The Volcano Lover
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| '''''The Volcano Lover''''' is an historical novel by [[Susan Sontag]], published in 1992. Set largely in [[Naples]], it focuses upon [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|Emma Hamilton]], her marriage to [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|Sir William Hamilton]], the scandal relating to her affair with [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]], her abandonment, and her descent into poverty. The title comes from William Hamilton's interest in volcanos, and his investigations of [[Mount Vesuvius]]. | '''''The Volcano Lover''''' is an historical novel by [[Susan Sontag]], published in 1992. Set largely in [[Naples]], it focuses upon [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|Emma Hamilton]], her marriage to [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|Sir William Hamilton]], the scandal relating to her affair with [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]], her abandonment, and her descent into poverty. The title comes from William Hamilton's interest in volcanos, and his investigations of [[Mount Vesuvius]]. | ||
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| - | ==Reception== | ||
| - | ''The Volcano Lover'' has largely been praised by literary critics. Lettie Ransley of ''[[The Guardian]]'' called it "as big, rich and complex as one might expect" and wrote,<blockquote>''The Volcano Lover'' is a powerful, intricate novel of ideas: frequently inflected with Sontag's feminism, it applies a modern lens to [[Age of Enlightenment|the Enlightenment]]'s moral, social and aesthetic concerns. Yet it is also a tender inventory of desire: intricately mapping the modulation from the cold mania of the collector to the lover's passion. | ||
| - | </blockquote> | ||
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| - | The writer [[John Banville]] praised the work, noting that Sontag's decision to write a romantic historical novel was "a surprise." He remarked, "''The Volcano Lover'', despite a few nods of acknowledgment toward post-modernist self-awareness, is a big, old-fashioned broth of a book. Sir [[Walter Scott]] would surely have approved of it; in fact, he would probably have enjoyed it immensely." | ||
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| - | [[Candia McWilliam]] of ''[[The Independent]]'' lauded the book, opining: | ||
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| - | :In ''The Volcano Lover'' height and control are buoyed up by clear thinking; although it descants, sometimes at essay length, upon abstractions, there is no 'cabinet of curiosities' disjunction between rumination and fiction such as decks so many modern novels in fustian. Sontag embroils the reader in her greater themes through the truth and tact of her depiction of smaller, no less preoccupying events. | ||
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| - | The novel was also praised by [[Michiko Kakutani]] of ''[[The New York Times]]''. | ||
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The Volcano Lover is an historical novel by Susan Sontag, published in 1992. Set largely in Naples, it focuses upon Emma Hamilton, her marriage to Sir William Hamilton, the scandal relating to her affair with Lord Nelson, her abandonment, and her descent into poverty. The title comes from William Hamilton's interest in volcanos, and his investigations of Mount Vesuvius.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Volcano Lover" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
