KayDenmark Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 "Oprah" magazine - yes, Oprah has spread to Denmark - informs me that there is a novel on the market called "The Four Temperaments" set in the New York City Ballet. The author is Yona Zeldis McDonough. Has anyone read it? I have found that ballet novels can be either very good or very bad. I enjoyed Adrienne Sharp's "White Swan, Black Swan," which was also full of NYCB references, and another novel called "Compulsion" which focused on the psychological tension between a student and her ballet master - maybe I have the title wrong, as I can't find it on Amazon. Does anyone have any other ballet novels they can either recommend or warn me away from? Link to comment
Calliope Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 It's spelled "the four temperaments" fluff of a book. I'm sure there was a discussion of it on here somewhere. I still liked the book "A Candle for St. Jude" takes place in a British school, they did make a movie of it (with Tanny LeClercq) Link to comment
Tancos Posted October 17, 2002 Share Posted October 17, 2002 Mercedes Lackey based _The Black Swan_ on "Swan Lake." In her version, Odile is the heroine, and there's a happy ending. As I recall (it's been a few years since I read it), it was better than I expected but nothing memorable. Lackey has also written _Firebird_, which I probably won't read any time soon. Link to comment
fendrock Posted October 26, 2002 Share Posted October 26, 2002 I paid full price for the four temperaments book, and I regretted it. The story line is weak and the ballet stuff does not ring at all true (for example, the main character has bloody toes in the first week after she goes on pointe). Link to comment
BryMar1995 Posted October 27, 2002 Share Posted October 27, 2002 I also really enjoyed Adrienne Sharp's "White Swan/Black Swan." Very engaging read and rang very true. Link to comment
Kyriakoula Posted October 28, 2002 Share Posted October 28, 2002 I don't know how recently this book came out, but it is called something like "Corpse de Ballet" and it's the first, I believe, in a "four muses" series of mysteries. It is written by Ellen someone. Sorry about the lack of info. It's a pretty good mystery, but the ballet life descriptions are excellent. Maybe because Sean Savoye, formerly of NYCB, was listed in the acknowledgements. Anyway, it had the most real dance life scenes. Link to comment
KayDenmark Posted October 29, 2002 Author Share Posted October 29, 2002 That novel that I liked was not, in fact, called "Compulsion" but "Collusion: Memoir of a Young Girl and Her Ballet Master," by Evan Zimroth. It gets very mixed reviews on Amazon, but I liked it, and I thought the eroticism was tastefully done. Link to comment
tigger Posted November 9, 2002 Share Posted November 9, 2002 i just bought the four temperaments (second-hand), and yes, it looks like fluff. mercifully short fluff. there are some glaring errors in my copy... for example, the artistic director is referred to once as "Martin Peters" and then later on as "Peter Martins." normally this would be a tip-off that this is not worth reading, but perhaps it's because this was an advance review copy? i'll give her the benefit of the doubt. the author of Corpse de Ballet is Ellen Paul. Tancos: Lackey's Firebird was actually not that bad. it's kind of cute what she did with the story, as opposed to Black Swan which i found seemed to drag on. does anyone else have any ballet related fiction they'd recommend? so far, nothing measures up to Candle for St Jude, except maybe Thursday's Children. why is it that children's books seem to be the more well-written as far as ballet fiction is concerned? Link to comment
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