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y separately published work icon Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev single work   prose   travel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Dessaix explores the life of Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, particularly his relationship with the opera singer Pauline Viardot and her husband. Intrinsic to this exploration is Dessaix's journey to each of the houses where Turgenev and the Viardots lived. Within the narrative Dessaix intersperses his own reflections on the nature and meaning of life, including his understanding of the soul.

Notes

  • Dedication: For Natalie Staples.
  • Epigraph: Love is the final metaphor of sexuality. It's cornerstone is freedom: the mystery of the person. Octavio Paz. The Double Flame.
  • Epigraph: He wasn't a profound thinker or anything at all - just a piddling, laughable man. He assumed a Greek name, dressed like the Greeks, learned to behave more or less like a Greek; and all the time he was terrified he'd spoil his reasonably good image by coming out with barbaric howlers in Greek and the Alexandrians, in their usual way, would start to make fun of him, vile people that they are. From 'A Prince from Western Libya', C. P. Cavafy (translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Scribner ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 3149953171436155177.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: xiii, 269p.p.
      ISBN: 9780743263382, 0743263383
    • Washington DC,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Shoemaker and Hoard ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 4905867986077072569.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 275p.p.
      ISBN: 9781593760632, 1593760639, 9780330364997, 0330364995
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Brio Books , 2017 .
      image of person or book cover 8856686040994939442.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 320p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published July 2017.

      ISBN: 9781925143980, 9781925143997
Alternative title: L'amour de toute une vie
Language: French
    • Paris,
      c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Mercure de France ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 9114786734370551116.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 318p.p.
      ISBN: 9782715225442, 271522544X

Works about this Work

The Absence of Authenticity and the Authenticity of Absence in Robert Dessaix's Twilight of Love Adam Ouston , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Travel Writing , vol. 19 no. 3 2015; (p. 259-273)

'This paper examines Robert Dessaix's tourist experiences in his fifth book-length publication Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2004). Drawing on tourism theorists John Urry and John Frow, I suggest that Dessaix's travel experience shifts between the self-conscious coolness of the post-tourist and an unselfconscious, humanist quest for authenticity. I analyse these shifts in terms of Ning Wang's concept of “existential authenticity” which he differentiates from objectivist, constructivist and post-modernist approaches to authenticity. Dessaix essentially engages with, or moves playfully between, each of these modes. Ultimately, though, they dovetail at Courtavenel, France, when he visits one of Turgenev's former dwellings, revealing an essential sense of absence at the centre of Dessaix's identity, one that speaks to his absent biological parents, his lack of a concrete genealogy, the silence that surrounded his homosexuality in the first part of his life, and the threat of mortality that permeates Dessaix's work and his efforts to engage with his “true self”. In this way, Dessaix's travel experience not only characterises his journey as a quest for existential authenticity, but it also confirms Judith Adler's notion of travel as an artform that is capable of articulating subjectivity.'(Publication abstract)

'So Completely French' Leigh Swinbourne , 2012 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 341 2012; (p. 4)
Leigh Swinbourne expresses his concern at Robert Dessaix's 'invention' of a major figure in Dessaix's Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev. Dessaix had discussed his narrative 'invention' in the 2011 Seymour Lecture, 'Pushing against the Dark'.
As Robert was Saying Gail Bell , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49)
Aspects of Love Carla Sari (interviewer), 2007 single work interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , April vol. 66 no. 1 2007; (p. 150-157)
Cara Sari discusses 'Love of persons, places, cultures, languages' with Robert Dessaix. (Meanjin)
Love and Death Ian Cummins , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 64 no. 1-2 2005; (p. 38-44)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
Books Phil Brown , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 25 - 31 August no. 505 2004; (p. 30)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
Into the Twilight Louise Crossen , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 28 August 2004; (p. 7)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
The Heart of the Matter James Ley , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 28 August 2004; (p. 5)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
Passion of a Free Thinker A. P. Riemer , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 August 2004; (p. 10)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
Lishnost Judith Armstrong , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 264 2004; (p. 34-35)

— Review of Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev Robert Dessaix , 2004 single work prose
On Turgenev's Trail in Powers of Love Christopher Bantick , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 20 November 2004; (p. 15-16)
Aspects of Love Carla Sari (interviewer), 2007 single work interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , April vol. 66 no. 1 2007; (p. 150-157)
Cara Sari discusses 'Love of persons, places, cultures, languages' with Robert Dessaix. (Meanjin)
As Robert was Saying Gail Bell , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49)
'So Completely French' Leigh Swinbourne , 2012 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 341 2012; (p. 4)
Leigh Swinbourne expresses his concern at Robert Dessaix's 'invention' of a major figure in Dessaix's Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev. Dessaix had discussed his narrative 'invention' in the 2011 Seymour Lecture, 'Pushing against the Dark'.
The Absence of Authenticity and the Authenticity of Absence in Robert Dessaix's Twilight of Love Adam Ouston , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Travel Writing , vol. 19 no. 3 2015; (p. 259-273)

'This paper examines Robert Dessaix's tourist experiences in his fifth book-length publication Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2004). Drawing on tourism theorists John Urry and John Frow, I suggest that Dessaix's travel experience shifts between the self-conscious coolness of the post-tourist and an unselfconscious, humanist quest for authenticity. I analyse these shifts in terms of Ning Wang's concept of “existential authenticity” which he differentiates from objectivist, constructivist and post-modernist approaches to authenticity. Dessaix essentially engages with, or moves playfully between, each of these modes. Ultimately, though, they dovetail at Courtavenel, France, when he visits one of Turgenev's former dwellings, revealing an essential sense of absence at the centre of Dessaix's identity, one that speaks to his absent biological parents, his lack of a concrete genealogy, the silence that surrounded his homosexuality in the first part of his life, and the threat of mortality that permeates Dessaix's work and his efforts to engage with his “true self”. In this way, Dessaix's travel experience not only characterises his journey as a quest for existential authenticity, but it also confirms Judith Adler's notion of travel as an artform that is capable of articulating subjectivity.'(Publication abstract)

Last amended 17 Oct 2019 14:30:17
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