{"product_id":"9781450047289","title":"ADAGIA: Variations on a Term for Life","description":"If there is a labyrinth and a sphere, Proust's memory as the minatory, then this book is genius. A flight out of that space and time. Icarus here is returned: precise, violent, and passionate. Alive.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eGeoff Waite  \u003cbr\u003eGerman Studies and Comparative Literature, Cornell University  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e***  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eScott Hartstein's Adagia is novel in that it is not a novel.  Therein lies its novelty.  It is a kaleidoscope, whose reflections--in both senses--shimmer about a plot, to be sure, but a plot that plays second fiddle to the author's impressive erudition and his digressions into cultural, literary, religious, philosophical, musical, linguistic by-ways of all kinds and dimensions.  These beckon the often challenged reader to follow along, unsure where he is eventually being led by the author--the work's real protagonist--and wondering through what lush landscapes  he will be able to return.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eAdagia will impress and astound many readers, perplex some, even intimidate--infuriate?-- others.  But it will not leave many indifferent.  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eNorm Shapiro  \u003cbr\u003eProfessor of Romance Languages \u0026amp; LIteratures,  \u003cbr\u003eWesleyan University  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eWriter in residence  \u003cbr\u003eAdams House  \u003cbr\u003eHarvard University  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e***  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eThe birth of a book is like the birth of a child-Joyce discovered this analogy when he composed the \"Oxen of the Sun\" episode of Ulysses.  So did Proust as he toiled, spinning the huge amniotic web of his great Oeuvre.  In a different key, Adagia makes us retrace similar steps: its tangled tale surveys the long history of the European novel while creating a music that echoes in us deeply and exhilaratingly.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003eJean-Michel Rabaté  \u003cbr\u003eVartan Gregorian Chair in the Humanities, University of Pennsylvannia  \u003cbr\u003eCo-founder and senior curator of Slought foundation  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Xlibris US","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47128494309616,"sku":"9781450047289","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781450047289_p0.jpg?v=1763836592","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781450047289","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}