Word: passional
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Kosinski idles away his non-writing time indulging in the extravagance of the ultra-rich; the result is Passion Play. Kosinski writes of possessed and spirited men jousting with civilized culture--Don Quixotes turned competent. Introduced as the world's pre-eminent polo player, Fabian, Passion Play's knight errant, is first found scrounging around New York City for a practice field. His dominant talent and penchant for revenge have driven him from the plush meadows of polo estates. Playing one on one matches with wealthy opponents, writing books about the dangers of horse-back riding, living on a retainer...
...Passion Play chronicles the spectacular incidents frantically about chronological time: the swing of a polo mallet revives the memory--the images, glints and scents--of the same action many years before...
...unceasing herky-jerk action of Passion Play hints at Kosinski's attempt to harness to the novel the devices of another medium--television. This is the foremost example of the easy-to-follow, one-character plot ridden with sex and violence. The novel as a popular art form may soon smother in the voluminous fluff of television and cinema. Kosinski senses this and innovatively adopts many of the devices, the timing and pace, of TV and cinema--hence the accessibility of his novels. What's remarkable is that he manages this without in any way compromising his literary integrity...
...Passion Play, however, can not claim an untarnished victory. Love never surfaces in this, or for that matter, any other Kosinski novel. Instead he confronts us with heroes like Fabian--men who want only to possess females; searing orgasm and the fulfillment of sexual fantasy develop as the closest bonds between humans...
...Passion Play is Kosinski's seventh novel and we see more method to the madness of human grotesquerie that has always decorated his pages. Kosinski writes about the dark shadow self--our violent urges, homosexual lusts, transexual curiosities, murderous inclinations, heterosexual explorations, and, inevitably, our intense fear of surrendering control of the flesh and bones that give us life. None of these themes is new to Kosinski; what's new is the lucidity and restraint with which they're developed. Passion Play is his best novel...