Mi aspettavo qualcosa in più, in alcuni momenti l'aspetto romance ha prevalso troppo sul romanzo storico per miei gusti.
Quindi il libro risulta carino ma non lascia il segno.

The Lady and the Unicorn is a historical fiction creation about the famed the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries. The story bounces from Paris to Brussels, all centered on the design and creation of these tapestries, and has seven different narrators. I chose to read it for my Belgium book for #BackpackEurope since about half of it is set in Brussels.

Like her book Girl with a Pearl Earring, this one is also based on actual art. The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries are currently housed at the Musee national du Moyen-Age (Musee Cluny) in Paris. The basis for the story is that there little is known about who had the tapestries made, and less known about the designer or weaver(s). The details about process of designing and and weaving a tapestry are the strongest parts of the book. It is clear the author did a good bit of research.

The book also does an okay job of explaining the the cultural and social norms of the times. She gets a bit into the artist guilds and how the guilds controlled much of the art of the time. She spends a bit more time on relationship of women to men and nobles to artists to commoners. But while she touches on these, she really only ever skims the surface, keeping to shallow explanation only as need to explain certain aspects of the story.

It is the lack of depth that keeps this book from being a stronger read. First there are seven narrators. That's right, 7 different points of view. When done right, this can work well, but it's a tricky thing to do. Here, not so much. There was little difference between each of the voices—they all kind of ran together. Of course, part of this stemmed from the lack of depth. While some characters had hints of interesting backstories, particularly the two mothers (Christine and Genevieve), none of the characters were developed enough. They all were rather flat and lifeless, or in the case of Nicolas, a boring caricature with one focus.

Sex (or as she referred to it, "plowing" or losing one's "maidenhead") played a bit too heavily into this story for my taste. It seemed that's all the narrators were really focused on, to the point it became blase. Sexual trysts, again when done well, might add something to a story. But here, it seemed everyone was just plain randy all the time. It got a bit old, especially with Nicolas.

The upside was it was a rather easy read and did keep me moderately entertained. 3 stars for entertainment.

An interesting effort to draw the fictional story behind the wonderful real-life tapestry series, La Dame à la Licorne. These (probably) late 15th-century tapestries languished in a château in central France before being rediscovered by Prosper Mérimée, championed by George Sand and eventually purchased by the French government. They now hang in the former Musée de Cluny, where I have seen them on two occasions. They are entrancing.

This could have been a really fascinating story, but I found it rather lightweight. I normally enjoy Tracy Chevalier's books, but the large cast of protagonists made character development difficult and I didn't really connect with any of them. The tapestries and their production should have been centre stage, but they were overshadowed by the rather dull stories of the various characters.

However, this book has whetted my appetite to see these enchanting tapestries again - and to find out more about them.

Ho già incontrato Tracy Chevalier nel corso delle mie letture e mi ha sempre appassionato e interessato, per talvolta con qualche lentezza. In questa storia, però, a mio parere ha raggiunto la perfezione delle sue capacità narrative (spero, comunque, che ci regali altri romanzi così ben fatti e appassionanti). Questo libro, vi chiedo scusa di un'apparente esaltazione, è meraviglioso. Dopo poche righe sei a Parigi alla fine del XV secolo; cammini a fianco dei protagonisti, respiri la loro aria e vivi le stesse emozioni. Una narrazione ipnotica e trascinante che ti avvolge e ti imprigiona. Ma non in una tela di ragno... No, ancora meglio e ancora più emozionante. Nel tessuto di un arazzo. Le pagine in cui la famiglia La Chapelle a Bruxelles costruisce gli arazzi commissionati dal potente e gelido Jean Le Viste (uomo non di nobile lignaggio, ma che è molto vicino al re di Francia Luigi XI) sono talmente vive e vivide che si riesce a sentire il rumore della lana e della seta tese per essere intrecciate e tessute. Non saprei quale personaggio spicca di più; sono tutti talmente belli e davvero vivi che mi è molto difficile individuare il migliore. Anche se forse è proprio la famiglia La Chapelle (Georges il lissier capofamiglia, la moglie Christine e i loro figli Georges Le Jeune e la bellissima e sorprendente Aliénor con il pittore cartonista Philippe de la Tour, capace di un gesto generoso e pieno di amore) che spicca sugli altri di qualche centimetro, o meglio, di qualche filo. Il pittore parigino Nicolas des Innocents, vanesio, spocchioso e seduttore impunito, ha dalla sua parte una sensibilità artistica non comune, che però spreca, appunto, inseguendo donzelle senza ritegno. E la famiglia di Monsieugneur Jean Le Viste risplende di ricchezza, potere e di tanta tristezza (nella Maman Geneviève, trascuratae indifferente totalmente al marito dopo avergli dato tre femmine, e la bella primogenita Claude, punto centrale del racconto). Infine l'abile mercante giudeo convertito Léon Le Vieux che è raffigurato in modo sublime nei suoi tentativi di fare affari compiacendo il suo committente. Meraviglioso, meraviglioso, meraviglioso. Leggetelo, fidatevi di me e non ne riceverete delusione.

One of my favorite books of all time!

This was one I really wanted to enjoy, but I just could not. It turned out to be tiresome, and while there was an interesting section or two -- mostly about the symbolism of the famous Cluny tapestries, I was bored witless by this one. Too bad, as there could have been a really great novel here. I still don't understand why this one was considered to be such a great novel, I guess folks were taken in by the term Unicorn...

For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_13577...

"The Lady and the Unicorn" is tale about desire in all of its manifested forms. The desire to be of use, the desire to find happiness, the desire to be inspired, the desire to be free...and all centred around one of the most famous series of early Renaissance tapestries, thought to have been created around 1490 in Belgium.

The (female) characters in the novel are at once the images in the tapestries and real women, their stories woven together like a tapestry to tell the story of the creation of the tapestries. A type of mirroring of a mirroring...with the inevitable refractions, exaggerations and misinterpretations that brings with it. Very, very interesting from a thematic and symbolic standpoint!

They all can also be seen as allegorical types...just as the art of the Middle Ages / Renaissance was largely allegorical:

There is the mother whose "seul desir" is to find spiritual peace (The Seeker). There is the maiden whose "seul desir" is to be as free as she can be (The Nymph). There is the blind girl whose 'seul desir' it is to be of use and valued (The Outsider) and then there is the wife whose "seul desir" is to create like the men around her (The Artist/The Spider).

The men are allegorical as well, but damned to more mundane things like placing the order and painting the original designs.

This is my 5th Chevalier and I enjoyed it immensely, even if I had a hard time placing myself in 1490 due to the lack of concrete historical descriptions from that time. I liked this one more than "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" btw. It's much tighter in its symbolism and relevance to the theme.

The virulently negative responses by other (female) readers to the sexuality in the novel surprised me, though. Personally, I found nothing offensive in the novel, but that it was just one of the many manifestations of desire: the theme of the novel.

5 Stars

This book is a mesmerizing magic trick! It's like you're watching a shell game and trying to track all of the cups in rotation. Except the cups are couplings.

Also, you find out very early that 'unicorn' is a euphemism for penis. Saucy!

Forse uno dei migliori libri della Chevalier. L’autrice possiede la capacità di farti immergere nel romanzo attraverso la descrizione dell’epoca storica, dell’analisi dei personaggi, delle loro vicende, degli arazzi, dei colori, dei profumi. Tramite la descrizione molto accurata e molto interessante della realizzazione degli arazzi, che rappresentano i cinque sensi, vengono coinvolti anche i nostri, e ciò ci aiuta ad immaginare meglio le scene descritte dall’autrice. I personaggi sono magnificamente descritti, insieme ai loro sentimenti, sensazioni e pensieri.
Il romanzo viene raccontato in prima persona dai vari personaggi e da ciò traspaiono le condizioni della popolazione, della donna, degli usi e costumi di un’epoca ormai lontana.
Il libro è scritto molto bene, scorrevole e coinvolgente come tutti gli altri di questa bravissima autrice.

A set of medievel tapestries hang today in a chamber in Paris,portaying a women's seduction of a unicorn. The story behind the tapestry is unknown, but Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction to help us unfold the story with her book,"The Lady and the Unicorn".
The story takes place in 1490, Paris about a French nobleman who commisions six tapestries to be made, celebrating his rising status in court. He hires Nicolas des Innocents to design them, but Nicolas adds his own twist to the work and instead of making tapestries of war,he makes tapestries of the women in the house. A lot of drama breaks out among the women in the house and many scandols are commited.Relationships between friends and family members are tested to the limit.
I really enjoyed reading this book, because of the way it was written. Every chapter of the book was a perspective of a different character,you got to know what each character was thinking. I enjoyed this book, because it opened my eyes to a new world, or should i say old. I really recommend this book to people who like historical fiction or just history. You can look up further information on these tapestries any where online.I know that there is still a lot you can learn from after reading this book and exploring the web about the bewitching medievel tapestries.

Ci sono parti cringe e pezzi volgari in modo insensato, ma nel complesso è una storia interessante

I enjoyed this book but did' not care much for the protagonist, the womanising and arrogant artist , Nicholas DE Innocents, but this is also about a noble Parisian family and a Brussels tradesman and his family in the late 15th century. An essay on relations between men and woman at they type, and a lot of symbolism between the characters in the book and the figures of the tapestry which is commissioned by a Parisian nobleman.
Something to learn about tapestry making but does not deal with it in the same detail that say Irving Stone dealt marble in The Agony and The Ecstasy.
Tracy Chevalier is a brilliant word-smith who brings to life the sights and sounds and emotions and activities of the period pieces she specializes in. Her novel written after this Burning Bright is even better than this one