Mauve Desert

Mauve Desert is an excellent book and especially interesting for people interested in postmodern, translation and/or feminist theories. It is also a great example of a "hypertext" or non-linear text and one which incorporates scientific metaphors into the plot seamlessly. Brossard has done an exceptional job of both illustrating and dissecting issues of translation and language, especially as they relate to the world of mothers and daughters. Mauve Desert deftly negotiates several issues of linguistic mobility, both within the framework of the book and in the translation from the French original. She slips in and out of the languages of English, French and mathematics with ease. Ironically, despite this, my only issue with Mauve Desert is precisely one of translation. In both the French original and the English translation there is some linguistic cross-over in her word-play. Although the translator (Susanne de Lotbiniere-Harwood) does an admirable job with the bulk of the book, there are some expressions that should have been left as they were in the original (in my opinion). Regardless of this minor issue, there is nothing that truly detracts from Brossard's text and I recommend it highly - particularly the French original if you can read the language and are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy (they are even harder to come by than the English version)! (N.B. I would prefer to give it 4.5 stars because of translation issues, but I can't bring myself to give it a 4.)

I agree with the first reviewer. I recommend this book to everyone, although I have heard that some people find it a bit difficult to read at times. I think this is partly because the book has a dreamlike quality to it - by that I mean time moves strangely sometimes and there are different elements all acting at once - but like a dream, the whole flows together. If anyone is interested, an artist did a multimedia project, with the same title, based on the book. I think the artists' name is Adrienne Jenik and I believe she taught in the University of California system. The project she created is great, and it adds a level of interpretation and complexity to Brossards work. I highly recommend it.

Nicole Brossard is brilliant. It is advisable to read up on feminist theory a bit before you dive in. Otherwise some central symbols and meaning will be lost to you. If you like David Lynch... Brossard is way better. Some knowledge of the French language would be a boon also, if one is inclined to onamastic study. read it. then read it again. then put it aside for a year. read it again. repeat as required.