A Case of Curiosities (Harvest Book) Paperback – 1 Aug. 2001

fair condition great book

This was a book which I had seen commented upon in a newspaper in 2009 but I never got around to doing anything about it until I came across the description and decided to send for it. I haven't yet read the book but the transaction was, as always, hassle-free. The book arrived in the condition as advertised.

Though this intriguing picaresque novel is full of esoteric pursuits in late 18th century France, the novel is remarkably accessible and great fun to read. Claude Page, a 12-year-old farm boy of huge imagination and intelligence, is "adopted" by the Count of Tournay, a defrocked priest who studies "everything from the grandeur of the heavens to the minutiae of the terrestrial world." In reality, he is training Claude to be an enameler of pornographic watches. As Claude pursues his interest as a "mechanician," the reader is introduced to many facets of society and the forces which animate them.Kurzweil obviously delights in playing games with the reader, breaking down defenses and challenging expectations. In an early scene, for example, a surgeon's removal of "the devil's handiwork" from a child stimulates our sensibilities and anticipates our revulsion. Then Kurzweil jerks the chain and shows us who is in control. In serious or scholarly scenes, he lightens the mood with puns, word play, and jokes, some clever, some groaners--a nobleman's motto, "Born to Serve," refers to his tennis abilities; an expert in insanity is named Battie. Unique images provide constant surprises and vitalize his descriptions--"[The sound of] feet walking through snow was indistinguishable from the noise when the baker squeezed a sack of cornstarch"; "her costume was a taxidermist's dream."Kurzweil's ability to bring this period to life in a context accessible to the reader is daunting. Gracefully incorporating such diverse subjects as the enameling process, watchmaking, contemporary 18th century science and philosophy, and love of pornography, Kurzweil makes these esoteric subjects come alive, not because they are so alluring to the reader, but because they are important to the characters, whose lives are intriguing and whose problems, despite the 18th century context, are nevertheless universal. This precursor to The Grand Complication does not have as tight a plot as that novel, but I thought it just as intelligent and just as much fun to read. Mary Whipple