The Blue Flower

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Summary: Way Too Thin
Review: For all its faults as a novel, The Blue Flower gets its prose right -- page after page of happy perfection. And I think Ms. Fitzgerald's rendering of the period German -- and the feel of that rare, long-dead cultural milieu -- into English, is absolutely perfect. That said...watch out! The novel is either a) too short; or b) short of adequate raw material. Ms. Fitzgerald's task was daunting -- how to make interesting this story of two star-crossed, half-formed provincial children in 18th century Germany. I didn't get a feel for Novalis's art (was there any really?) or his commitment to Sophie (notice he wasted no time after her demise in betrothing another!) or what they felt for each other (the little Sophie limned in this story would have preferred a cute warm hedgehog). Nor did I apprehend any calls to issues so often encountered in the humanities. Give dis one a pass.

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Summary: Convention and formality can be more than disturbing.
Review: The reader must follow this book through...to the very bitter end, where he will be disturbed not only by the closing, but even moreso by the wretchedness of the conventions and rigidness of the times. Ms. Fitzgerald takes us into 18th century Germany, from which we do not return untroubled.

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Summary: 1997 NBCCA
Review: We are please to announce that The Blue Flower has won the 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.

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Summary: A splendid portrait of the Romantic era
Review: This is a wonderful evocation of the Romantic era in all its intellectual fervor -- and its immense folly. The clue to the whole book, I think, is on page 2 (except that you have to read Chapter 8 about Fichte to understand its full meaning). If reality is what we THINK it is, it's perfectly reasonable for Fritz to declare that Sophie is his "soul's guide" -- even if, in reality, she's 12 years old and dumb as a box of rocks.
The author uses well-chosen and vivid details (the ingredients of soups, the lapel inkwells used by students) to bring the poet's world to life, and to point up the contrast between his aspirations and the stifling family and social obligations he must contend with. But this isn't an earnest historical study; it's touching, and surprisingly funny too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Summary: A magician with words
Review: I'm in the "raver" camp, I guess. The prose was ethereal, yes, but Fitzgerald can convey *volumes* in just a short paragraph! Definitely one of the finest writers I've ever read, and I will buy all of her other books (if I can find them!).

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Summary: A magnificent exploration into the philosophy of life & love
Review: "The Blue Flower" recently won the outer book critics circle award and it is well-deserved. Eventhough it may be considered a short novel the material presented is enormous. For such a complicated piece, Ms. Fitzgerald does not waste a single word, nor a single punctuation mark and her thoughts, as complicated as they are, are presented neatly without any extemporaneous circumstances - that, in itself, is masterful. The novel is based on the life of Fritz Von Hardenberg who later became the great poet and philosopher, Novalis. Under the guise of his father he is trained to be a businessman. Studying at the top universities, Fritz realizes his true passion for poetry and philosophy. He meets 12 year old Sophie Von Kuhn on a visit with a friend of his father who he is staying with to study administration for his business career. Upon meeting Sophie ("in a half-hours time" according to Fritz) she becomes his "true philosophy" and he falls in love. This relationship may seem peculiar, even wrong. But in the hands of Penelope Fitzgerald this relationship seems justified. Sophie represents what the great philosophers teach us thru their writings - she is the guiding spirtual force which leads us to question romance and the search for the meaning of life. Fritz even engraves Sophie's engagement ring with the inscription "Sophie be my guardian spirit." Like all great romances, tragedy results not only for their relationship but for them as well. The title "The Blue Flower" is a story Fritz is writing; he reads his opening chapter to various people. "What is the meaning?" he asks. People respond, but is there an answer? Is Sophie the blue flower? Philosophers extrapulate life and love in trying to find the meaning which governs our existence. Our lives are subject to questions and interpretaions which often need to revisited. No doubt, reading of "The Blue Flower" will have to be revisited to explore further the art of life and love. Isn't life about interpretation and soul-searching? Bravo, Ms. Fitzgerald!

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Summary: One-Dimensional
Review: There was so much hype about this book, and its reviews were so strong, that I bought it, and was fully prepared to enjoy it. However, I found it a huge disappointment. The author had a very interesting set of historical facts to work with, but she did nothing with them. The book is merely a retelling of her research. She does not provide any explanations of WHY. The back of the book expresses that Fritz's friends are puzzled as to why he is in love with a twelve-year-old dullard. I assumed that this question would be answered in the book. It wasn't. Sophie appears to have no redeeming qualities except for an incredulous laugh. This makes it very hard to understand why a much older German poet calls her his "heart's heart." The character of Fritz is never explored either. The other characters in the book are the same; Intriguing at face value, but purely one-dimensional. Speaking of unexplored themes, what the devil is the blue flower supposed to symbolize? I don't think I'm the only one out there that didn't understand that. It is entirely too vague.

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Summary: Thought provoking... and a great historical snapshot!
Review: We read this book for our book club -- not only did we all enjoy reading it, but we loved discussing the details of the characters' relationships as well as the numerous little language nuggets found throughout the book. Fitzgerald does an amazing job of integrating the historical facts with beautiful descriptions of everyday common scenes. The beginning is a little slow and disjointed, but once you get past the first 40-50 pages everything comes together and you really begin to understand the essence of the poet/philosopher portrayed in the story and his friends and family.

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Summary: Ethereal Vision of 18th Century Life - Too Delicate For Me
Review: The charaters were thinly portrayed so it was hard to identify with them - clearly the author wanted the reader to be afloat and not grounded in detail. If you can connect poetically you can enjoy a book like this; if not, it is pretentious clap trap. I loved The Book Shop: A Novel by Fitzgerald, but this one was just too vague for my taste. For instance, Fritz's brother starts out jealous of Fritz's love idol, but then falls in love with her himself. There are no clues given as to how this transformation took place, no insights into what was so alluring about this giggling adolescent. Perhaps it's an upper class phenomenon where people who are bored with life create in their minds a world where some invented beauty obscures all else. I imagine the failure is within me, but if you have but one book to read by Fitzgerald, I'd recommend The Book Shop: A Novel.

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Summary: The Blue Flower beckons us to look inward.
Review: The meaning of "Blue Flower" nibbled at me as I read this short book. At its close I came to see it as a metaphor for death. Fritz is weighed down by his pursuit of meaning and otherness in the commonplace domestic life. Sophie, in her childlike naivity, represents to him the uncomprehending acceptance and joy in what exists without the questioning of what lies behind it. The realization that only humans know we will eventually die and therefore question why and why we are here lay behind this story. I was saddened and yet appreciated the subtle and humorous way this message was conveyed.