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World Without End
Edmund, Claire, and Sophie, friends--and sometimes lovers--for thirty years, travel to the Soviet Union, hoping to plan for the last third of their lives and to resolve the struggles and confusions of the previous three decades
314 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1981
33 people want to read
About the author
Francine du Plessix Gray
32 books55 followersFrancine du Plessix Gray, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and literary critic, was born in Warsaw, Poland, where her father, Vicomte Bertrand Jochaud du Plessix, was a French diplomat - the commercial attaché. She spent her early years in Paris, where a milieu of mixed cultures and a multilingual family (French father and Russian émigré mother) influenced her.
Widowed when her father died in battle, in 1940 du Plessix Gray's mother escaped France to New York with Francine. In 1942, her mother married Alexander Liberman, another White émigré from Russia, whom she had known in Paris as a child. He was a noted artist and later longtime editorial director of Vogue Magazine and then of Condé Nast Publications. The Libermans were socially prominent in media, art, and fashion circles.
Francine du Plessix Gray then grew up in New York City, and was naturalized a U.S. citizen in 1952. She was a scholarship student at Spence School. She attended Bryn Mawr College for two years, and in 1952 received her B.A. in philosophy from Barnard College, NY.
In 1957 she married painter Cleve Gray (1918-2004) with whom she had two sons.
Du Plessix Gray had a long and varied career, in the 1950s as reporter for several French magazines; book editor for Art in America New York City; staff writer for The New Yorker; several professorships, including at Columbia University.
Her most well-known book is Them: A Memory of Parents (2005). Her novels included Lovers and Tyrants (1976).
Widowed when her father died in battle, in 1940 du Plessix Gray's mother escaped France to New York with Francine. In 1942, her mother married Alexander Liberman, another White émigré from Russia, whom she had known in Paris as a child. He was a noted artist and later longtime editorial director of Vogue Magazine and then of Condé Nast Publications. The Libermans were socially prominent in media, art, and fashion circles.
Francine du Plessix Gray then grew up in New York City, and was naturalized a U.S. citizen in 1952. She was a scholarship student at Spence School. She attended Bryn Mawr College for two years, and in 1952 received her B.A. in philosophy from Barnard College, NY.
In 1957 she married painter Cleve Gray (1918-2004) with whom she had two sons.
Du Plessix Gray had a long and varied career, in the 1950s as reporter for several French magazines; book editor for Art in America New York City; staff writer for The New Yorker; several professorships, including at Columbia University.
Her most well-known book is Them: A Memory of Parents (2005). Her novels included Lovers and Tyrants (1976).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 22, 2020
World Without End is a novel about three friends, Sophie, Edmund and Claire who have been friends and lovers since they knew each other in their teens. I got the book in a care package from one of my friends from college. They go on a trip together to the USSR in the 1970s. Edmund is an artist, then an art historian, Claire is an activist and Sophie is involved in show business. The book definitely spans a decade. It starts in the ‘40s and finishes in the ‘80s. Through it all, we have the different relationships between Sophie, Edmund and Claire. Edmund and Sophie get together and Claire and Edmund have an on again/off again sort of thing. There are other relationships as well. There is also a lot of art stuff. He references Titian a lot and I think one of the paintings, the sacred/profane is supposed to represent his relationships with Claire and Sophie. I can’t remember which Titian painting and I don’t feel like looking it up.
Gray or du Plessix Gray I had never heard of before. She was married to a painter, so I imagine she knows about artists. This book is interesting and she does a good job of characterization and taking these characters through the decades. We see how they evolve and change through the years. They also have a lot of sex. Which was kinda startling at times. Which makes me sound really old. Interestingly, she doesn’t deal with homosexuality as much as I would have thought she would’ve. Edmund sleeps with a few men, but gets comparatively few details about it. I imagine it’s being published in 1981 has something to do with that. The details about his sex with Sophie and Claire are more involved. Some of it veers into romance novel territory. And in fact, I call this book arty Danielle Steel. (Who I’m going to read next as I have a copy of one of her books as I need a ‘break.’) She also takes us through various events of the decades and the transition from art to writing about art. Some of it’s quite ponderous and thinky. I can’t say that I really cared who Edmund was going to end up with. I liked Sophie a lot and hoped that she was going to end up somewhere interesting. She kinda does/ she kinda does not. du Plessix Gray also explores their family backgrounds and how their family relates. I enjoyed it mostly enough. Is that enough for you to read it? Not sure. Your call. And also, after two books about art, I need a break.
Gray or du Plessix Gray I had never heard of before. She was married to a painter, so I imagine she knows about artists. This book is interesting and she does a good job of characterization and taking these characters through the decades. We see how they evolve and change through the years. They also have a lot of sex. Which was kinda startling at times. Which makes me sound really old. Interestingly, she doesn’t deal with homosexuality as much as I would have thought she would’ve. Edmund sleeps with a few men, but gets comparatively few details about it. I imagine it’s being published in 1981 has something to do with that. The details about his sex with Sophie and Claire are more involved. Some of it veers into romance novel territory. And in fact, I call this book arty Danielle Steel. (Who I’m going to read next as I have a copy of one of her books as I need a ‘break.’) She also takes us through various events of the decades and the transition from art to writing about art. Some of it’s quite ponderous and thinky. I can’t say that I really cared who Edmund was going to end up with. I liked Sophie a lot and hoped that she was going to end up somewhere interesting. She kinda does/ she kinda does not. du Plessix Gray also explores their family backgrounds and how their family relates. I enjoyed it mostly enough. Is that enough for you to read it? Not sure. Your call. And also, after two books about art, I need a break.
March 25, 2019
Written in 1981 or 82, it has a style you don't find often anymore but is wonderfully nostalgic. A big novel. I enjoyed it for the most part but did skip the long ruminations on Titian (I need a picture if I'm going to read pages about a painting).
January 12, 2014
For the most part, pretty good. I didn't like how disjointed the memories seemed but I guess that's the point...Anyway, okay.
March 5, 2012
The novel begins and ends in Nantucket, but roams forty years of American culture from the 1940's to the 1980's through the lives of three friends whose paths diverge and converge. Its power lies in the strong evocation of the eras, from post-war exuberance to anti-war demonstrations to Cold War Russia and the natural way that her characters serve to intersect with their times.
Edmund, son of a Russian emigre, is an artist whose early works are beautiful but already out of fashion against abstract expressionism. He abandons his brush for art history, ending up in Berkeley. I spent the summer of 1968 in Berkeley and I recognized the mood that Gray conjured and critiqued. Claire, a child of wealth, dedicates herself to human rights causes. Sophie, the daughter of an impresario, becomes a renowned TV journalist.
A pleasure to find on my bookshelves, purchased from a remainder table thirty or so years ago.
Edmund, son of a Russian emigre, is an artist whose early works are beautiful but already out of fashion against abstract expressionism. He abandons his brush for art history, ending up in Berkeley. I spent the summer of 1968 in Berkeley and I recognized the mood that Gray conjured and critiqued. Claire, a child of wealth, dedicates herself to human rights causes. Sophie, the daughter of an impresario, becomes a renowned TV journalist.
A pleasure to find on my bookshelves, purchased from a remainder table thirty or so years ago.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews