : 006 Title Parm D : Madame Title Parm F : Madame Num of Aut : 1 Title Parm B : ( Record ID : 8504 Uncomma Author : Antoni Libera Title Parm A : Madame

madame Tells The Story Of A Charmingly Self-absorbed Teenager As He Pursues Sexual And Intellectual Maturity—and The Woman Of His Dreams—in Communist-dominated Warsaw Of The Early '70s. His French Teacher, Madame, Is The Object Of Both His Affections And Aspirations As News Of The Cultural Revolution In The West Seeps Through The Communist Walls. Libera Paces His Exuberant Young Hero's Fulminations, Fantasies, And Discoveries Beautifully, Building A Remarkably Subtle Characterization Of A Free Mind In A Repressive Culture. Recalling The Graduate And Even The Romantic Films Of Truffaut, Libera Gives Us One Of The Most Wily, Unforgettable, And Unabashed Young Narrators In Contemporary Fiction.

publishers Weekly

a Teenage Boy's Doomed Love For His Glamorous French Instructor In 1960s Poland Informs The Masterfully Constructed Debut Of Warsaw Critic And Drama Director Libera. When A Beautiful 32-year-old Teacher, Known Primarily As Madame, Takes Over The Narrator's High School French Class, He Is Entranced By Her Combination Of Austere Intelligence And Immaculate Beauty. He Soon Begins Following Her And Researching Her Life To Feed His Obsession. When He Flirtatiously Taunts Her In Class With Covert References To Her Past, She Seems Only Mildly Indignant. Finally, He Discovers That She Is The Daughter Of A Man Who Left Poland For Political Reasons During The 1940s, And That She Has Felt Uncertain Of Her Own Identity For Much Of Her Adult Life; This Revelation Fills Him With Empathy For Her. The Unlikely Chemistry Between The Immature Pupil And His Adult Teacher Is Electrifying, And The Tantalizing Pace Builds To A Mystifying And Heart-wrenching Climax. Libera Paints The Narrator's Obsession With Madame With A Wit Worthy Of Nabokov (in A Crystalline Translation By Kolakowska) As His Satire Of The Youth's Reckless Romantic Impulse Mixes With Heated Romantic Intrigue. In The Course Of Researching His Amour, The Narrator Sees Picasso's The Human Comedy Drawings And Lelouch's Film A Man And A Woman, Both New At The Time; The Attitude Toward Physical And Psychological Love Expressed In Both Adds A Complex And Fitting Symbolism To The Intense Politics And Passion In The Narrative. The Layers Of The Student's Obsession Unravel With Impressive Measure As Well, Even If Libera Occasionally Gives Too Much Attention To The Inner Workings Of His Hero's Mind Or The History Of Poland's Oppression By Communist Forces. This Epic Fantasy Is Deeply Satisfying, Heartbreaking And Enthralling. (apr.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

"Madame is a novel about Poland during the grim years of Soviet-controlled mediocrity which nonetheless sparkles with light and warmth." "Our young narrator-hero is suffering through the regulated boredom of high school when he is transfixed by a new teacher - an elegant "older woman" (she is thirty-two) who bewitches him with her glacial beauty and her strict intelligence. He resolves to learn everything he can about her and to win her heart.". "In a sequence of marvelously funny but sobering maneuvers, he finds out much more than he expected - about politics, Poland, and the Spanish Civil War, and his own passion for theater and art - all while his loved one continues to elude him. Yet without his realizing it, his efforts - largely bookish and literary - to close in on Madame are his first steps to liberation as an artist. Later, during a stint as a teacher-in-training in his old school, he discovers that he himself has become a legendary figure to a new generation of students, and he begins to understand the deceits and blessings of myth, and its redemptive power."--BOOK JACKET. In a novel set in Soviet-era Poland, a boy is bewitched by his teacher and vows to win her heart, but later, when he becomes a teacher himself, he sees the story from the opposite side of the instructor's desk. Reprint. A winning portrait of an artist as a young man, Madame is a moving novel about strength and weakness, first love, and the efforts we make to reconcile, in art, the opposing forces of reason and passion