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7th out of 17 books
—
9 voters
Child of Light: Mary Shelley
by
Muriel Spark
In this engrossing biography, acclaimed novelist Muriel Spark recreates Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's turbulent life and career and persuasively defends the enigmatic writer's place among the giants of literary history.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
October 2nd 2002
by Welcome Rain Publishers
(first published 1987)
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Dopplegängers: Mary Shelley and Muriel Spark
Mary Shelley died on February 1, 1851. On February 1, 1918, Muriel Spark was born. The two writers shared the same initials. Their last names, under which they wrote, were assumed from husbands. Both wound up single mothers of an only son and both suffered chronic financial worries. These coincidences, for someone with Muriel Spark’s mystical temperament, are definitive. Child of Light: A Reassessment of Mary Wollestonecraft Shelley published in 1951 w...more
Mary Shelley died on February 1, 1851. On February 1, 1918, Muriel Spark was born. The two writers shared the same initials. Their last names, under which they wrote, were assumed from husbands. Both wound up single mothers of an only son and both suffered chronic financial worries. These coincidences, for someone with Muriel Spark’s mystical temperament, are definitive. Child of Light: A Reassessment of Mary Wollestonecraft Shelley published in 1951 w...more
My lackluster review of this biography should in no way be construed as critical of Mary Shelley herself. In fact my enormously high regard for her undoubtedly contributed to the impossibly high bar I set for anyone who would deign to write a biography of her. So really: I think I was probably unfair to Muriel Spark, but she died a few years ago, and, barring some type of animation of her corpse, will probably not take it personally.
Really: you should just read Frankenstein again.
And, never one...more
Really: you should just read Frankenstein again.
And, never one...more
Supplemental reading for the Frankenstein book club. It's fairly comprehensive, and is clearly well-researched, but it is also dry and not very compelling. There MUST be a better biography out there! Mary Shelley's life was very dramatic - it shouldn't be difficult to tell her story in a compelling and page-turning way. Right?
My Momma always taught me: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. So all I have to say about this is that Betty Bennett's biography of Mary Shelley is great, and I hear Muriel Spark was a half-decent novelist. But you should read biographies by good biographers, like Betty Bennett.
ugh, really didn't get much out of this one for research purposes :(
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Fascinating subject, dry material.
May 02, 2013
Eki Teebi
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review of another edition
Shelves:
library-books,
biographie
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Muriel Spark (1918–2006) was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), considered her...more
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