About this title: The classic novel about the villainous Svengali, who casts a hypnotic spell over the heroine. A fascinating look at the dark obsessions of fin de siecle Europe.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780460874472ISBN:0460874470
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover has wear, particularly around edges. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9781853262333ISBN:1853262331
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Binding and front cover flexible a good amount, not too much, spine not creased. A little edge wear. Clean pages age-toned some. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 1995-07-01
ISBN-13:9780140434033ISBN:0140434038
Description: Good. 1995. Penguin. Paperback. No prior owner marks. Light edge wear and scuffing. Tanning pages. Ship same or next day. More fiction books in our store. Matching ISBN. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9781853262333ISBN:1853262331
Description: Good. As issued No Jacket. Spine lean, corner bumps, soiling to the rear cover, and other light to moderate shopwear. The text is clean. Classic story that brought the world the character of Svengali. read more
Edition: Reissue
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: J. M. Dent & Sons (Canada), Limited, Bowmanville, ON, Canada
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780460874472ISBN:0460874470
Description: Acceptable. No Dust Jacket as Issued. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Good reading copy****Book shows moderate wear/ spine tight, pages clean/ covers creased; several small tears and scuffed spots; moderate edge wear/ corners creased/ several page tips creased. read more
Description: Very Good. 0460874470 some wear to covers and edges, some scuffing and light chips spots books may have some minor wearhouse damage. Stickers may be on spine or covers. read more
Edition: Re-prints / First Edition
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Popular Library
Date Published: 1963
Description: Good. Nicks at both ends of spine, one end taped. small hole in front cover minor edge wear, date stamp insid. e lightly yellowed. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Collins
Date Published: 1953
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Solid book with clean pages, Book & DJ shows shelf, edge & corner wear, DJ has tears at top edges, spine has big tear that is taped. 320p., 19 cm. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780192833518ISBN:0192833510
Description: Very Good. 0192833510 Copy has been read but remains in nice & clean condition. Pages are intact. Some sentences have been underlined. Spine is tight; a clean read. Shelf wear to the cover. read more
"Did you ever wonder where Svengali came from? Read this book. Actually it's a very nice story and quite well written. However, it has prompted me to add a new category to my "Recommendations" page which I call Books That Hurt. The Oxford edition of this text includes a ton of footnotes in the back of the book which break your reading stride and too often lead you to a useless explanation of something you already knew anyway. Now, a lot of these footnotes are translations of the French that the author scatters about each and every page and, even if your French is decent, the French in this book is often the French of the streets or written out as it would be spoken in dialect (not textbook French) or written out as if spoken by a foreigner who would butcher the pronunciation, mix-up the consonant sounds and sometimes even slip in German words to really confuse the issue. Ok, this was a simple little tale and I struggled with it for over two weeks -- truly a book that hurts."
"An interesting read, but George follows the period by including way too much detail and a lot of pigeon French that might have impressed others at that point. What was far more interesting was the treatment of the 'Jew' of the sotry, Svengali, and how he fits every stereotype of that period."
"I had read Patricia Cornwalls' 'Portrait of a Killer' in which she takes exposits on who Jack the Ripper could have been. Her #1 suspect was an artist by the name of Walter Sickert. His favorite was book was said to be Trilby. I was intrigued to find out if I could identify anything that would have been of interest to a serial killer.
The book was written in the mid 1800's and is about the lives of 3 english artists living in Paris and their commaraderie. Enter Trilby, of a young british stock who happens to possess the most beautiful foot. She's very popular with certain artists. Perhaps 'foot' is code word for something else? Trilby casts a spell on the trio of men and they all become fast friends, until...the young british artist named 'Little Billie' finally gets Trilby to accept a marriage proposal (one of his buds has been trying to woo her as well). Billie's mom hears of this and breaks it up. She's successful where Lady Catherine de Burgh failed. Triby skips town promising never to see young Billie again. A couple years pass and Trilby becomes a singing sensation under the tutelage of a musician and teacher who had also frequented the british trio. It happens that the maestro has her under a spell. The spell is broken and Trilby dies. A round of sadness, please.
What could be of interest to a serial killer? Sickert drew pictures of appendage including foot - as any artist would sketch studies. Trilby is kind of a Helen of Troy meets Zooey Deschanel like charisma (but not necessarily looks). Everybody wants her, but she's a little quirky - "Milk below!". Perhaps there's a fixation to protect inncocent madonnas. When he find out they're ladies of the evening he goes ballistic on them. The SK's MO is once they get a taste the allure for killing heightens.
I found the only interest to an SK would be that the maestro hypnotizes (mesmermism) Trilby to fix her physical ailments and to make her believe she's a talented opera singer. When the connection is broken she dies. Can that happen in real life? The former, maybe, the latter, I highly doubt. The paranormal was big in the turn of the century. It would have had some impact on the JTR.
This scenario also was related to 'Devil in the White City' by Erik Larson.
Who was JTR? Probably a respectable married guy who got a lass pregnant and decided to avoid scandal by offing her."
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