After-Dinner Conversation

The Diary of a Decadent

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Central & South American
Cover of the book After-Dinner Conversation by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: José Asunción Silva, Kelly Washbourne ISBN: 9780292774995
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: January 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: José Asunción Silva, Kelly Washbourne
ISBN: 9780292774995
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: January 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English
Lost in a shipwreck in 1895, rewritten before the author's suicide in 1896, and not published until 1925, Jos Asuncin Silva's After-Dinner Conversation (De sobremesa) is one of Latin America's finest fin de sicle novels and the first one to be translated into English. Perhaps the single best work for understanding turn-of-the-twentieth-century writing in South America, After-Dinner Conversation is also cited as the continent's first psychological novel and an outstanding example of modernista fiction and the Decadent sensibility.Semi-autobiographical and more important for style than plot, After-Dinner Conversation is the diary of a Decadent sensation-collector in exile in Paris who undertakes a quest to find his beloved Helen, a vision whom his fevered imagination sees as his salvation. Along the way, he struggles with irreconcilable urges and temptations that pull him in every direction while he endures an environment indifferent or hostile to spiritual and intellectual pursuits, as did the modernista writers themselves. Kelly Washbourne's excellent translation preserves Silva's lush prose and experimental style. In the introduction, one of the most wide-ranging in Silva criticism, Washbourne places the life and work of Silva in their literary and historical contexts, including an extended discussion of how After-Dinner Conversation fits within Spanish American modernismo and the Decadent movement. Washbourne's perceptive comments and notes also make the novel accessible to general readers, who will find the work surprisingly fresh more than a century after its composition.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Lost in a shipwreck in 1895, rewritten before the author's suicide in 1896, and not published until 1925, Jos Asuncin Silva's After-Dinner Conversation (De sobremesa) is one of Latin America's finest fin de sicle novels and the first one to be translated into English. Perhaps the single best work for understanding turn-of-the-twentieth-century writing in South America, After-Dinner Conversation is also cited as the continent's first psychological novel and an outstanding example of modernista fiction and the Decadent sensibility.Semi-autobiographical and more important for style than plot, After-Dinner Conversation is the diary of a Decadent sensation-collector in exile in Paris who undertakes a quest to find his beloved Helen, a vision whom his fevered imagination sees as his salvation. Along the way, he struggles with irreconcilable urges and temptations that pull him in every direction while he endures an environment indifferent or hostile to spiritual and intellectual pursuits, as did the modernista writers themselves. Kelly Washbourne's excellent translation preserves Silva's lush prose and experimental style. In the introduction, one of the most wide-ranging in Silva criticism, Washbourne places the life and work of Silva in their literary and historical contexts, including an extended discussion of how After-Dinner Conversation fits within Spanish American modernismo and the Decadent movement. Washbourne's perceptive comments and notes also make the novel accessible to general readers, who will find the work surprisingly fresh more than a century after its composition.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Jean Stafford by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book War, Women, and Druids by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book The War for the Heart and Soul of a Highland Maya Town by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book The Golden Thread and other Plays by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Reflections on Latin American Development by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book When the Center Is on Fire by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Lines in the Sand by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book The Power of Huacas by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book A Love Letter to Texas Women by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Communism in Mexico by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book James Dean Transfigured by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Brought to You By by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book Mier Expedition Diary by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
Cover of the book The Author of the Prometheus Bound by José Asunción Silva, Kelly  Washbourne
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy