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Woman in Bronze
Tomas Stumbras grew up in war-torn Eastern Europe: a dark, rainy land of misty hills and valleys, where the whispers of the ancient gods and devils are still heard by ordinary people. He is a god-maker, a sculptor with a gift for turning dead wood into protective saints for use in prayer. But it's 1917 and even remote Lithuania feels the transforming effects of World War I...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
June 21st 2005
by Vintage Canada
(first published August 10th 2004)
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Antanas Sileika’s third novel, Woman in Bronze, is an archetypical bildungsroman, and bears comparison with many other classics in the genre, such as Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, Dreiser’s The Genius, or more recently, The Cloud Sketcher by American author Richard Rayner. And like all of these classics, Woman in Bronze is epic in its scope with enough staying power as to endure and itself become a classic in the Canadian canon.
Tomas Stumbras, a young artist, flees the ravages of his worn-torn Lit...more
Tomas Stumbras, a young artist, flees the ravages of his worn-torn Lit...more
I liked the first half of the book much more than the second half. First part was nicely written, evocative descriptions of old European landscape and realistic situations. Then, part II as a completely different book with new setting, and change of prtagonist's attitudes, bizarre characters, not too believable plot.
This is great historical fiction. Thomas the protagonist, is a struggling sculptor from Eastern Europe during the first world war. The poverty and inhumanness he faces growing up, is soon overshadowed by another form of darkness he finds in the enclaves of the early 1900's Parisian art world.
Very engaging read. First part portrays rural life in early 20th century Lithuania, which was every bit as interesting as the 1920's Paris art scene that the book is mainly about.
Woman in Bronze is the first book that I have read by Antanas Sileika. I appreciate these "Old Country" perspectives and learning a bit about the history of the porous Polish-Lithuanian borders. It was fun to follow the story into the Paris art scene.
May 11, 2013
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Antanas Sileika (Antanas Šileika) is a Canadian novelist and critic of Lithuanian-born parents.
After completing an English degree at the University of Toronto, he moved to Paris for two years and there married his wife, Snaige Sileika (née Valiunas), an art student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. While in Paris, he studied French, taught English in Versailles, and worked as part of the editorial coll...more
More about Antanas Sileika...
After completing an English degree at the University of Toronto, he moved to Paris for two years and there married his wife, Snaige Sileika (née Valiunas), an art student at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. While in Paris, he studied French, taught English in Versailles, and worked as part of the editorial coll...more
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