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blackbird27's review against another edition
5.0
I've been a fan of Max Beerbohm's sedulous prose for twenty years, and of British comic fiction as a genre for even longer, so why it took me this long to read his only novel, a celebrated classic of comic fiction, is unaccountable. I can only guess that I like having things in reserve, something to get around to; and while my appetite for information in the abstract is wolfish, taking up specific works (especially if they've acquired any kind of patina in my mental library) is fraught. What if the spell doesn't work?
It works.
I tried to parcel this out, one chapter a night, all week, but over the weekend I fell too deeply in love and just charged through. It's an extraordinary achievement, a work of high irony and filigreed texture, a Wildean fairy-tale set in the world of one of Wilde's society plays but with all of Wilde's wild hope expunged. The entirety of the plot could be contained in an anecdote, and I wouldn't be surprised to find its outline somewhere in the back chapters of Ovid or the Arabian Nights; but while there are absolutely grounds for considering it misogynistic, I prefer to think of it as expressing (with faultlessly unctuous irony) a scholarly, asexual* horror at the violence and egotism of heterosexual passion.
But pulling too hard at the lacy web to extract any themes would be foolish; for all its black humor, Zuleika Dobson is too delicate and balanced for the heavy machinery of analysis, whether Marxist or feminist or any other I'd happily apply to a sturdier text. Granted that the entirety of the late Victorian or Edwardian Oxford world Beerbohm writes about (or imagines, and then writes about) is a criminal enterprise for maintaining wealth and power at the expense of the other 9/10ths of the world, the fact doesn't make it one scintilla less beautiful, or hilarious.
*The first time I can remember seeing the word asexual applied to a person was in a biographical sketch of Max Beerbohm; whose, I can no longer guess.
It works.
I tried to parcel this out, one chapter a night, all week, but over the weekend I fell too deeply in love and just charged through. It's an extraordinary achievement, a work of high irony and filigreed texture, a Wildean fairy-tale set in the world of one of Wilde's society plays but with all of Wilde's wild hope expunged. The entirety of the plot could be contained in an anecdote, and I wouldn't be surprised to find its outline somewhere in the back chapters of Ovid or the Arabian Nights; but while there are absolutely grounds for considering it misogynistic, I prefer to think of it as expressing (with faultlessly unctuous irony) a scholarly, asexual* horror at the violence and egotism of heterosexual passion.
But pulling too hard at the lacy web to extract any themes would be foolish; for all its black humor, Zuleika Dobson is too delicate and balanced for the heavy machinery of analysis, whether Marxist or feminist or any other I'd happily apply to a sturdier text. Granted that the entirety of the late Victorian or Edwardian Oxford world Beerbohm writes about (or imagines, and then writes about) is a criminal enterprise for maintaining wealth and power at the expense of the other 9/10ths of the world, the fact doesn't make it one scintilla less beautiful, or hilarious.
*The first time I can remember seeing the word asexual applied to a person was in a biographical sketch of Max Beerbohm; whose, I can no longer guess.
ronne's review against another edition
Couldn't read any more of this overwritten, deeply dull book.
ben_miller's review against another edition
3.0
Zuleika Dobson - lady prestidigitator and Helen of Troy reincarnate - arrives at the Oxford train station one afternoon, and over the next few days wreaks unfathomable havoc and destruction, almost without trying.
I found her story equal parts hilarious and annoying, fascinatingly experimental, self-aware, disturbing, claustrophobic, and beautiful. In other words, there's no simple way to slap 3 stars on this puppy and move on. On the one hand it's a novel of manners, quintessentially British, on the other hand, it's a parody of such novels. And on the OTHER other hand, there are ghosts, supernatural portents, excursions to Mount Olympus...and there is death. So much death.
Perhaps the greatest thing about the book is the freedom with which it was written. The author was unafraid to take it in the most bizarre directions, to interpose himself, to argue with the reader, to claim divine powers, and to employ a vocabulary that even for the time would have been comically arcane.
All that said, I was relieved to finish it. I would recommend it if only because it seems to be a one-of-a-kind experience, and who can say no to that?
I found her story equal parts hilarious and annoying, fascinatingly experimental, self-aware, disturbing, claustrophobic, and beautiful. In other words, there's no simple way to slap 3 stars on this puppy and move on. On the one hand it's a novel of manners, quintessentially British, on the other hand, it's a parody of such novels. And on the OTHER other hand, there are ghosts, supernatural portents, excursions to Mount Olympus...and there is death. So much death.
Perhaps the greatest thing about the book is the freedom with which it was written. The author was unafraid to take it in the most bizarre directions, to interpose himself, to argue with the reader, to claim divine powers, and to employ a vocabulary that even for the time would have been comically arcane.
All that said, I was relieved to finish it. I would recommend it if only because it seems to be a one-of-a-kind experience, and who can say no to that?
ashleylm's review against another edition
2.0
Disappointing, because it could have been a thing I loved, and how tragic to find something you could have loved, but you don't even like?
I'm fairly sure this was intended to be funny, and I know time has passed, but I still think Jane Austen's hilarious so time shouldn't be an issue. I'm almost personally offended that the idea of not one, not two, but countless students committing suicide would be fodder for humour rather than a tragedy. I do like some of the prose ("Death cancels all engagements" struck me, as it has struck so many others), but I'm not laughing, I'm not even smiling, I'm 40% through the book and very little has happened, and certainly not enough to convince me there's any point in continuing.
(My patience for so-so books has worn entirely away during the years, and I no longer feel any remorse at stopping and setting them aside ... forever! In fact, it's the forever aspect that makes it easier for me to stop. If I think "oh, I'll finish this one day," then it's easy to think "so I might as well finish it now." Once I realise "I don't want to read this any more, and I never will," everything becomes so much simpler.)
It's a shame, because it's weird enough and odd enough (and apparently a bit of a one-off from the author) so it could theoretically easily fit alongside such gems as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or The Young Visiters that I truly do love. But it was not to be.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
I'm fairly sure this was intended to be funny, and I know time has passed, but I still think Jane Austen's hilarious so time shouldn't be an issue. I'm almost personally offended that the idea of not one, not two, but countless students committing suicide would be fodder for humour rather than a tragedy. I do like some of the prose ("Death cancels all engagements" struck me, as it has struck so many others), but I'm not laughing, I'm not even smiling, I'm 40% through the book and very little has happened, and certainly not enough to convince me there's any point in continuing.
(My patience for so-so books has worn entirely away during the years, and I no longer feel any remorse at stopping and setting them aside ... forever! In fact, it's the forever aspect that makes it easier for me to stop. If I think "oh, I'll finish this one day," then it's easy to think "so I might as well finish it now." Once I realise "I don't want to read this any more, and I never will," everything becomes so much simpler.)
It's a shame, because it's weird enough and odd enough (and apparently a bit of a one-off from the author) so it could theoretically easily fit alongside such gems as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes or The Young Visiters that I truly do love. But it was not to be.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
ashbandicoot90's review against another edition
3.0
Clearly a deeply dark and amusing personal project.
altruest's review against another edition
5.0
This was the surprise of 2019 for me. I read Pride and Prejudice every few years but that's about the extent of my classic literature consumption. Who knew that a book written in 1911 would turn out to be one of my favorites of the year?
Zuleika Dobson is the story of a young woman with an almost magical power of attraction to young men arriving at Oxford, falling in love with the one man who ignores her, then fallling out of love again instantly when he confesses his affection to her. It is tortured and dramatic in theory, but the concept is saved by the writing. According to a quick google search Max Beerbohm was an essayist, parodist, and caricaturist, and his wit and humor is on display in this, his only published novel. This century old book was genuinely delightful to read (as long as you keep a dictionary and google translate on hand), and occasionally even made me chuckle, a feat that most modern books cannot replicate. Beerbohm treats the romance in the book with not only the irony it deserves, but also with a bit of levity and pity for the young Oxford scholars swept up in the irresistible aura of the titular Zuleika.
I don't remember where I heard of this book (probably twitter) and it's a shame because I would love to thank the person who introduced me to a book that's probably going to enter into my top 10 all time. Zuleika Dobson is in the public domain and only a google search and a download away. I highly recommend you pick up this hidden delight.
5/5!
Zuleika Dobson is the story of a young woman with an almost magical power of attraction to young men arriving at Oxford, falling in love with the one man who ignores her, then fallling out of love again instantly when he confesses his affection to her. It is tortured and dramatic in theory, but the concept is saved by the writing. According to a quick google search Max Beerbohm was an essayist, parodist, and caricaturist, and his wit and humor is on display in this, his only published novel. This century old book was genuinely delightful to read (as long as you keep a dictionary and google translate on hand), and occasionally even made me chuckle, a feat that most modern books cannot replicate. Beerbohm treats the romance in the book with not only the irony it deserves, but also with a bit of levity and pity for the young Oxford scholars swept up in the irresistible aura of the titular Zuleika.
I don't remember where I heard of this book (probably twitter) and it's a shame because I would love to thank the person who introduced me to a book that's probably going to enter into my top 10 all time. Zuleika Dobson is in the public domain and only a google search and a download away. I highly recommend you pick up this hidden delight.
5/5!
ionaneill's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0