Review by Choice Review
Released in the "Critical Lives" series, this is the best book to date on Mallarme. Pearson (Univ. of Oxford, UK) adroitly integrates Mallarme's life and works (poetry, prose, journalism, interviews, and miscellaneous social verses). Writing with a verve that mimics Mallarme's without being precious, Pearson inserts definitions, which a specialist is likely to know, without being patronizing. He especially excels in pointing out the hidden homophones that become clues to hints and glimpses of nebulous meanings in the poems. Although he permits himself to call Mallarme an "egotist," Pearson also provides a full context of the writer's illnesses, both physical and mental, and the work conditions that he encountered in the French public school system. And he relates without judgment Mallarme's treatment of his wife and his contributions to his own legend. An epilogue summarizes Mallarme's legacy and his influence. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. M. Gaddis Rose SUNY at Binghamton
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
