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Evening in Byzantium
Honest men and thieves, pimps, panderers and men of virtue: they were all gamblers in a game with no rules, placing their bets debonairly, or in the sweat of fear. The place is Cannes, the setting, a film festival, and the hero is Jesse Craig, whose survival is at stake.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
95 people are currently reading
749 people want to read
About the author
Irwin Shaw
264 books424 followersShaw was born Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff in the South Bronx, New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for his novels, The Young Lions (1948) and Rich Man Poor Man (1970).
His parents were Rose and Will. His younger brother, David Shaw (died 2007), became a noted Hollywood producer. Shortly after Irwin's birth, the Shamforoffs moved to Brooklyn. Irwin changed his surname upon entering college. He spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934.
Shaw began screenwriting in 1935 at the age of 21, and scripted for several radio shows, including Dick Tracy, The Gumps and Studio One.
Shaw's first play, Bury the Dead (1936) was an expressionist drama about a group of soldiers killed in a battle who refuse to be buried. During the 1940s, Shaw wrote for a number of films, including Talk of the Town (a comedy about civil liberties), The Commandos Strike at Dawn (based on a C.S. Forester story about commandos in occupied Norway) and Easy Living (about a football player unable to enter the game due to a medical condition). Shaw married Marian Edwards. They had one son, Adam Shaw, born in 1950, himself a writer of magazine articles and non-fiction.
Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a warrant officer during World War II.He served with an Army documentary film unit. The Young Lions, Shaw's first novel, was published in 1949. Based on his experiences in Europe during the war, the novel was very successful and was adapted into a 1958 film.
Shaw's second novel, The Troubled Air, chronicling the rise of McCarthyism, was published in 1951. He was among those who signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo convictions for contempt of Congress, resulting from hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Falsely accused of being a communist by the Red Channels publication, Shaw was placed on the Hollywood blacklist by the movie studio bosses. In 1951 he left the United States and went to Europe, where he lived for 25 years, mostly in Paris and Switzerland. He later claimed that the blacklist "only glancingly bruised" his career. During the 1950s he wrote several more screenplays, including Desire Under the Elms (based on Eugene O'Neill's play) and Fire Down Below (about a tramp boat in the Caribbean).
While living in Europe, Shaw wrote more bestselling books, notably Lucy Crown (1956), Two Weeks in Another Town (1960), Rich Man, Poor Man (1970) (for which he would later write a less successful sequel entitled Beggarman, Thief) and Evening in Byzantium (made into a 1978 TV movie). Rich Man, Poor Man was adapted into a highly successful ABC television miniseries in 1976.
His novel Top of the Hill, about the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980, was made into a TV movie, starring Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau, and Sonny Bono.
His last two novels were Bread Upon the Waters (1981) and Acceptable Losses (1982).
Shaw died in Davos, Switzerland on May 16, 1984, aged 71, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
His parents were Rose and Will. His younger brother, David Shaw (died 2007), became a noted Hollywood producer. Shortly after Irwin's birth, the Shamforoffs moved to Brooklyn. Irwin changed his surname upon entering college. He spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934.
Shaw began screenwriting in 1935 at the age of 21, and scripted for several radio shows, including Dick Tracy, The Gumps and Studio One.
Shaw's first play, Bury the Dead (1936) was an expressionist drama about a group of soldiers killed in a battle who refuse to be buried. During the 1940s, Shaw wrote for a number of films, including Talk of the Town (a comedy about civil liberties), The Commandos Strike at Dawn (based on a C.S. Forester story about commandos in occupied Norway) and Easy Living (about a football player unable to enter the game due to a medical condition). Shaw married Marian Edwards. They had one son, Adam Shaw, born in 1950, himself a writer of magazine articles and non-fiction.
Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a warrant officer during World War II.He served with an Army documentary film unit. The Young Lions, Shaw's first novel, was published in 1949. Based on his experiences in Europe during the war, the novel was very successful and was adapted into a 1958 film.
Shaw's second novel, The Troubled Air, chronicling the rise of McCarthyism, was published in 1951. He was among those who signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo convictions for contempt of Congress, resulting from hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Falsely accused of being a communist by the Red Channels publication, Shaw was placed on the Hollywood blacklist by the movie studio bosses. In 1951 he left the United States and went to Europe, where he lived for 25 years, mostly in Paris and Switzerland. He later claimed that the blacklist "only glancingly bruised" his career. During the 1950s he wrote several more screenplays, including Desire Under the Elms (based on Eugene O'Neill's play) and Fire Down Below (about a tramp boat in the Caribbean).
While living in Europe, Shaw wrote more bestselling books, notably Lucy Crown (1956), Two Weeks in Another Town (1960), Rich Man, Poor Man (1970) (for which he would later write a less successful sequel entitled Beggarman, Thief) and Evening in Byzantium (made into a 1978 TV movie). Rich Man, Poor Man was adapted into a highly successful ABC television miniseries in 1976.
His novel Top of the Hill, about the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980, was made into a TV movie, starring Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau, and Sonny Bono.
His last two novels were Bread Upon the Waters (1981) and Acceptable Losses (1982).
Shaw died in Davos, Switzerland on May 16, 1984, aged 71, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
April 9, 2025
No more, Mr Shaw - PULL-EASE! NO more of your Sadness.
DNF.
I guess even the best of writers get clinically depressed. I naturally had anticipated the old Shaw Strut that flavoured Rich Man, Poor Man and The Young Lions, but it just ain't here.
As it turns out this novel is about a sad ex-film producer living an even sadder nowhere life in that saddest of sad places - the Hollywood of the sixties - which suddenly had nowhere to go and no inspiring tales to tell as it struggled to keep pace with the Flower Power of Free Love.
And more often than not fell flat on its face.
Yes, I know, there was The Big Chill and MASH, but tinseltown would have to wait till the eighties (Star Wars, Beverley Hills Cop) to recover its magic for the Me Generation!
Craig, the sorry specimen of that generation who is Shaw's anti-hero, is at Cannes to see if the old movie magic has reblossomed. It hasn't.
But a blue-eyed hippie lass inexplicably latches onto him, with the glittering hope to Make his Movies Hot again.
It's a trap, Craig.
But, no fool, he knows that. He's simply beyond giving a darn.
Take a tip, my friends -
Like Evelyn Waugh, call it Decline and Fall (from bad to worse) -
And DON'T GO THERE.
2 and a half stars, folks.
DNF.
I guess even the best of writers get clinically depressed. I naturally had anticipated the old Shaw Strut that flavoured Rich Man, Poor Man and The Young Lions, but it just ain't here.
As it turns out this novel is about a sad ex-film producer living an even sadder nowhere life in that saddest of sad places - the Hollywood of the sixties - which suddenly had nowhere to go and no inspiring tales to tell as it struggled to keep pace with the Flower Power of Free Love.
And more often than not fell flat on its face.
Yes, I know, there was The Big Chill and MASH, but tinseltown would have to wait till the eighties (Star Wars, Beverley Hills Cop) to recover its magic for the Me Generation!
Craig, the sorry specimen of that generation who is Shaw's anti-hero, is at Cannes to see if the old movie magic has reblossomed. It hasn't.
But a blue-eyed hippie lass inexplicably latches onto him, with the glittering hope to Make his Movies Hot again.
It's a trap, Craig.
But, no fool, he knows that. He's simply beyond giving a darn.
Take a tip, my friends -
Like Evelyn Waugh, call it Decline and Fall (from bad to worse) -
And DON'T GO THERE.
2 and a half stars, folks.
July 21, 2012
Най-добрият дневник за самотата, който съм чел! Има отделни глави за морско-синята самота; за самотата, докато си влюбен; самотата, когато си богат; самотата, докато умираш; за самотните пътувания.
Пътуването към намирането на себе си няма нужда от обратен билет.
Пътуването към намирането на себе си няма нужда от обратен билет.
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November 22, 2024Книга потрапила в мій настрій. Читалося з задоволенням, сподобався стиль автора, іронія, думки головного героя Джессі Крейга, який відчуває спустошення в своєму житті, приїздить в Канни на міжнародній кінофестиваль, але для чого? Декілька років він в занепаді, як у духовному сенсі, так і в роботі... Сімейне життя також не склалося... Навіщо він приїхав? Можливо розібратися в своєму житті і спробувати щось змінити?
Кіноіндустрія, Голівуд 1970-х - автору вдалося дуже виразно про це розповісти. Жага грошей, конкуренція, інтриги, долі акторів, сценаристів, режисерів...
Джессі пригадує багато зі свого минулого, чому він вчиняв і продовжує вчиняти так, що потім відчуває запізніле каяття...
Гарний переклад, багато діалогів, написаних майстерно, влучні характеристики персонажів, іронічні роздуми, чудовий роман. Джессі має свої вади і чесноти, свої слабкості, але ж у кого їх немає? Чи зможе і захоче він змінити це своє життя і віднайти в ньому себе справжнього?
Кіноіндустрія, Голівуд 1970-х - автору вдалося дуже виразно про це розповісти. Жага грошей, конкуренція, інтриги, долі акторів, сценаристів, режисерів...
Джессі пригадує багато зі свого минулого, чому він вчиняв і продовжує вчиняти так, що потім відчуває запізніле каяття...
Гарний переклад, багато діалогів, написаних майстерно, влучні характеристики персонажів, іронічні роздуми, чудовий роман. Джессі має свої вади і чесноти, свої слабкості, але ж у кого їх немає? Чи зможе і захоче він змінити це своє життя і віднайти в ньому себе справжнього?
December 6, 2020
а йой!
Ірвін Шоу ти крутий.
Оповідається про Джессі Крейґа, крутого колись продюсера. На час оповіді він уже давно нічого робив, та приїхав у Канни на фестиваль з однією ідейкою.
Весь світ оповіді наче стиснутий, немає особливо великих локацій, та все ж затишно.
___
ВСЛ видало книжечку гарного, верстка дуже зручна в читанні❤️
Ірвін Шоу ти крутий.
Оповідається про Джессі Крейґа, крутого колись продюсера. На час оповіді він уже давно нічого робив, та приїхав у Канни на фестиваль з однією ідейкою.
Весь світ оповіді наче стиснутий, немає особливо великих локацій, та все ж затишно.
___
ВСЛ видало книжечку гарного, верстка дуже зручна в читанні❤️
January 30, 2021
Дуже старомодно навіть для 70-х і забагато зайвого, як на мій погляд тексту. Більшість діалогів і персонажів лише створюють фон і не відіграють суттєвої ролі у сюжеті. Якщо ж взяти поправку на цільову аудиторію роману, то його фабула дійсно зачіпає деякі струни душі, які у не аристократичної молоді ХХІ століття небезпідставно відмерли.
September 3, 2016
The very last page of the book reminded me of Charles Bukowski. Not because of his way of writing, buт his way of living. I read a similar story about him in his biography that shocked me, and I felt giggly when I finished the book. It was easy to read, light and intriguing. The first thing I read by Irwin Shaw was his short story "In the french style". They both consist the character of the strong male, the traveler with no constant home who is not sure what he wants from life nor love. Paris is described in a nostalgic way, the home of love. I will definitely read some more of his work
October 19, 2021
мені дуже сподобалося як написана книжка, але абсолютно не сподобалося про що вона написана. якщо автору хотілося зробити головного героя неприємним чуваком, то він досягнув поставленої мети, а якщо ні і пан Шоу хотів озвучити через Джессі Крейґа свої думки, то що ж, це був 1973 рік, купу життів тому, треба бути поблажливішою.
August 19, 2016
През цялото време чаках нещо да се случи и тъкмо да има някакво развитие и книгата свърши.
Но пък остава едни въпроси за живота и кога е нужно да си направим една обективна равносметка и дали няма да е късно в един момент.
Но пък остава едни въпроси за живота и кога е нужно да си направим една обективна равносметка и дали няма да е късно в един момент.
February 2, 2023
Некваплива, іронічна розповідь про те і се, любощі, зради, кіно, втрату таланту, розкішне життя, старіння, виховання дітей, сварки з друзями і всяке таке. За що люблю американську класику, то за те, що зачіпає без зайвого драматизму.
February 18, 2020
This is my second book by Irwin Shaw, the first one was "Night work", rated 5/5. Here Shaw has written a Hollywood novel that is not set in Hollywood, but mostly in France (where he was an ex-patriot resident). Despite being several decades old, it still rings incredibly true. Hollywood, with all its excesses, its venal obsessions, and its political maneuvering, never seems to change. Rating: 4/5
January 20, 2020
An incredible book full of hope, love, cinema, and alcohol. An ode to youth, an ode to Côte d'Azur and Cannes' old days with all the festival parties and gossips. The perfect cocktail of secular chronicle, love stories, and a great multi-layered novel.
June 29, 2021
Много голям пистел е Шоу!
November 25, 2016
Horribly depressing characters have tedious conversations about how horribly depressed they are. I want to give everyone in this book a prescription for Zoloft. In between drinking gallons of booze, they all moan and groan about how their lives are in the toilet, yet none of them do anything to pull themselves up. When one decent character shows up (for just a few paragraphs) I wanted to shout at him, "Run! Run away from these people! They're highly contagious!"
The novel has left me with two lingering questions.
1.) Why did Irwin Shaw feel the need to write this in the first place? and
2.) Why did America feel the need to make this a best seller when it was originally published? Were the Seventies really that bad?
Wait, that's three lingering questions.
The novel has left me with two lingering questions.
1.) Why did Irwin Shaw feel the need to write this in the first place? and
2.) Why did America feel the need to make this a best seller when it was originally published? Were the Seventies really that bad?
Wait, that's three lingering questions.
January 28, 2020
I enjoyed the book. Jesse - a successful, but now fading, producer of theatre and movies. He is in Cannes. He is 'suddenly' interviewed by this young, aggressive Gail (who has an agenda). Through the few days or so in Cannes, there is reflection on his life - how he came to what he is, his wife (from the beginning to the end of their marriage), his other relationships and his work. He is a flawed person. There is a bit of a twist at the end.
April 13, 2016
To say that Jesse Crain is one of Irwin Shaw's most unforgettable protagonists is saying a lot.
Which makes the statement no less true.
Admittedly this isn't on par with Rich Man, Poor Man (nothing is) or Beggarman, Thief (few books reach that level of excellence), but Byzantium is a VERY GOOD read. Give it a go if you appreciate writing brilliance and engrossing characters and settings.
Which makes the statement no less true.
Admittedly this isn't on par with Rich Man, Poor Man (nothing is) or Beggarman, Thief (few books reach that level of excellence), but Byzantium is a VERY GOOD read. Give it a go if you appreciate writing brilliance and engrossing characters and settings.
January 6, 2023
Криза середнього віку, пробле��и багатих і знаменитих. Три віски, пляшка вина, шампанське, три кон‘яка і цим людям ще ставало сил на тз любощі. Були часи, таких вже не буде.
Це моя перша прочитана книга Ірвіна Шоу, і, думаю, не остання, дуже імпонує цей старий стиль написання драм без драм, просто життя йде без всяких - коректур.
Це моя перша прочитана книга Ірвіна Шоу, і, думаю, не остання, дуже імпонує цей старий стиль написання драм без драм, просто життя йде без всяких - коректур.
December 12, 2021
The book is fairly long and starts slow, or rather it starts with a struggling and not very likeable guy. Some other review mentioned Gatsby and its not wrong. Everyone here is fairly grotesque. Sordid, broken, bad, misled. The thing is, everyone is also so human. Strong Gothic tendencies even in such an exotic, glamorous setting. All moments of redemption seem bittersweet. So lots of parallel themes. By the end, engrossing.
December 10, 2012
Great storyteller - everything I've read of his I've enjoyed
January 23, 2023
Գիրք հոլիվուդյան ետնաբեմի և միջին տարիքի ճգնաժամի մասին
Շատ արվեստագետներ կան, որոնց կյանքում գալիս է մի փուլ, երբ ուզում է մարդկանց ներկայացնել իր իսկ կյանքի ետնաբեմը, դուրս հանել իր ներքնաշխարհը, միահյուսել իր արտաքին կյանքի հետ ու մատուցել մարդկանց: Սա Իրվին Շոուի համար հենց այդպիսի մի ստեղծագործություն էր:
Թեման նորություն չի, հատկապես կինեմատոգրաֆում: Նման գործերով շատ հայտնի է, օրինակ, Ֆելինին: Գրքում առանձնապես նորույթ չկար:
Մենք հանրահայտ կինոպրոդյուսերի հետ վերապրում ենք միջին տարիքի ճգնաժամ, երբ ուզում ես աշխատել, բայց ոչինչ չես անում դրա համար, երբ ընտանիքը քանդվել է և դրան փոխարինել են խառն ու անհասկանալի կապերը, երբ մարդիկ դեմքիդ չեն ասում իրականությունը: Կյանքի բարդություններ, որոնք ինքդ ես ստեղծում ու անգամ չես փորձում հաղթահարել: Բայց երբ կանգնում ես մահվան եզրին, շատ բաներ իրենց տեղն են ընկնում...
Գրքում ինձ ամենաշատը դուր եկավ հիվանդանոցի և թատրոնի համեմատությունը: Սփոյլ չեմ անում, բայց հիասքանչ կտոր էր:
Շատ արվեստագետներ կան, որոնց կյանքում գալիս է մի փուլ, երբ ուզում է մարդկանց ներկայացնել իր իսկ կյանքի ետնաբեմը, դուրս հանել իր ներքնաշխարհը, միահյուսել իր արտաքին կյանքի հետ ու մատուցել մարդկանց: Սա Իրվին Շոուի համար հենց այդպիսի մի ստեղծագործություն էր:
Թեման նորություն չի, հատկապես կինեմատոգրաֆում: Նման գործերով շատ հայտնի է, օրինակ, Ֆելինին: Գրքում առանձնապես նորույթ չկար:
Մենք հանրահայտ կինոպրոդյուսերի հետ վերապրում ենք միջին տարիքի ճգնաժամ, երբ ուզում ես աշխատել, բայց ոչինչ չես անում դրա համար, երբ ընտանիքը քանդվել է և դրան փոխարինել են խառն ու անհասկանալի կապերը, երբ մարդիկ դեմքիդ չեն ասում իրականությունը: Կյանքի բարդություններ, որոնք ինքդ ես ստեղծում ու անգամ չես փորձում հաղթահարել: Բայց երբ կանգնում ես մահվան եզրին, շատ բաներ իրենց տեղն են ընկնում...
Գրքում ինձ ամենաշատը դուր եկավ հիվանդանոցի և թատրոնի համեմատությունը: Սփոյլ չեմ անում, բայց հիասքանչ կտոր էր:
April 15, 2023
4,5 легко і так, ніби дуже відверто.. сподобалась)
October 17, 2015
Как си представяте живота си двадесет години след като сте постигнали всичко, за което сте мечтали?
Джеси Крейг е човек, чийто отдавна спечелени пари са на свършване, а безусловната и чиста любов е останала само в мъглявите му пиянски спомени. Човек, чаровен, пасивен и изгубен, до който всички искат да се докоснат, но който не иска да бъде търсен. През цялото време, докато четях книгата, възприемах този подход към живота като символ на зрялост - да гледаш на случващото се на едро, честно, без злоба, да приемаш преходността на нещата и да се отдаваш на предоставените ти удоволствия. Пък накрая се оказа, че самотата наистина убива, убива всичко, преди да убие и тебе самия.
Това е първата книга на Ъруин Шоу, която ми попада и съм искрено впечатлена - да засегнеш и развиеш темите за преходността, данъкът на самоучастието в собственото си щастие и дългосрочните последици от опитите ти да си добър човек на двеста и няколко страници и да го направиш прекрасно, без излишна драма, просто и човешко, за мен те прави велик писател.
Джеси Крейг е човек, чийто отдавна спечелени пари са на свършване, а безусловната и чиста любов е останала само в мъглявите му пиянски спомени. Човек, чаровен, пасивен и изгубен, до който всички искат да се докоснат, но който не иска да бъде търсен. През цялото време, докато четях книгата, възприемах този подход към живота като символ на зрялост - да гледаш на случващото се на едро, честно, без злоба, да приемаш преходността на нещата и да се отдаваш на предоставените ти удоволствия. Пък накрая се оказа, че самотата наистина убива, убива всичко, преди да убие и тебе самия.
Това е първата книга на Ъруин Шоу, която ми попада и съм искрено впечатлена - да засегнеш и развиеш темите за преходността, данъкът на самоучастието в собственото си щастие и дългосрочните последици от опитите ти да си добър човек на двеста и няколко страници и да го направиш прекрасно, без излишна драма, просто и човешко, за мен те прави велик писател.
January 10, 2021
A writer's book, Evening in Byzantium is an excellent story. In spite of what others have said, this work provides an elucidating window into the turbulent yet laconic past, to a time when, even as now, people thumb their noses at good advice, and act out against their own interests. Highest recommendations.
July 28, 2015
Ъруин Шоу прави дупка към театъра. „Вечер във Византия” е книга, след която усещаш ужасен бодеж под краката си.
http://www.knijno.blogspot.com/2015/0...
http://www.knijno.blogspot.com/2015/0...
June 23, 2020
Отличная книга. Всегда было интересно, что происходит с людьми, которые достигли славы, но не умерли на пике, а начали вынужденно наблюдать за своим закатом.
April 4, 2021
This book is good for the soul.
It made me laugh and cry at a time when I was numb to human emotion. I fell in love with reading with this book
It made me laugh and cry at a time when I was numb to human emotion. I fell in love with reading with this book
February 28, 2023
Цікава і досить спокійна оповідка про життя одного режисера, певного етапу його життя. Герой зі своїми проблемами та вадами, сильними сторонами та намаганнями вирішити проблеми. Цікаві персонажі та можливість заглянути за куліси Канського кінофестивалю.
August 29, 2024
nai setne bashta mi da me ostavi na mira
January 3, 2021
Наверное, я просто не целевая аудитория романов о мужиках с кризисом среднего возраста. Ощущение, что читаешь средненькую голливудскую мелодраму, которую забудешь через день.
April 28, 2015
Poorly structured plot and unrealistic relationships between characters. Heavy handed treatment of themes. Strange diversion into somewhat incestuous thoughts and (indirect) behavior by the main character. Melodrama and clinched actions throughout. A silly book with little to offer a serious reader.
July 14, 2025
Too much self pity.
The ending in hospital took soo long. Was it a Deus ex machina to put all together?
And such a pretentious title.
''Все женщины независимо от возраста умеют заставить человека почувствовать себя так, словно ты их бросил, даже если ты вышел на десять минут купить сигарет.''
Ah ah.
reminisced Homo Faber
The ending in hospital took soo long. Was it a Deus ex machina to put all together?
And such a pretentious title.
''Все женщины независимо от возраста умеют заставить человека почувствовать себя так, словно ты их бросил, даже если ты вышел на десять минут купить сигарет.''
Ah ah.
reminisced Homo Faber
Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews