The Man in the Red Coat

by Julian Barnes

The Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending takes us on a rich, witty tour of Belle Epoque Paris, via the life story of the pioneering surgeon Samuel Pozzi

In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London for a few days’ shopping. One was a Prince, one was a Count, and the third was a commoner with an Italian name, who four years earlier had been the subject of one of John Singer Sargent’s greatest portraits.

The three men's lives play out against the backdrop of the Belle Epoque in Paris. The beautiful age of glamour and pleasure more often showed its ugly side: hysterical, narcissistic, decadent and violent, a time of rampant prejudice and blood-and-soil nativism, with more parallels to our own age than we might imagine.

Our guide through this world is Samuel Pozzi, society doctor, pioneer gynaecologist and free-thinker, a rational and scientific man with a famously complicated private life.

The Man in the Red Coat is at once a fresh and original portrait of the French Belle Epoque – its heroes and villains, its writers, artists and thinkers – and a life of a man ahead of his time. Witty, surprising and deeply researched, the new book from Julian Barnes illuminates the fruitful and longstanding exchange of ideas between Britain and France, and makes a compelling case for keeping that exchange alive.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, France, Art, Audiobook, Historical

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2019

About the author

Julian Patrick Barnes is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with The Sense of an Ending, having been shortlisted three times previously with Flaubert's Parrot, England, England, and Arthur & George. Barnes has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh (having married Pat Kavanagh). In addition to novels, Barnes has published collections of essays and short stories.
In 2004 he became a Commandeur of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His honours also include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was awarded the 2021 Jerusalem Prize.

Reviews

[Beata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julian Barnes has done it ... He wrote a book that I read twice, which has not happened to me this year ...
The book, which has three central characters, two aristocrats and a commoner who became an aristocrat in his profession, is a biography of these three gentlemen, but in fact it is much, much more. Julian Barnes presents the period which is now called the Belle Epoque, talking masterfully about everyone who mattered then in any discipline, politics, literary world or in any other way, and about all characteristics with which we associate those times. I absolutely loved the way Mr Barnes connects all dramatis personae and events, and there is so much to learn about them. The three gentlemen had a privileged position in a society and this facilitated involvement in all main affairs and acquaintance with giants of the Belle Epoque.
The book starts with a detailed description of a painting and a bullet, and ends with four bullets. And there are more bullets. And there are duels. And love affairs. And ... .
Julian Barnes wrote a book that I will certainly read for the third time very soon. I am in awe of Mr Barnes' eloquence and writing skills.

[Valeriu Gherghel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un eseu istoric (să-l numim așa) despre La Belle Époque (aprox. 1871 - 1914). Întîlnim un bestiar savuros: scriitori de tot soiul, pictori (John Singer Sargent), muzicieni, actori și actrițe (Sarah Bernhardt), savanți, bufoni, paraziți, polemiști, snobi, băgători în/de seamă, lesbiene, homosexuali (Oscar Wilde, Robert de Montesquiou, Marcel Proust etc.), nobili: prinți/prințese, conți/contese, duci/ducese etc. Semnalez o digresiune despre dandysm (pp.67-72).

Biblia literaturii acestei apoci antipatice (și vîrful plictisului epic, în opinia mea) e romanul lui Huysmans, À rebours (1884), considerat de multe spirite „subțiri” - și astăzi - o „carte-cult”.

Și, dincolo de toate și de toți, figura mai degrabă luminoasă a medicului și profesorului, Solomon Jean Pozzi (heterosexual, totuși), director al spitalului Paul Broca (vă mai amintiți de Creierul lui Broca?), specialist ginecolog, un savant „care a fost rațional, științific, progresist, internațional și constant iscoditor, care și-a umplut viața cu medicină, artă, cărți, călătorii, societate, politică și cît mai mult sex” (pp.294-295).

Iată cum descrie Julian Barnes „epoca frumoasă” (sintagma apare după 1940): „A fost o perioadă de mare bogăție pentru cei bogați, de putere socială pentru aristocrație, de snobism necontrolat și complex, de ambiție colonială impetuoasă, de patronaj artistic și de dueluri, a căror scară a violenței reflecta adeseori mai mult irascibilitatea personală decît onoarea jignită” (pp.152-153).

Cartea nu m-a impresionat pe cît mi-aș fi dorit...
(29.11.20, d)

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this nonfictional account, Barnes paints a busy picture of Belle Epoque Paris and London, thus evoking a time of duels and dandyism, the rise of modernity with its faith in rationality, individualism and progress, but also illustrating the role of nationalism, classism, and sexism - and more than anything, this book is a celebration of the close connections and fruitful exchanges between England and the continent. The main hero of this historic tale is Dr. Samuel Pozzi, French descendent of Italian immigrants and passionate Anglophile, who was a celebrity, pioneering gynaecologist and infamous womanizer residing in Paris. Pozzi is the title-giving "Man in the Red Coat", and the cover reveals part of his portrait painted by John Singer Sargent, entitled "Dr. Pozzi at Home" (1881).

Together with Pozzi, the commoner, his two friends Prince Edmond the Polignac and Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac play a vital role in structuring the text. Together, the three Frenchmen spent some time in London in 1885, but this is not the main focus of the text, it's more of a launching trajectory: Spreading from the narratives about the lives of these three men, Barnes embarks on a journey through Belle Epoque society, history, art, and culture. The sprawling narrative underlines the abundance of new thoughts and ideas, of fascinating events and extravagant characters populating the scenes, and his three leading men are excellently chosen. Only to give a few examples of Barnes' extrapolations: Pozzi's assistant was the father of one Marcel Proust, who later wrote about Montesquiou; Montesquiou is also the real-life person after whom Joris-Karl Huysmans modelled his protagonist in Against Nature; Polignac, a great music lover, composer and closeted homosexual, met Wagner and was a staple in the highest spheres of society.

Accordingly, Barnes takes up the opportunities and runs with them, digressing into interesting sub-narratives, anecdotes, touching upon letters, novels, paintings, biographies etc. - the research required to write a book with such a plethora of inter-connected details must have been immense. We meet Oscar Wilde and world-famous actress Sarah Bernhardt, we hear about the Dreyfus affair, we hang out with scandalous gossip Jean Lorrain (who called himself "The Ambassador from Sodom"), but we also learn about the achievements of Florence Nightingale and Nobel winner Alexis Carrel, who was a protégé of Pozzi, as well as the life-saving medical innovations brought about by Pozzi himself.

Another aspect that renders this book so intriguing is the meta-narrative Barnes inserts: Again and again, he makes personal statements and ponders the nature of historical writing, he muses about possible interpretation of his material and makes educated guesses about things we will never know for sure; regarding the disappearance of Sarah Bernhardt's amputated leg and the bullet that killed Pushkin as well as the questionable truth about Montesquiou's gilded live tortoise, Englishman Barnes notes with French nonchalance: "You lose a leg and a bullet, but gain a tortoise: there are more uncertainties in nonfiction than in fiction.". Particularly Pozzi, this daring, intelligent, but also flawed man, becomes more and more interesting the more we know (and don't know) about him.

And then there's Brexit, which is the counterpoint to this polyphonic symphony of a book - Barnes only explicitly mentions it in the afterword, but that he was struggling with current English politics while writing this text is already apparent in the set-up. When I requested the ARC, I wrote to the publisher that this sounds like the kind of text I, a German with French ancestors, need in these dire times of Brexit, and Barnes, a Francophile with a degree in Modern Languages, did not disappoint.

Barnes has written a book that, filled to the brim with facts, shows how England and the continent have always enriched each other, a book that celebrates main characters who looked down upon national chauvinism, and their openness, curiosity and enthusiasm helped them achieve greatness. So this might be a colorful, entertaining, and highly intelligent book about the Belle Epoque, but Barnes' message is for today, directed at us. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: Do yourself a favor and buy the printed version, so you can really enjoy the many images that illustrate the text - it's almost a crime to look at these wonderful paintings on a black-and-white kindle.

...now also available in German: Der Mann im roten Rock - and you can listen to our podcast gang discussing it here.

[Kalliope · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this book I felt I was calling Bingo: a full Line of the winning five numbers.

And in a way, Barnes selecting as illustrations to his text the cards that the grocer Félix Potin included in their chocolates—in two decades there were three series of these cards with photographs of notorious people—contributed to my impression that I was playing a board game.



First, the author is Julian Barnes. One of my top favourites. Such a pleasure to read – always. What I realized more clearly this time is that he is also a very intelligent writer. I have always hailed him as one of the few writers who can change the voice per each character. His Love, Etc. and Talking It Overare the best proof. From the language one knows immediately who in the triangle is talking. That he has a sharp mind I had already grasped when I read his A History of the World in 10½ Chapters – it took me a second reading to realize the structure and meaning of the title. In this account, the way he has seized his material with full grasp, is compelling.

Second, the book was prompted by a portrait by also one of my top favourite painters, John Singer Sargent. Granted, some critics hold against him that he catered too much to the upper social classes. This kind of bother does not bother me in the least. What matters is if beauty is discovered and created. And this very red painting, in all its textures and evocations of light and the exquisite hands of the sitter, a trademark of Sargent, is an unforgettable specimen. No wonder that it has fascinated Barnes to the point of preparing and writing this book. There was a few years ago an exhibition comparing Sargent and Joaquín Sorolla; I like the latter too, the way he renders the Mediterranean light is unsurpassed, but in the modulation of the hands Sargent proves to be the better painter .



Third, the sitter I did not know. Well, I knew his name, Samuel Pozzi, but not who he was. A gynaecologist of Italian and Swiss descent who left considerable imprints in the world of medicine. Learning more about several breakthroughs in medicine at a time when our current heroes are doctors, nurses, and people working in health institutions, it provided a sobering experience. Barnes admires Pozzi, for his many facets, one of which is that he was not perfect.



Fourth, this is a book for Proustians. Many of Proust’s characters--that is, transmuted friends--, and friends and family, circulate through these pages. The most prominent is the Duc de Montesquiou, but one also meets the Polignacs, the Daudets, Huysman, the painters Degas and Whistler, and of course Marcel’s youngest brother Robert a doctor who worked as Pozzi’s assistant. In delving deep into this world is one of instances in which Barnes shows his intelligence. His analysis of the way real people relate to fictional characters, in his continuous contrasting of Montesquiou and the various fictionalized versions of the Dandy such as Des Esseintes, is superb.

And Fifth, Barnes’s examination and experimentation with biography is highly satisfying, more so than in his Noise of Time. There are plenty of musings about what it entails to write about the life of someone, in particular one who lived in a previous period. He is lucidly aware that the biographer has difficulty in escaping from fiction writing, and of the barriers between the private and the public (“the study-of-a-life…can only be a public version of a public life, and a partial version of a private life). And may be this consciousness explains why the account does not read like a conventional narrative and why the reader feels that he is closer to the writer, to his thinking, and yes, also to the life of his subject.

So, yes, I call Bingo with this book.



A complete win.

[David Wineberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not in the habit of picking up biographies of people I never heard of and have no idea why I should. But Julian Barnes proved me quite wrong. He did it in an unusual way, with a dramatic portrait by John Singer Sargent of Sargent’s friend Dr. Samuel Pozzi when they were both young men. Entering that world, Barnes leads the reader on a branching journey of infinite connections to everyone who meant anything in the Belle Epoque in France (1870-1914). Barnes sets it up as a mystery, piecing together clues. For someone who has never heard the name Pozzi before, it is quite a revelation and quite a trip.

It reads like a Six Degrees of Separation. Pozzi’s connections alone were more than sufficient to tell the story, but Barnes connects to his connections’ connections, their friends, lovers, haters, critics, customers, managers and acquaintances. And then their connections too. The connections circle back, and everyone seems to have been connected to everyone else. There are dozens of them profiled here. They range from Oscar Wilde to the Mayo Brothers to Dreyfus, Bernhardt, Degas and Rodin.

This sweeping expanse is doled out piecemeal, in anecdotes and threads that follow one of the personages through some stage or event. It also gives Barnes a platform to spout some of his own perspectives. Here’s one on the ways the English and the French regard each other:
“…Charles de Gaulle’s obstreperous and infuriating (translate into French as ‘determined and patriotic’) behavior during his London wartime exile, then later in his stubbornly vindictive (‘principled and statesmanlike’) triple refusal to allow Britain to join (‘disrupt’) the European Common Market...”

Pozzi was handsome and talented. He spoke English and French. He travelled widely, gathering new medical techniques as he went. He was fast to innovate, devoted himself to otherwise neglected women’s health and initiated new abdominal surgical procedures that saved numerous lives. He was charming, seductive, available and everywhere. He was there for the famous and nonfamous, there for the events, the history, and the parties. His own house held a popular salon where many of his connections reconnected and new connections made.

He led a wonderfully full life, outside his own family, where everything was tense and strained. His daughter in particular was a vicious piece of work, full of self hate, self pity and self destruction. Pozzi therefore dallied with mistresses, publicly, including with Sarah Bernhardt, the western world’s sweetheart. She called him Docteur Dieu (Doctor God). They hung out for 20 years.

Meanwhile, Pozzi developed into a celebrity in his own right. He became a doctor, gynecologist, mayor, senator and surgeon. He reorganized and ran hospital wings and surgeries. He was recognized globally for his medical practices and papers. He learned the critical importance of cleanliness and antiseptics directly from Dr. Lister in Scotland, and brought those practices to France. Despite, or because of his open philandering, he was respected by men and desired by women.

His attitude to medical innovation was “Chauvinism is one of the forms of ignorance.” That is, just because it wasn’t invented here doesn’t mean it’s of no value. This openness was his way of life.

Barnes is deeply involved in the Belle Epoque. He was able to post individual photos of most of the people he writes about, which is enormously helpful. And most of the images come from his own collection. At the turn of the century a French chocolate-bar maker began a series of trading cards given away free in the wrapping of every bar. It extended to three series, with hundreds of personalities of the era captured in black and white. It seems that everyone Pozzi knew was famous in his or her own right, at least enough to merit a trading card (and therefore an image in this book).

With all the celebrity connections, the cattiness, criticism and outright bashing takes up a lot of space. My favorite: “Degas said of Wilde after a visit to the artist’s studio in Paris: ‘He behaves as if he’s playing Lord Byron in some provincial theatre,’” thus outWilding Wilde for once. There are also lots of betrayals, infidelity, duels and murders. There is faded French royalty, both aggressive and dissolute gays (male and female), marriages of convenience and lots of hypocrisy. Truth that is as wild as fiction. And Pozzi figured centrally in all of it.

Barnes followed a lot of leads in filling out his stories, from diaries to newspaper coverage and biographies. But in the end he faced several pages of unanswered questions. They can never be answered, and it really doesn’t matter, but it shows his devotion to the period and the players. So it’s not really about starting with a dramatic painting, tracking down the subject and finding out a little about him and his circle. This is Barnes’ passion and expertise, and Pozzi has figured centrally in it for quite some time. Still a neat concept though, and Barnes presents it dramatically and entertainingly.

Oddly, the conclusion features, of all things, Brexit, and how the British government is screwing up the country and its future. No argument from me, but it sits uncomfortably with such in-depth profiles of rich characters from a hundred and fifty years ago. And mostly French at that.

David Wineberg

[Roula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Το πρώτο πράγμα που σίγουρα προσέχει κανεις σε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι αυτο το απίστευτα καλαίσθητο εξώφυλλο που αποτελεί λεπτομέρεια από τον πίνακα " Ο δοκτορ Ποτσι στην κατοικία του" του Τζον Σίνγκερ Σαρτζεντ. Ποιος είναι λοιπόν αυτός ο "δοκτορ Ποτσι" με τα ντελικάτα χέρια? Σύντομα μέσα στην ιστορία, ανακαλύπτει κανεις ότι ο άντρας αυτός δεν ήταν καθόλου τυχαίος. Ήταν ένας γιατρός γυναικολόγος, χειρουργός, νευρολόγος με πρωτοπωρες ιδέες (μάλιστα ήταν αυτός που εισήγαγε πρώτος τη χρήση της γυναικολογικης καρέκλας) που τον έκαναν ιδιαίτερα ξακουστό στη Γαλλία. Από την άλλη όσο ισορροπημένος και επαγγελματίας ήταν στη δουλειά του, τόσο η προσωπική του ζωή υπήρξε άστατη και καθόλου αθώα, καθώς είχε αρκετές ερωμένες ενώ ήταν παντρεμένος σε ένα γάμο όπου φάνηκαν εξαρχής οι αγεφυρωτες διάφορες με τη σύζυγό του. Ένας τέτοιος άντρας λοιπόν, λογικό είναι οτι είχε μια συναρπαστική ζωή η οποία μάλιστα ενέπνευσε ακόμη και τον Μαρσέλ Προυστ, ώστε να φτιάξει έναν χαρακτήρα στο "αναζητώντας το χαμένο χρόνο ", ο οποίος λέγεται ότι ήταν βαθιά επηρασμενος από τον Ποτσι. Συνδυαστικά με αυτή την ταραχωδη ζωή, ο Μπαρνς αναφέρει πολλά στοιχεία για την λεγόμενη μπελ εποκ στην οποία έζησε ο πρωταγωνιστής και η οποία υπήρξε εξίσου συναρπαστική αλλά και κάπως κωμική  στην υπερβολή της. Τελος στα θετικά θα προσθέσω την εκπληκτική εικονογραφηση του βιβλίου που σε βάζει ακόμη πιο πολύ στο κλίμα..
Παμε τώρα στα αρνητικά. Ο μπαρνς είναι ένας πολύ αγαπημένος μου συγγραφέας που πραγματικά περιμένω με αγωνία κάθε φορά τα βιβλία του, όμως αυτό που μου άρεσε λιγότερο από τα βιβλία του, ήταν το ίσως πιο γνωστό του, "ο παπαγάλος του φλωμπερ", κι αυτό γιατί ήταν μια βιογραφία του αγαπημένου συγγραφέα που επηρέασε πολύ τη ζωή του Μπαρνς. Γενικά δε μου αρέσουν πολύ οι βιογραφίες κι έτσι τοσο σε εκείνη την περίπτωση, όσο και στην περίπτωση του άνδρα με τον κόκκινο μανδύα, το ύφος της βιογραφίας, που αραδιάζει δεκάδες ονόματα, σχέσεις, background εποχής, δε με γέμισε καθόλου, αντιθέτως μου φάνηκε πολύ γυμνό και στείρο συναισθημάτων και αυτής της μελαγχολίας που διέπει πάντα τα έργα του Μπαρνς και που τόσο αγαπώ. Γενικώς θα ελεγα πως είναι ένα πολύ τυπικό και κάπως κρύο έργο από την άποψη του ύφους. Επίσης, το γεγονός πως πίστευα ότι θα ναι ένα μυθιστόρημα, μια εξιστόρηση με πλοκή και τελικά ειδα ότι ήταν μια βιογραφία, με απογοήτευσε αρκετά και έτσι κάπου ξενέρωσα κατά το κοινώς λεγόμενο.
Ωστόσο φυσικά και κρατάω όλα τα θετικά που ανέφερα στην αρχή τα οποία ήταν αρκετά και κάνω μια καπως χλιαρή αναγνωστική αρχή για το 2021,που ελπίζω ότι θα φουντώσει στη συνέχεια. Καλή (αναγνωστική) χρόνια σε όλους!!
3.5 ⭐⭐⭐🌠

[Skorofido Skorofido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Δεν είναι μυθιστόρημα, δεν είναι βιογραφία, δεν είναι ιστορία είναι το φιδάκι ο Διαμαντής... γιατί εάν θέλεις να με ρωτήσεις «βρε γλυκό μου φιδάκι, τι είναι αυτό που διάβασες;» «δεν ξέρω» θα σου πω… Ήταν ένα βιβλίο ‘ακαλούπωτο’ που μήτε το ίδιο δεν ήξερε που ανήκει… που κάτι ήθελε να πει ο συγγραφέας του αλλά από το πολύ το γύρω – γύρω, μας ζάλισε το κεφάλι κι ακόμα να συνέρθω από το hang over.
Ομολογώ δίχως ίχνος αισχύνης, πως αγόρασα το βιβλίο για το εξώφυλλό του… αυτό το κόκκινο ένδυμα σε συνδυασμό με αυτά τα χέρια λειτούργησαν επάνω μου σαν το φως που τραβάει τα λεπιδόπτερα… με ακόμα μεγαλύτερη χαρά ανακάλυψα πως πρόκειται για πραγματικό πορτρέτο του Γάλλου γιατρού Σαμυέλ Πότσι που έζησε και χειρούργησε στο Παρίσι της Μπελ Επόκ…
Το βιβλίο ξεκινάει με το ταξίδι τριών Γάλλων (μέσα σε αυτούς και ο Πότσι) στο Λονδίνο… ωραία λέω, μπερδεύεται η φαντασία με τη βιογραφία… όσο όμως προχωράει το βιβλίο, αντιλαμβάνεσαι πως δεν είναι μυθιστόρημα αλλά αληθινά γεγονότα που αφορούν το Παρίσι και το Λονδίνο της Μπελ Επόκ, τον Πότσι, τον Όσκαρ Γουάιλντ, τον κόμη Μοντεσκιού, τη Σάρα Μπερνάρ, τον Ζολά, τον Ουισμάνς, τον Αλφόνς Ντοντέ και τον γιο του Λεόν κι ένα σωρό άλλους… από ένα σημείο κι έπειτα υπάρχει ένα συνεχές name dropping ανθρώπων, έργων τέχνης και γεγονότων χωρίς πάντοτε να υπάρχει λογική αλληλουχία, απλώς όπως έρχονταν στον νου του συγγραφέα. Κάποια κομμάτια είναι πολύ ενδιαφέροντα αλλά λιγότερα, κάποια είναι πικάντικα εν είδη κουτσομπολιού (λατρεύω να κοιτάω από την κλειδαρότρυπα) κι άλλα παντελώς αδιάφορα, ιδίως γιατί αφορούσαν άτομα παντελώς άγνωστα σ’εμένα και δεν μου προέκυψε και καμία ανάγκη να τα γνωρίσω.
Αντιλαμβάνομαι πως ο Μπαρνς γοητεύτηκε από τον βίο και την πολιτεία του Πότσι (κι εγώ θα έπεφτα θύμα της γοητείας του, εδώ κοτζάμ χειρουργική λαβίδα φέρει τ’όνομά του) αλλά από κει και πέρα, ο τρόπος που αναπτύσσει το όλο το εγχείρημα περισσότερο με καλοδουλεμένες σημειώσεις μοιάζει παρά με βιβλίο.
Ενδιαφέρον ως προς το πληροφοριακό υλικό… το διαβάζεις όπως διαβάζαμε στο παρελθόν μια εγκυκλοπαίδεια… αποσπασματικά… να μάθεις κάτι που ίσως το θυμάσαι μετά ίσως πάλι και όχι… ευελπιστείς να σου χρησιμεύσει όταν θα πάρεις μέρος σε κάποιο τηλεπαιχνίδι γνώσεων… ίσως έτσι να κερδίσεις και στο «Ποιος θέλει να γίνει εκατομμυριούχος»…
2.5/5

[Ярослава]

Жила-була і переклала (для Темпори).
Джуліан Барнз бачить на виставці портрет "Поцці вдома" пензля Джона Сінґера Сарджента - чоловік в червоному халаті, чоловік з руками піаніста. Зацікавившись цією постаттю, Барнз починає з'ясовувати, хто ж це був. Самюель Поцці - ніякий не піаніст, а хірург-гінеколог, який суттєво ��оклався до прогресу медичної науки у Франції зламу століть. А ще гедоніст, раціоналіст, атеїст, людина, відкрита до світу і наукових відкриттів незалежно від демаркаційних ліній (Барнз раз у раз цитує його фразу: "шовінізм - різновид невігластва"), людина з великим даром дружити, світський лев, який знав усіх (лікував Сару Бернар - і мав з нею роман, лікував Дрейфуса, був другом родини Прустів, тощо-тощо). Загалом, Поцці стає, з одного боку, ключем до вищого світу й богеми Парижа (і не тільки) зламу століть - а з іншого, до цієї епохи в цілому - останньої епохи, коли ще вірилося в те, що науковий прогрес порятує світ, і у важливість мистецтва, і ще в багато ефектних ілюзій.

Для Барнза Прекрасна епоха і Франція стає симпатичною протиотрутою до песимізму в дні перед Брекзітом (з нагнітанням британського шовінізму й ізоляціоністу, байдужістю до Іншого й оцим усим) - хоча, звичайно, епоха була не без своїх проблем:

Славна Англія, Золота доба, Прекрасна епоха: гучні бренди завжди вигадують ретроспективно. Жоден мешканець Парижа у 1895 чи 1900 році не казав: «Ми живемо у Прекрасну епоху, треба користатися цим на повну». Ця назва мирного періоду між катастрофічною поразкою Франції 1870–1871 року й катастрофічною перемогою Франції у 1914–1918 році постала аж після чергової поразки Франції 1940–1941 років. Так називалася радіопрограма, що швидко перетворилася на оперетку наживо: духопідйомна назва для духопідйомної вигадки, заснованої на німецьких стереотипах про Францію як країну одвічного канкану й «о-ля-ля». Прекрасна епоха, Belle Epoque: світ миру і задоволень, гламур із дрібкою (чи й не тільки дрібкою) декадансу, останній розквіт мистецтва, останній розквіт старої аристократії перед тим, як цю пастельну фантазію, що вже давно віджила себе, звіяла сталева прагматика ХХ століття, позривавши всі дотепні й вишукані плакати Тулуз-Лотрека з леправих стін і брудних публічних вбиралень-vespasienne. Ну, може, для когось то справді була прекрасна епоха — імовірніше для парижан, ніж для мешканців інших міст. А з іншого боку, як писав мудрий історик Франції Дуґлас Джонсон, «Париж лежить на узбіччі Франції».
Проте для своїх сучасників Прекрасна епоха видавалася — та, власне кажучи, й була — періодом невротичної, ба навіть істеричної національної тривоги, політичної нестабільності, криз і скандалів. У час, коли не вдається навіть перевести подих, упередження швидко дають метастази параної.

Загалом, страшенно милий нонфікшн, якщо ви любите почитати:
* про Париж Пруста й імпресіоністів з усім його культурним, етнічним і сексуальним розмаїттям;
* про межі наших знань про минуле (не спойлеритиму момент про черепаху, але ви зрозумієте, про що я, коли прочитаєте - момент про черепаху просто шикарнючий),
* про богемних ексцентриків і різні комбінації дружб, кохань і співпраць (скажімо, буквально найщасливіша родина у книжці виглядає так: Новий шлюб буде вигідний для обох сторін: вона поверне собі статус, він поверне собі гроші. Існувала тільки одна можлива перешкода, що була б нездоланною для представників нижчих соціальних станів: Поліньяк був гомосексуалом, про що всі знали, хоча він цим ніколи не бравував. Проте у цьому випадку це була ніяка не перешкода, а суттєва перевага, бо Зінґер, своєю чергою, була лесбійкою, про що всі знали, хоча вона цим ніколи не бравувала - вони таки візьмуть шлюб, потоваришують і житимуть душа в душу, разом керуючи мистецьким салоном),
* про наші стосунки з минулим - як ми об нього самостверджуємося, як інструменталізуємо під свої культурні й політичні потреби тощо: о, як минуле мусить часом ненавидіти теперішнє, а теперішнє — майбутнє: непізнаване, безтурботне, жорстоке, зарозуміле, байдуже, невдячне майбутнє — майбутнє, що не заслуговує бути майбутнім нашого теперішнього.

[Takisx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βρισκόμαστε στην εποχή της μπελ εποκ, δηλαδή, στην εποχή της εξαλλοσυνης και του παράδοξου, την εποχη που οι άνθρωποι αποφασίζουν να αυτοκτονησουν γιατί τους έκανε κεφι, αλλά το αναβάλουν, γιατί συναντούν πιο τρελούς από αυτούς.

Οπως ενας ήρωας που αποφασίζει να πάει να πνίγει και συναντάει ακριβώς διπλα του εναν τυχαίο περαστικο:μάλλον εχει έρθει κι αυτός να συναντήσει το πεπρωμένο του, σκέφτεται

Κι οταν τον ρωτάει αν είναι κι αυτός υποψήφιος αυτόχειρ, εκεινος με μια χαριτωμένη τσαχπινιά του απαντά πως είναι απλώς κομμωτής

Κι Όλα αυτά κοιτώντας τον Σικουανα, χωρίς να λογαριάζεις πως είσαι ο Όσκαρ Ουάιλντ. Αλλά τι σημασία έχει. Απαξ και διαβείς αυτή την πόρτα, το όνομα σου δεν παίζει κανένα ρόλο. Το χουν στην μοίρα τους οι εκκεντρικοί. Δεν τους σοκάρει τίποτα, αυτοί πολύ ευχαρίστως να σοκάρουν τους πάντες. Μπορούν να πετάξουν αν θέλουν το ακριβό τους γάντι πάνω στα μούτρα όσων δεν γουστάρουν.

Γιατί έτσι είναι αυτά :άμα είσαι εκκεντρικός με ενα τρόπο παίρνεις διαζύγιο από την υπόλοιπη ανθρωπότητα

Άλλωστε στους εκκεντρικούς το παν είναι η επιθυμία, και οι επιθυμίες, όπως λέει σοφά ο Κυριος Μπαρνς, είναι μολοσσοι δεμένοι με κλωστή(άρα φαντάσου τι δύναμη θα έχουν...)

Αλλά εδώ είμαστε σε μία Μπαρόκ εποχή, με πρωταγωνιστές εκπτωτους αγγέλους και μποέμ λάγνους καλλιτέχνες.

Οπως κι ο Γιατρός Ινεοτης. Συγνώμη, μπερδεύτηκα με άλλον ήρωα. Εδώ μιλάμε για τον Γιατρό - γυναικολόγο - γυναικοκατακτητη, κι επίσης γερουσιαστή, Σαμίελ Ζαν Ποτσι, τον άνθρωπο κόκκινο μανδύα, που φιγουράρει στο εξώφυλλο ως σούπερ σταρ. Και δικαίως. Τον κοιτάς και λες πως ολη η ομορφιά και η χάρη σμιλευτηκε πάνω του για να κολάζει τους πάντες, γιατί άπαξ έχεις ολα αυτά τα χαρίσματα, ε, με ένα τρόπο η ζωή σου κλείνει πονηρά το μάτι.

Τι να φτουρησει μετα απο ολα αυτά ο Ρεμπω και οι ιδέες του:καθησε λέει ενα βράδυ πανω του η ομορφιά την βρήκε πικρή και την βλαστημησε. Φαίνεται πως δεν είχε γνωρίσει τον Κύριο Καθηγητή μας, τον χερ προφερορ του Έρωτα, ειδάλλως θα μας τα λεγε αλλιώς.

Τι τα θες, η ιστορία γράφεται απο τους ηττημένους, οι ευτυχισμένοι δεν έχουν χρόνο για αναλύσεις. Το μόνο που ξέρουν οι ευτυχισμένοι - γεννημενοι ανθρωποι, ειναι να ξοδεύουν μέχρι το τελευταίο τους δευτερόλεπτο χαρίζοντας του αξία και Φως.

Άλλωστε ξέρουν πως είναι περαστικοί, οπότε προς τι η γκρίνια;

Κατι ξέρουν λοιπόν αυτοι οι ήρωες, γιατί δεν είμαστε μόνοι μας σ αυτόν τον κοσμο, υπάρχουν κι εξαισιοι πρίγκιπες και κομηδες, που θελουν κι αυτοί να παρουν ενα μερίδιο απο το Ανωφελο, που για αυτούς ειναι το πιο ωφέλιμο πράγμα.

Μιλάμε φυσικά για ενα Παρίσι που καίγεται απο κουτσομπολιά και καβλα, κι ενα απίστευτο γαϊτανάκι παίζεται μπροστά και πίσω απο τα μάτια μας, και με εναν συγγραφέα να βάζει φωτιά στα Πάθη, στη λαγνεια και σε ό,τι και καλα, απαγορεύεται.

Εδώ, σ αυτό το βιβλίο δεν υπάρχουν σύνορα, δεν υπαρχουν ομοφυλόφιλοι και ετεροφυλοφιλοι, μπορεί να μαστε και τα 2 μαζι, αλλα μπα, οι ήρωες μας δεν κατά δέχονται το μπαισεξουαλιτυ, αλλά και να το καταδεχτουν, εμείς ποτέ δεν θα το μάθουμε.

Ξέρουμε την ιστορία όπως μας την διηγούνται, γιατι έτσι είναι αυτά, δεν έχει άλλα, όλα είναι πρόσοψη:βέβαια στο δωμάτια παίζεται το κυρίως δράμα, αλλα εμείς δεν είμαστε αυτόπτες μάρτυρες κανενός συμβάντος, οπότε δεν θα καταργήσουμε σε κανένα ούτε ενα άλλοθι

Θα αφήσουμε τα πάντα να τα κρίνει η σπουδαία αυτή πένα, του ανθρώπου δηλαδή που την κρατάει, του Κυρίου Τζούλιαν, που με τοση χαρη και τόση κομψότητα εμφυσησε πνοή κι έδωσε την χαμένη δόξα στη μυθική εποχή του μπελ εποκ, αλλά και στον βασικό του ηρωα, τον Γιατρό Ποτσι για την γλυκεια του αμεριμνησια, και το ακαταμάχητο Δον Ζουανλικι του.

Μας ξελογιασατε Κύριε Μπαρνς.

[Zaphirenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Σε αυτό το καλογραμμένο (όπως πάντα) βιβλίο του Julian Barnes διαβάζουμε για την Μπελ Επόκ και τους καλλιτέχνες της, του συγγραφείς της, τα λογοτεχνικά σαλόνια και του πάτρωνες, τις έριδες, τις μικρότητες, τις αντιζηλίες και τα κουτσομπολιά τους και γενικά όλα εκείνα τα ζουμερά πράγματα που δε σκεφτόμαστε για τους δημιουργούς, μεγάλους και μη, όταν καταπιανόμαστε με το έργο τους. Ταυτόχρονα, αναδύεται η μορφή του Σαμιέλ Πότσι, πρωτοπόρου γυναικολόγου και χειρουργού του Παρισιού στα τέλη του 19ου και αρχές του 20ού αιώνα, ενός κοσμοπολίτη γιατρού προσηλωμένου στην επιστήμη, την ορθολογική σκέψη και την ενσυναίσθηση απέναντι στους θεραπευόμενους του. Από την άλλη, μας παρουσιάζει αναλυτικά και τον κόμη Ρομπέρ ντε Μοντεσκιέ, έναν ομοφυλόφιλο εστέτ δανδή της εποχής, ποιητή και συλλέκτη που ανακάλυψε και ανέδειξε ταλέντα της εποχής και αποτέλεσε την έμπνευση για ήρωες που απαντούν σε έργα των Ουισμάνς και Μαρσέλ Προυστ. Περνάνε επίσης και αλλά ονοματα τα οποια διαπλεκονται με τη ζωή αυτών των προσωπων όπως η Σάρα Μπερνάρ, ο Όσκαρ Ουάιλντ και Εντμον ντε Γκονκούρ. Από τη μια είναι λίγο ειδικού ενδιαφέροντος, από την άλλη αποτυπώνει με καθαρότητα και χιούμορ μια εποχή της ευρωπαϊκής διανόησης που έχει ένα ευρύτερο ενδιαφέρον, οπότε ενώ οπωσδήποτε δεν είναι για όλους, έχει στοιχεία που μπορούν να τραβήξουν πολλές κατηγορίες αναγνωστών. Προσωπικά το ρουφηξα ουσιαστικά μέσα σε τρεις μέρες.

[Ярослава]

І останній анонс під ялиночку - ви вже й так знаєте, що я це переклала, але тепер "Чоловік у червоному залаті" з офіційним анонсом і обкладинкою :)
Мій відгук тут.

[Ana Cristina Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

La Belle Epoque, un periodo histórico apasionante de la historia de occidente, entre 1871 y 1914, que acabó de configurar los valores y la cultura actuales. Vale la pena leer la entrada de la Wikipedia: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_%... antes de adentrarse en la obra de Barnes, para tener una guía en el laberinto. Porque eso me ha parecido esta especie de biografía-crónica social-repaso de las artes-costumbres, una especie de batiburrillo de anécdotas y textos de la época por donde desfilan apresurados personajes como Zola, Degas, Wilde, Flaubert, Baudelaire y muchísimos otros, políticos, científicos, pensadores, que estaban cambiando la sociedad de manera radical.

La Belle Epoque fue una época de gran riqueza para los ricos, de poder social para la aristocracia, de incontrolado y sofisticado esnobismo, de devoradora ambición colonial, de mecenazgo artístico y de duelos cuyo grado de violencia reflejaba a menudo más iracundia personal que honor ofendido.

El hilo conductor es la biografía del doctor Samuel Pozzi, ginecólogo y cirujano, además de coleccionista y amante de las artes, una figura clave en la vida social del París de la época, pero con muchos vínculos familiares y culturales con Inglaterra. También era un Don Juan, y como se puede apreciar en el retrato de la portada, tenía un punto del dandy de la época. Como muchas otras personalidades de su tiempo, su humanismo y su fe en la ciencia hicieron avanzar la medicina en todos los aspectos. Me ha emocionado el personaje, por la vida plena que vivió. Los fragmentos del diario de su hija nos ilustran sobre sus complicadas relaciones familiares y, como se suele decir, sus luces y sombras.

A pesar de ser un tema apasionante y con personajes atractivos, la lectura se me ha hecho difícil, ha sido como una montaña rusa con zonas donde el interés caía a pique y después remontaba inesperadamente. Como rebuscar en un arcón de anticuario donde las baratijas están revueltas con tesoros de gran valor. Barnes no ha hecho el mínimo intento de estructurar la narración, simpemente nos ofrece un collage con crónicas de la época, fragmentos literarios, espejos que reflejan otros espejos, un aluvión de información para el que en muchos casos me han faltado referencias. Sobrevive el hilo conductor, el doctor Pozzi, que te salva de la asfixia. Otro aspecto muy interesante y una constante de la obra de Barnes es la comparación que hace entre la cultura y la manera de ser inglesa y la francesa, lo cual le lleva a hacer una apología final anti-Brexit.

Interesante pero durillo de leer a ratos.

[Argos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julian Barnes’in bu kitabına not vermedim çünkü tıp tarihi ile yakından ilgilenen (hatta kitaplar yazan) bir hekim (cerrah) olarak, döneminin ilerici hekim-cerrahlarından Fransız Samuel Jean Pozzi (1846-1918) hakkında bilgi sahibiydim. Dr Pozzi’nin biyografik öğeleri ilgimi çekti doğal olarak. Bu nedenle kitabı sadece bu yönüyle değerlendirmem farklı olur, yani objektif olamam.

Ancak kitabı tüm olarak değerlendirdiğim zaman aşırı bilgi yüklemesi yapılmış, okur bilgi bombardımanına tutulmuş hatta bazen “dedikodu ansiklopedisine” dönüşmüş bir deneme olduğunu rahatça belirtebilirim. 19. yy ikinci yarısı ile 20. yy’ın başlarında, Paris ve Londra’daki bohem ve burjuva hayatını, edebiyatçılar ve sanatçılar ile ilgili anektodlar, mektuplar, günceler, gazete haberleri vb araçlarla Dr Pozzi odaklı olarak anlatıyor yazar.

Kitabın ismi “Kırmızı Giysili Adam” ressam John Singer Sargent’in 1881’de yaptığı “Pozzi Evde” isimli tablodan geliyor. Bu resimde doktor kırmızı bir giysi içinde resmedilmiş. Çok sayıda isim ve bunlarla ilgili olaylar veya haberler kopuk kopuk anlatılıyor. İlgili zaman diliminde başıboş dolaşıyor bu nedenle de okuru sıklıkla boşluğa düşürüyor yazar. Eşcinsellik yanında aşk ilişkileri, kıskançlık, düello gibi konular dedikodu anlatımıyla aktarılıyor.

Sıkıcı, entellektüel dağarcığa katkısı tartışılır bilgileri içeren bu denemeyi J. Barnes’in emeklerine saygı duysam da zayıf bir kitap olarak değerlendiriyorum.

[Karen· · Rating 5 out of 5]

This website seems to think that we are all so well organised/obsessive-compulsive/fond of lists/structured that every book we pick up is precisely logged, shelved, listed and archived. That has not been my life in the last few months. I have no idea when I started reading this one, It feels like a whole lifetime ago. I was a different person then.

But it has been a miraculous companion, offering me a deep sense of security, that there is a writer with the intelligent sensitivity of a Julian Barnes, one who quietly interrogates his own and others' assumptions with wit and humour, who conveys his own enthusiasm without ever being pushy or arrogant, a man with intellectual humility.

I seem to be gushing so I'll stop there: steal a bit of blurb from the back instead. Tessa Hadley is quoted as saying that this 'Liberates us from the shallowness of our absorption in the present'.

That'll do.

[Denise Mullins · Rating 1 out of 5]

While this book promises illuminating insights into the Belle Epoque, focusing on Samuel Pozzi, a doctor "who lived passionately in the moment", it reads like a choppy redundant grocery list of people from this era who merely sought to live more bohemian lifestyles than the norm.
To its credit, the book includes a plethora of images and beautifully reproduced paintings of these individuals, but the uneven vignettes used to feature them read more like disorganized research notes than a cohesive narrative. Even more irksome is the author's insistence on interjecting his pontificatingly pedantic reflections which are particularly jarring and disruptive.
Although this book could prove a wonderful source for research, it provided deadly reading for one seeking a more intimate glimpse of this time period.

[Théo d'Or]

I'd not have expected that after reading " Through the Window ", Barnes to amaze me with another demonstration of erudition, in his latest book, " The Man in the Red Coat ". Besides, for a better understanding, I read it in French, I already perceive Barnes more as a Frenchman. Here, J.B. offers us another way of looking at the past and the periods that he considers emblematic in the history of culture and civilization.
Giving up the privilege of the survivor, or the nostalgia of the dissatisfied present, he acquires the necessary detachment for to understand the specifics of an era, beyond the rumors of time, the evils or praises of contemporaries, prejudices and customs.
Thus, we discover La Belle Époque, and its Proust, Anna de Noailles, or Verlaine, Count de Montesquieu, and last, but not least, we meet the surgeon and pioneer in gynecology Samuel Pozzi, a bright figure in a decadent period and extravagant of France, in which values were suppressed by the thirst for pleasure, and superficiality dominated the lives of public figures, Pozzi also becoming the subject of the most famous portrait of John Singer Sargent. From this portrait Barnes starts, and writes a jewel of the book that should be included in the essential readings about La Belle Époque.

" My first meeting with Dr.Pozzi was in the form of Sargent's impressive image. The label on the wall told me he was a gynecologist. I had never met him in my French readings about the 19th century. Then, I saw in an art magazine that he was not only the pioneer of French gynecology, but also a confirmed sex addict who routinely tried to seduce his patients. I was puzzled by this apparent paradox : the doctor who helps women, but also exploits them " . Pure Barnes....

Barnes does not hesitate to highlight the less fascinating parts of 19th century Paris, such as the transformation of artistic patronage into a kind of internal colonialism, ( poor artists were in reality just musical toys for the aristocrats who protected them ) , extreme nationalism ( rejection of other peoples' innovations, and even their gratuitous mockery ), or duels caused by various personal irascibilities, and not by an acute sense of honor.
Moreover, that love sublimely evoked by the poets, painters or musicians of the time, was not even mentioned in the French Civil Code from the first years of the 20th century, where a marriage had to fulfill only three conditions : fidelity, mutual help, and support. Later, the notion of respect appeared, but this appeared as an exceptional concession...People united their lives for social position, money, family perpetuation, love being an unacceptable fad.

The Man in the Red Coat - is a fascinating testimony to an era where the cultural life of France is contrasted with the assumed and promoted insularity of Great Britain, and the book abounds in comments and funny but interesting passages, about the differences in attitudes and morals between the French and English people, but especially things behind the scenes of literature.

" In Portrait of Dorian Grey ", Wilde gives a lyrical summary to " À Rebours ", which Carson reads aloud to the jury . Carson asks if " À Rebours " - is an immoral book.
- It's not very well written, Wilde replies, but I wouldn't consider it an immoral book.
- A well-written book that promotes sodomy views, could it be a good book ?
Wilde : - No work of art promotes views, of one kind or another ".

Fragments like these, and many others, make Barnes' book a veritable encyclopedia.

[Lisa (NY)]

I have picked this book up almost every day since I got it from the library over a week ago. I've made it to page 11. I seem to be unable to read this prose. I have 10 days before my book club meets to discuss but don't think I'm going to make it. My goal is to get to at least page 50...

[Eylül Görmüş · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vallahi Barnes'a hayran olmamak mümkün değil. Pek çok şeyine hayranlık duyuyorum ama burada beni en çok büyüleyen şey çalışkanlığı oldu. 2019 tarihli bu kitap yayımlandığında kendisi 73 yaşındaydı; 73 yaşında bir yazar nasıl bu kadar zengin, bu kadar yoğun arşiv araştırması ve kaynak taraması gerektiren, bu kadar kapsamlı bir kitap yazar, hakikaten inanılmaz. Önünde saygıyla eğiliyorum sevgili Barnes.

Şöyle bir şey demek istiyorum: bu kitabı Kayıp Zamanın İzinde'den hemen önce ya da hemen sonra okumalı, enfes bir Belle Epoque panoraması zira. Temel odağı dönemin ünlü cerrahı jinekolog Samuel Pozzi'nin yaşam öyküsü olsa da, kendisinin çevresindeki pek çok insanın da hayatına dalıyoruz. En başta, Proust'un meşhur Baron de Charlus karakterine ilham veren Kont Robert de Montesquiou ve Prens Edmond de Polignac olmak üzere Oscar Wilde'dan Sarah Bernhardt'a dönemin pek çok büyük şahsiyeti de kitapta uzun uzun anlatılıyor.

Kurmaca olmayan ama kurmaca lezzeti veren bir kitap Kırmızı Giysili Adam. Yer yer aşırı bilgi yüklemesi nedeniyle insanın odaklanması güçleşse de, Barnes gerçek bir hayatı lezzetli bir sohbet tadında sunuyor okura ki bayıldım. Bu ünlü şahısların o dönem yapılmış portrelerini ve çekilmiş fotoğraflarını da işin içine katıyor, onların zihnimizde vücut bulmasını sağlıyor. Barnes tabii ki Barnes, ara ara kendini tutamayıp dönemin sevip saymadığı karakterlerine lafını da sokmadan edemiyor.

Mesela bu kitaptan şöyle bir hikaye öğrendim: Oscar Wilde, eşcinselliği nedeniye hüküm giyip Reading Zindanı'nda yatıp tahliye olduktan sonra intiharı düşünmeye başlamış ve bunun için Seine Nehri'nin kenarına gidip duruyormuş. Bir gün orada Pont Neuf'de gözünü suya dikip bakan bir adam görmüş ve onun da kendisi gibi umutsuz olduğunu düşünerek "Siz de bir intihar adayı mısınız?" diye sormuş, adam da "Hayır, ben kuaförüm!" demiş; adamın yanıtındaki bu mantıksal ilişkisizlik Wilde'ı hayatın hala yaşanılacak kadar komik olduğuna inandırıp intihardan vazgeçirmiş. ❤️

Çok enteresan ve lezzetli bir kitap bence bu; biyografi yazmanın aykırı bir biçimi. (Nitekim yazar zaman zaman biyografi yazmaya dair de kafa yoruyor kitapta.) Okuduğum için acayip mesudum.

[Margarita Garova · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Нищо не остарява по-бързо от прекомерното”.

Всяка епоха си има личности-емблеми, хора, които обобщават нейния дух. “Изгубеното поколение” се оглежда в пресилено драматичния поглед на Кики от Монпарнас. Англия от края на 19 век е в плен на декадентския чар на Оскар Уайлд. Франция от този период също предлага безброй кандидати, манифестиращи онзи “l’esprit de l’époque”. От всички очевидни имена обаче, Джулиян Барнс е избрал непозната за нашето съвремие личност, но истинска тогавашна знаменитост – безупречен хирург, интернационалист, атеист, драйфусист, обаятелна светска личност, почитател на изкуството и културата – знаменитият доктор Самюел Поци.

Доктор Поци улавя късния блясък на Бел епок с най-добрите й черти – изисканост, който не преминава в снобизъм, и естетизъм, който не се изражда в болнава префиненост. На всичкото отгоре презира шовинизма в едно общество, агресивно настроено след унизителната загуба от Прусия през 1871. За Поци добрите лекарски практики и красивите вещи нямат националност. Той стои настрана и от налудничавата мода на дуелите, антисемитската истерия, националистическата врява, клеветническата преса и маниерния дендизъм.

Накратко, не прекалява във времена, в които прекаленото е начин на живот, обществена норма и мода.

Разбира се, да си лекар на парижкия елит означава да взаимодействаш социално (и понякога интимно) с всеки, който е “някой”. Всички познават добрия доктор и той познава всички. Нещо повече – той успява да бъде навсякъде. В това няма нищо свръхестествено – в онези времена мащабите, дори за елита, са били по-тесни, адресите на светските салони – не твърде многобройни, а достъпът до тях на горната средна класа все още е ограничен. Изключение се прави за един особено кадърен хирург, защото както се казва – не се знае кога ще ти потрябва добър лекар.

Затова и книгата е пълна с всякакви рожби на Бел епок – поети, писатели, журналисти, художници, аристократи, политици, актриси – всички те ни гледат сериозно от малки правоъгълни портрети по страниците. Читателят със сигурност ще се изненада, когато разбере откъде са се взели техните снимки, но ще запазя поне това в тайна за тези, които се канят да прочетат книгата.

Сякаш заради това многобройно шествие от личности книгата няма “котва” и единен център, а по-скоро прилича на литературен репортаж на епохата и дори на дълга статия от любимото ми списание “Л’еуропео”. Въпреки че е документална, в “Мъжът с червеното палто” има литература – гласът на Барнс е в деликатните ремарки и в изкушенията, от които се отказва като автор – често повтаряното “не знаем защо е така”, запазено предимно за научнопопулярните книги, тук е уважителният начин на Барнс да ни представи фактите, без да спекулира с евтина сензационност, като ги интерпретира в ущърб на истината.

Като тънка червена линия минава мотивът за френско-британските отношения, тези “frenemies”, съперници на полето на добрия вкус, съюзници в предстоящата война, която ще унищожи самоцелния разкош на тази откачена епоха.

[Joy Becker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, even after realizing it was not a novel, but it just fell flat for me.

First, the positives. This is a gorgeous book. With its glossy, thick pages, and beautiful artwork, it fits easily among coffee table photo collections. Barnes' beautiful writing style is evident in the opening section.

Now, the negatives. The story line (is there one?) was all over the place. What exactly is this book about? We're led to believe it is about the Belle Epoque, from the viewpoint of three people, a count, a prince, and Dr Samuel Pozzi (the man in the red coat). There is a definite assumption that those reading this will already have a good grasp on the history of the period and the many players who enter the story. There are no chapters and the narrative jumps from one person to the next. Barnes spends so much time on Oscar Wilde and Sarah Bernhardt that I feel they should've been added to (or replace) the initial three we were meant to be following. I came away feeling that Dr Pozzi was a very interesting person and his portrait by John Singer Sargent is stunning, but the book was mostly about the sex lives and preferences of a small subset of the rich and famous in late 19th century Paris.

[Boo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
I love reading about Pozzi, but I found this book to be too much about others and not enough about him. It also came across very choppy. But an interesting read especially in conjunction with (the more enjoyable in my opinion) Strapless which focuses more on Sargent.

[Brodolomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

„Čovek u crvenom kaputu” je kupusara, a sa kupusarama je problem što ne znaš odakle da ih načneš. Ako se izuzme odlomak iz „Floberovog papagaja” na koji me je svojevremeno uputio profesor metodike, nisam pre čitao Barnsa. Verovatno ga ne bih ni čitao da nije napisao knjigu o Samuelu Poziju, najslavnijem ginekologu bel epok Pariza; danas uglavnom poznat kao lik na upečatljivom portretu „Doktor Pozi u svom domu ” Džona Singera Sardženta, gde se kočoperi u kardinalsko crvenom kućnom ogrtaču, i kao jedan od prototipova za doktora Kotara u Prustovom „Traganju” (iako je čitava priča o stvarnosnim uzorima za Prustove likove poprilično tupava iz više razloga, sama ideja je zavodljiva, verovatno kao i sve drugo što se zasniva na čistoj proizvoljnosti).

Sasvim lepo je počelo. Barns rekonstruiše Pozijevo putovanje u London, gde u društvu Robera Monteskjua i Edmona de Polinjaka posećuje Henrija Džejmsa, Rosetija, antikvarnice, ulicu Bond kako bi kupio tvid i štof za odelo i, naravno, prodavnicu Liberti kako bi kupio platno da mu se sašije zavesa (sva dražest o kojoj želim da čitam). Ali, uh, vrlo brzo se ispostavlja da ovo nije romansirana biografija Samuela Pozija, kako se prodaje, već je... hmmmm ne znam ni sam kako bih odredio... nasumično nizanje anegdota i podataka o bel epoku začinjeno postbregzit depresijom? U praksi to izgleda ovako: dve stranice o Poziju, stranica o nimfomaniji Sare Bernar, Vajld vređa Prustove roditelje, Mopasan kritikuje dvoboje, Malarme tračari Uismansu kakav je Monteskju čudak, Uismans na osnovu tih tračeva piše „Nasuprot”, Leon Dode ogovara u dnevniku, braća Gonkur ogovaraju u dnevniku, Žan Loran se proglašava ambasadorom Sodome, pa onda opet stranica o Poziju, pa zatim ponovno nizanje skandala. Sve je ispričano senzacionalističkim, tabloidnim tonom te barem dve trećine teksta nalikuje na one knjige a la skandalozni život bogatih i slavnih. Nemam ništa protiv takvog štiva, naposletku njegova funkcija jeste da zabavi, ali nisam očekivao da će ovo biti toalet štivo.

Kada se raskrči sav senzacionalistički folklor bel epoka, priča o Samuelu Poziju je veoma interesantna. Bio je esteta i celebrity bel epoka, ali je bio i veliki hirurg, čovek koji je uspostavio ginekologiju kao posebnu disciplinu medicine u Francuskoj, racionalista, antidrajfuzovac, prevodilac Darvina, humanista, lep i ljubopitljiv, sa širokom mrežom poznanika i prijatelja, što čitavu njegovu nesposobnost da se poveže i razume sa svojom ženom i decom čini još tužnijom.

Očekivao sam biografiju zanimljivog i značajnog čoveka, a ne da čitam kupusaru tračeva o njegovim prijateljima, ali se Barns i ja baš nismo ovde poklopili sa željama.

A i Paunović se opustio.

[Richard Newton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts wonderfully, and for a short while I thought it was going to be fantastic, but then it descends to being a random mess of a book. Having finished it, I could not really tell you what it was about, apart perhaps from being a long series of anecdotes about the rich, famous, artistic and fashionable of the Belle Epoque in France, with a few walk on parts from others such as Oscar Wilde.

It begins seeming to be inspired by a painting, the eponymous Man in the Read Coat, Dr Pozzi. Pozzi was quite a character, but there is not enough known about him to fill up a book, so a series of stories, seemingly in random succession about other people he knew or where important in the same era, parade through the book.

The book is not completely without virtues. It is well written, as you might expect from a writer of the calibre of Barnes. It is an easy read. It contains some amusing and interesting anecdotes or vignettes. But it jumps around all over the place and much of it is dull about people who were once famous but most of us have never heard of, and who are hard to keep track of as the book progresses. There are few profound insights as you might expect in a biography. I feel if any lesser known writer had put this forward to a publisher, it would not have been published.

[Rebecca]

I completely misjudged this one: I thought it would be historical fiction, but it's actually narrative nonfiction about an obscure historical figure. I found it dull and impenetrable and gave up after just nine pages.

[MihaElla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say this is a book that throws curious and romantic glimpses of the Belle Epoque into a collection of fragmented biographies of a bunch of names of people I have not made acquaintance before, and most probably I would not care to make further acquaintance, yet fortunately there was also a delightful recollection of other known names of writers, artists, poets, painters that I have read or heard of before in my life.

Of course it is hard to write a biography. In fact, any biography is bound to be superficial, so maybe it’s not worth reading at all. I have in mind that in general a biography cannot penetrate to the depths of those psychological layers of a person, and basically, I would like to read more on that rather than to read about simple facts of life 😉

Some names of the people that are mentioned within this book have become some flames in their time, and probably some of them really managed to achieve their potential, life and work wise I mean. But then, even this information becomes negligible after a while...

I didn’t feel thrilled, like I wanted to, but it was an enjoyable read. What I liked the most is that some characters get a bit of development, whilst also some simple stories are narrated into the thread so that to link better those fragmented biographies.

[Asclepiade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un gran numero d’italiani avvertiranno aria di casa scorrendo queste pagine, dove ricorrono parecchi nomi che s’adunano anche in una pietra miliare della nostra saggistica, La carne, la morte e il diavolo nella letteratura romantica di Mario Praz; e Julian Barnes col Praz condivide anche la scarsa o punta stima per Oscar Wilde, soprattutto quello del Dorian Gray: ma le consonanze finiscono qui. Mentre quello del sommo anglista italiano è un saggio storico coi controfiocchi, quello di Barnes è… ecco, qui bisogna sgomberare il campo da un po’ d’equivoci. Ho l’impressione che qualche lettore sia rimasto deluso da quest’opera credendola una biografia romanzata e accorgendosi viceversa che non è romanzata, e qualcun altro credendola un saggio per poi accorgersi che un saggio serio non è; una biografia seria di Samuel Pozzi, l’uomo con la vestaglia del titolo, è stata d’altronde già scritta, e Barnes, come rammenta più volte, ne attinge in abbondanza. Il libro in realtà è un pezzo di prosa postmoderna ove s’intrecciano, si fondono e si confondono rievocazioni di varî personaggi della Belle Epoque, curiosità storiche, pareri dell’autore su questioni estetiche, letterarie, morali e politiche; ogni volta in cui Barnes comincia col parlare di qualcosa o di qualcuno si è certi che in capo a qualche riga divagherà per finire alla deriva, non si sa dove: salvo poi, ma non sempre, ripigliare in mano le fila del discorso chissà quante pagine più avanti: a volte pare che si sia divertito a fare un lavoro di taglio e centonatura d’un racconto steso prima in fogge più lineari. Il tutto è un po’ divertente, un po’ curioso, un po’ giocoso, un po’ coinvolgente, ma non è nulla di tutto ciò sino in fondo: c’è sempre di mezzo quel maledetto distacco albionico che, per quanto Barnes sia francofilo, non viene mai meno del tutto, e impedisce un pieno abbandono all’assaporamento di quelle vite, di quel mondo, di quella Stimmung. A un altro autore ho invece pensato vedendo l’abbondanza d’illustrazioni che formano parte integrande col testo: Sebald; ma dell’avventuroso e tragico Sebald il Nostro è a tutti gli effetti non un omologo, bensì un contraltare. Piuttosto, Barnes ha qualche affinità maggiore con Edmund de Waal: e siccome il mondo è piccolo qui appare menzionata anche una Madame Ephrussi, che appartiene ovviamente alla famiglia protagonista di Un’eredità d’avorio e d’ambra. Le illustrazioni costituiscono ad ogni modo uno dei maggiori pregi del libro: in ispecie le figurine della collezione Felix Potin, con fotografie d’illustri personaggi del tempo, che questa marca di cioccolato per alcuni lustri regalò allegate alle confezioni del suo prodotto, un po’ come sarebbe più tardi avvenuto da noi con le figurine della Perugina e della Miralanza, senz’altro meno interessanti di queste. All’inizio del testo pare che l’interesse si debba dividere fra tre personaggi, da principio amici tra loro: il principe di Polignac, il conte di Montesquiou e il dottor Pozzi, ritratto da John Singer Sargent con una splendida vestaglia rossa – ma era un uomo bellissimo anch’egli – che fu tra i maggiori chirurghi e ginecologi dell’epoca; il povero Polignac, al quale Barnes riserva un’attenzione assai modesta, esce però dalla scena ben presto, e l’attenzione si sposta prevalentemente sugli altri due; vi sono tuttavia molte altre presenze ricorrenti, come Jean Lorrain, Léon Daudet, Oscar Wilde appunto, Sarah Bernhardt, Edmond de Goncourt, più tutte le comparse, che sono legione. Se il lettore sente un forte aroma proustiano in tutto ciò, non si sbaglia: gran parte della gente menzionata qui fu amica o conoscente di Proust (d’altra parte, anche suo padre e suo fratello, medici, lavorarono con Pozzi), che se ne servì per giunta come modelli per tanti personaggi della Recherche, non sempre con esito fausto: ad esempio Montesquiou per un certo periodo ruppe con l’amico scrittore vedendosi ritratto in Charlus. Se però la struttura spezzata e divagante a tratti offre piacevolezza e a tratti viene a noia, quel che ho trovato sempre vagamente irritante sono i dubbi psicologici sui personaggi che vengono ripetutamente affrontati, a dir il vero non sempre con molto costrutto: ma forse ciò dipende dal fatto che i miei interessi e le mie curiosità differiscono da quelli di Barnes. Quanto alla traduzione, temo di dovermi rassegnare alla moda un po’ grulla di non mettere più l’articolo determinativo davanti ai cognomi femminili: per un lettore di mezza età come il sottoscritto, e quindi un po’ tardigrado di riflessi, riesce alquanto faticoso a volte capire al volo se ad esempio “Polignac” è un principe o una principessa. Davanti poi ad altre scelte, come quella di definire “leccaculo” il povero Proust per una sviolinata a favore del suo amico Montesquiou, o “moroso” il fidanzato di non so chi, come in una canzone del Duo di Piadena, sono incline a pensare che si tratti di scelte stilistiche per ricalcare qualche specialità lessicale britannica; sennonché quod licet Iovi non licet bovi; e insomma certa roba magari suona bene di là dalla Manica, ma suona molto meno bene sulla sponda di qua.

[Tasos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Όπως το "Ο Παπαγάλος του Φλωμπέρ" ήταν κάτι περισσότερο από μια απλή βιογραφία του συγγραφέα της Μαντάμ Μποβαρύ, έτσι και το "Άνδρας με Κόκκινο Μανδύα" είναι κάτι (πολύ) περισσότερο από την ιστορία που κρύβεται πίσω από τον πίνακα που ενέπνευσε τον Μπαρνς γι' αυτό το βιβλίο, το πορτρέτο του γιατρού Πότσι «Ο δρ. Πότσι στην κατοικία του», φιλοτεχνημένο το 1881 από τον Αμερικανό ζωγράφο Τζον Σίνγκερ Σάρτζεντ.
Ο Μπαρνς αναπλάθει την ατμόσφαιρα της Μπελ Επόκ με εντυπωσιακή λεπτομέρεια και ακρίβεια και μετά από εμβριθή μελέτη κυριολεκτικά ανεξάντλητων πηγών, απομνημονευμάτων, βιογραφιών, άρθρων και ανέκδοτων στιγμιοτύπων, ενώ μια σειρά από εμβληματικές και μη προσωπικότητες που στιγμάτισαν λιγότερο ή περισσότερο εκείνη την εποχή παρελαύνουν μπροστά από τα μάτια του αναγνώστη, σε μια πληθωρική αφήγηση που αψηφά τα είδη.
Μέσα από έναν διακειμενικό διάλογο με τα δύο πιο χαρακτηριστικά έργα της εποχής, το "Αναζητώντας τον Χαμένο Χρόνο" του Προυστ και το "Ανάστροφα" του Ουισμάνς, αλλά και με τις μορφές του Όσκαρ Γουάιλντ, της Σάρα Μπερνάρ και (αλίμονο) του Φλωμπέρ να ρίχνουν τη βαριά σκιά τους, ο Άγγλος συγγραφέας συνθέτει την αντιφατική και συνάμα τόσο γοητευτική εικόνα μιας περιόδου παρακμής της αριστοκρατίας και διαμάχης ανάμεσα στην πρόοδο και τον συντηρητισμό που έληξε με τον Α' Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο.
Ο γυναικολόγος και γερουσιαστής Σαμιέλ Ζαν Πότσι ξεπηδά από τις σελίδες όχι μόνο ως ένα χαρακτηριστικό δημιούργημα της Μπελ Επόκ, αλλά και ως ταγός της, ένας ηδονοθήρας, ο οποίος έζησε μια ζωή που περίμενε έναν αιώνα για να γίνει το βιβλίο που της άξιζε.

[Sve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Неочаквано, но майсторско превъплъщение на един от любимите ми автори - като светски хроникьор на Бел Епок. "Мъжът с червеното палто" е нещо средно между биография, разказ по картинка и ретро- клюкарска хроника, която разказва за живота и нравите в края на 19 и началото на 20ти век.
Барнс очевидно е запленен от личността на главния си герой - д-р Поци - напредничав хирург, ценител на изкуството, обожаван светски мъж и непоправим развратник, който по някакъв начин въплъщава духа на времето си.
Беше ми трудно да проследя всички нишки и паралелни истории, които авторът вплита в разказа за живота на Поци, но това не попречи да се насладя на изкусната проза на Барнс.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The portrait on the cover of the book is terrific. I understand that there are a lot of pictures in the book, but since I had the audiobook I missed those. What was left with was an extensively researched, gossipy collection of anecdotes and disjointed facts. I hadn’t realized that Belle Époque Paris was all about sex. And the gynecological explorations of Dr. Samuel Pozzi were too much for me. Not what I expected.

[Tittirossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una serie di coincidenze mi ci hanno condotto, Pozzi viene citato da Dumas fils (è l’ostetrico di suo moglie), da Celeste Albaret (è amico del fratello di Marcel).
Non so quanto comprensibile a chi digiuno di storia francese, e la traduzione mi è parsa un po’ troppo invasiva, a partire da quel coat tradotto con vestaglia. Che in italiano corrente ha tutto un significato domestico femmineo (diverso da veste da camera) che non mi sembra sia possibile attribuire a quel coat.
Barnes prende le mosse da quel che sappiamo-non-sappiamo di Pozzi per tratteggiare un excursus sulla Belle Epoque ma in realtà per divagare sull’essenza dell’amore e dei rapporti sentimentali, sull’estetismo (i grandi dandy da Wilde a Montesquiou) e sull’arte. Libro densissimo, un pastiche che unisce alcune delle mie fisse: conoscere cose (pittura, medicina), biografie dei personaggi, riflessioni letterarie.
Le foto a corredo del libro ovviamente hanno generato un approfondimento (e vai con Nadar!)