The Portrait.THE PORTRAIT. Iain Pears. 2005. Read by Simon Vance. 5 cds. 5.5 hrs. Penguin Audio. 0-14305750-2. $25.95. Cardboard; plot, reader, author notes. A The Portrait, like Poe's "Cask of Amontillado amontillado (əmŏn'tĭlä`dō), dry sherry noted for its delicate bouquet, resembling the wine of Montilla, Spain, from which it derives its name. A blend of pale, dry sherries of the palma type, it assumes in aging a darker color. ," is a beautifully written, exquisitely plotted Gothic revenge tale of a very high order. Unlike Poe's classic, however, it takes the form of an extended, digressive di·gres·sive adj. Characterized by digressions; rambling. di·gres  sive·ly adv. dramatic monologue delivered by Henry MacAlpine, a famous Scottish artist living in self-imposed seclusion seclusion Forensic psychiatry A strategy for managing disturbed and violent Pts in psychiatric units, which consists of supervised confinement of a Pt to a room–ie, involuntary isolation, to protect others from harm on a sparsely populated Breton island, to William Naysmith, Britain's leading art critic and the artist's one-time friend and early mentor. The bait is not a bottle of sherry but the portrait the former paints of the latter from the novel's opening lines until its end. As MacAlpine discusses art, criticism, and the evolution of their long friendship, the implications of Naysmith's visit become horrifyingly hor·ri·fy tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. clear. Vance's voice, rich with sinister nuance, expertly entices us towards the novel's inevitable, heartstopping conclusion. Francine Levitov, Attorney, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion