02.19.07
Rites of Spring
Cross-posted from Logs of the Written Word
Finished Reading: Completed 12 Feb, 2007
Status: Remains in Library
Book Name: Rites of Spring
Author: Modris Eksteins
ISBN: 0395937582
LOC: N/A
Publisher: Mariner Books - a division of Houghton Mifflin (New York, NY)
Plot:
Dazzling in its originality, witty and perceptive in unearthing patterns of behavior that history has erased, Rites of Spring probes the origins, the impact, and the aftermath of World War I — from the premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring in 1913 to the death of Hitler in 1945. “The Great War,” as Modris Eksteins writes, “was the psychological turning point . . . for modernism as a whole. The urge to create and the urge to destroy had changed places.” In this “bold and fertile book” (Atlantic Monthly), Eksteins goes on to chart the seismic shifts in human consciousness brought about by this great cataclysm through the lives and words of ordinary people, works of literature, and such events as Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight and the publication of the first modern bestseller, All Quiet on the Western Front. Rites of Spring is a remarkable and rare work, a cultural history that redefines the way we look at our past and toward our future.
From: Houghton Mifflin Company
UIS Spring 2007 Sr. Seminar assigned reading.
If you’re looking for a general history about World War I, this isn’t the book for you. Rich, dense and complex, Ecksteins explores the cultural ramifications of modernity and its affect on the soldiers on the Western Front. Using Stravinsky’s The Rites of Spring as its framework, this book goes beyond a “simple” chronology of events as they unfold. What effect on the war did modernity have, and what effect did the war have on modernity? A case can be made for the seeds of Nazism arising from the seeds of modernity as portrayed in the premiere of the Russes Ballet’s production of Stravinsky’s (produced by Diaghilev) The Rites of Spring as choreographed by Nijinsky. The production which so affronted many of those in the audience that it engendered a riot.
Rich in anecdotal stories with quotes from war-time poets, Ecksteins presents a unique way to interpret the war.