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The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn - Volume I
"The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn - Volume I" from Elizabeth Bisland. American journalist and author (1861-1929).
548 pages, Paperback
First published March 24, 2013
17 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Bisland
105 books2 followersElizabeth Bisland Wetmore (February 11, 1861 – January 6, 1929) was an American journalist and author, perhaps best known for her 1889–1890 race around the world against Nellie Bly, which drew worldwide attention.
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 10, 2020
Portions of this book were quoted at length in The Sweetest Fruits which I recently read. This piqued my curiosity about this biography of Lafcadio Hearn published about two years after his death (in 1904) by his longtime friend Elisabeth Bisland.
The author’s quotation of various autobiographical musings by Hearn himself provided some informative context in which one can gain more insight into his personality dynamics, his troubled relationships with others, and his perspective on the world. Her timely inclusion of selective pieces of correspondence with various friends and colleagues over his adult life were also interesting. For those who want a more in depth of the latter they can read the last 300 pages or so of volume 1 and all of volume 2, which I chose not to peruse.
Her friendship with Hearn meant she probably knew quite a bit about the formative periods in his life when he lived in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and the Caribbean before he went to live in Japan. Unfortunately, Bisland did not write much about these. As the books about Hearn by Truong and Pulvers did include relevant information about these times it puzzled me as to why she did not. Perhaps she wanted to honor her friendship with him by excluding some things which might have depicted him in a less than favorable light?
For this reason I would rate the book as 3 stars. For those who want a fuller accounting of Hearn’s life I would recommend Roger Pulvers’ book. Truong’s is interesting but lacks focus and organization.
The author’s quotation of various autobiographical musings by Hearn himself provided some informative context in which one can gain more insight into his personality dynamics, his troubled relationships with others, and his perspective on the world. Her timely inclusion of selective pieces of correspondence with various friends and colleagues over his adult life were also interesting. For those who want a more in depth of the latter they can read the last 300 pages or so of volume 1 and all of volume 2, which I chose not to peruse.
Her friendship with Hearn meant she probably knew quite a bit about the formative periods in his life when he lived in Cincinnati, New Orleans, and the Caribbean before he went to live in Japan. Unfortunately, Bisland did not write much about these. As the books about Hearn by Truong and Pulvers did include relevant information about these times it puzzled me as to why she did not. Perhaps she wanted to honor her friendship with him by excluding some things which might have depicted him in a less than favorable light?
For this reason I would rate the book as 3 stars. For those who want a fuller accounting of Hearn’s life I would recommend Roger Pulvers’ book. Truong’s is interesting but lacks focus and organization.
Want to Read
March 19, 2009referred by Bailey White, Mama Makes Up her Mind.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews