Overview

This story collection is a welcome port of entry for any reader not yet familiar with Marguerite Yourcenar's works. Published to great acclaim in France in 1993, this collection is not only a delight for Marguerite Yourcenar fans but a welcome port of entry for any reader not yet familiar with the author's lengthier, more demanding works. This collection includes three stories written between 1927 and 1930 when the author was in her mid-twenties. These stories cover a range of themes, from an allegory on greed and a scene from the war of the sexes to a witch hunt that obsessively creates its own quarry. For the devoted readers of Yourcenar, this collection allows a rare glimpse at the beginnings of a writer's craft. In these accomplished but forgotten pieces, edited and introduced by her biographer, Josyane Savigneau, readers will find the blend of fable and fairy tale of Oriental Tales, the psychological chronicle of Dear Departed, and the ironic realism of A Coin in Nine Hands. Read as an introduction to Yourcenar's work, the stories take us into the writer's workshop, as it were, to the early days of creation. A Blue Tale and Other Stories carries the unmistakable voice of a formidable and vastly talented writer. Marguerite Yourcenar (her pseudonym was an anagram of her family name, Crayencour) was born in Brussels in 1903 and died in Maine in 1987. One of the most respected writers in the French language, she is best known as the author of the acclaimed Memoirs of Hadrian and The Abyss. She was awarded many literary honors, most notably election to the Académie Française in 1980, the first woman so honored.

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9780226836898

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Reviews

""As translated by Mr. Manguel, the prose of the young Yourcenar is accomplished and her vision arrestingly mature. . . . For its insight into human frailty and vice, for its language forged with precision and nuance, this slim trio of tales is richly rewarding.""-- ""New York Times"" ""These three exquisite stories prefigure the Belgian-born French novelist's mature dramatic powers. . . . In sensual yet precise prose, Yourcenar probes the workings of greed, faith, credulity, and empathy in human relationships.""-- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""A welcome addition to the distinctive oeuvre of an important modern writer.""-- ""Kirkus Reviews""

“As translated by Mr. Manguel, the prose of the young Yourcenar is accomplished and her vision arrestingly mature. . . . For its insight into human frailty and vice, for its language forged with precision and nuance, this slim trio of tales is richly rewarding.” * The New York Times * “These three exquisite stories prefigure the Belgian-born French novelist's mature dramatic powers. . . . In sensual yet precise prose, Yourcenar probes the workings of greed, faith, credulity and empathy in human relationships.” * Publishers Weekly * “The title story displays Yourcenar’s strength at exploring tradition and imbuing it with contemporary insight and sensuality. . . . These short but, in many ways, splendid works stand on their own merit, for they demonstrate an intuitive and passionate person as well as an extremely talented and ambitious writer.” * Booklist * “A welcome addition to the distinctive oeuvre of an important modern writer.” * Kirkus Reviews * “The three stories in this slim volume… are a startling achievement. They reveal [Yourcenar’s] preoccupation with storytelling methods she later developed in her novels—reworking of oral traditions and an incandescent point of view—as well as a fascination with the fable and the occult.” * Library Journal *

Author Information

Marguerite Yourcenar’s (1903–1987) works include A Coin in Nine Hands, Fires, Two Lives and a Dream, and A Blue Tale, all published by the University of Chicago Press. Alberto Manguel is an Argentine-Canadian translator, essayist, novelist, and editor.  

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