Word: idyllic
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...Williams' attempt at a kind of outer and inner story-in his ferocious portrayal of a whole community's lynch-law intolerances that encircles his sordid, tense, sometimes maudlin idyl-there is more awry than a certain sprawl and shifting of tone. There is a real lack of causation and of vital connection; the destructive social forces never bear down honestly or even credibly on the personal tale. But here it is the social critic who helps lead the craftsman astray-the Williams who is obsessed with violence, corruption and sex, who sees life through a cracked glass...
...Idyl's End. There are quiet nights as the hunters sit silently with their rifles awaiting the antlered deer at a salt lick; they go spear fishing in the forest rivers, wake to brilliant mornings when billions of dewdrops shimmer like miniature suns, and huddle in the winter snugness of their clay-walled home with its roaring Russian stove. The climax of the year is the tiger hunt, when dogs and men go out to track down young cats and wrestle them into submission. And through this rhythmic cycle of the seasons, love springs up between Hryhory and Natalka...
...When the idyl is broken by the arrival of the NKVD major, Hryhory shoots the man dead and escapes to Manchuria and freedom with Natalka. The mythic and dreamlike quality of the book suggests that Author Bahriany may be more interested in symbolism than adventure. But his fine telling of man's struggle against nature seems more compelling than his deeply felt account of a freedom fighter's war with totalitarianism...
Last week, as their story exploded in the press, newsmen tracked down the couple on holiday at a hotel in Montreux, Switzerland, and the idyl throbbed in the headlines. Sobbing and distraught, Kathleen returned to London in the company of her lawyer. "He has the face of a saint and is the only man I'll ever love," she said of Philip. "We are ready to forgive and forget. We still love you dearly," said Eileen Ross in a message to her husband. Thus doubly beloved, the Rev. Mr. Ross-Davies prudently lingered in Europe, while in England...
...outwardly dashing and handsome Eugene is a perverse, embittered prodigal who soon pollutes the lakeside idyl. Affronted to find that Natalia has stepped unscarred from the ruins of their childhood, Eugene exacts subtle penance from his sister. Capriciously, he urges her to become the mistress of a Roman grandee. Then, he virtually thrusts Natalia into the arms of malevolent Count Kovanski. In a savage bedroom scene, Kovanski and Natalia both recognize Eugene as a pitiful parasite. Later that night the prodigal brother himself stumbles into Natalia's arms for a final, incestuous reckoning...