Violin : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: I'm taking the book back!
Review: Love Anne Rice, but WOW is this book difficult to get through. I tried twice, and gave up. It drones on and on.... Quality not QUANTITY Anne Rice! Don't sell out like Stephen King did!

Rating:
Summary: Not a Page Turner
Review: I was excited to get two copies of this book for Christmas - a good sign! Unfortunately, the book is a slow read with uninteresting characters. The heroine, Triana, is obsessed with guilt - mostly for things that were beyond her control. This is the worst book by Anne Rice of the dozen or so that I have previously read.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointing Read
Review: While I am a big fan of all of Anne Rice's other books, I was very disappointed in Violin. I just could not develop an interest in any of the characters. I didn't give a hoot what happened to any of them. The story seemed limp and it struck me that Anne had no idea of where she wanted to go with the story. It is very rare for me not to finish a book once I have started it, but I gave up on this one about 3/4 into it.

Rating:
Summary: Rice's stream of consciousness departure painful and lovely
Review: Each of us has a room somewhere inside the fortresses of our logical lives. Inside that room lives the desire to believe in the romantic whims of the supernatural and the dark beauty it may hold. In this, her latest work, Anne Rice once again brandishes her literary key ring and eloquently opens wide the door. The stream-of-consciousness dialogs and thought processes fiercely add to the book's smoky desperation. While the story is set around a musical apparition from the long dead past, the truly haunted soul is that of the main character. Though Triana (Rice's newly made widow) has no recognizable beauty inside or out, the reader can genuinely feel that beauty is the thing she wants most dearly. Unfortunately, a violent past and harsh self reproach keep Triana's desire firmly out of reach.
The plot twists and turns leaving the reader emotionally drained by end of the novel. Despite the rich language of the novel, some of Rice's descriptions and imagery are harsh and assailing. For modern audiences accustomed to clear cut definitions of good/bad, black and white, some scenes will be almost painful. No good guys or bad guys here. Don't expect emotional buffers or watered down prose. The characters are as real as the pain they can't seem to shake. There is hope, but in Rice's world (as with real life) it doesn't come cheap. This book exhibits the rich story lines and eloquent beauty that Anne Rice fans have come to expect and adore.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting and beautiful
Review: Violin now ranks as one of my favorite works by Anne. The emotion of the novel is so strong that the story itself is almost distracting. In fact, I see the book more as an extended poem rather than a straight work of fiction. Triana's pain, fear, and love are beautifully described, and I could not help but be affected by them.
I've felt that Anne last few books have been flat, lacking the depth of character of her earlier novels. Violin is Anne's best novel since The Witching Hour.

Rating:
Summary: Full of fluff and adjectives without a good story.
Review: This is, in my opinion, Rice's worst work. Although I love her descriptive writing, this is too much. The dialog is totally uninteresting and the characters are weak. The ghost character is a pathetic clone of Lasher. A very difficult read. It felt like drudgery rather than enjoyment. Thumbs down -- way down.

Rating:
Summary: This is Anne's worst
Review: Most of the reviews here that give this book a rating greater than five begin something like this: "I can't believe you people who wrote these reviews read the same book that I just read - you just can't handel the fact that Anne is breaking new ground". Look, bad is bad. I'm a big Rice fan, and I say this book is a hastily written sketch, and appears to have been more of a personal exorcism for Anne that anything else. She should have shelved this one. To bad she doesn't use an editor. She could have used one this time.

Rating:
Summary: I did not like this book at all.
Review: I was supremely excited to last week to find that Anne Rice's newest novel, Violin, was at my local public library. I checked it out and took it home. I sat down in my favorite chair to begin reading it as I had done with all of the other Anne Rice books that I had read and loved. But as I began with the Proem, something seemed wrong to me. I think I read about 20 pages before I was thoroughly disgusted with its lack of action and complete abstraction. I could make no sense of the latest work by one of my favorite authors. The book sat around for about a week before I returned it today, unread.

Rating:
Summary: Confusing, hard to follow, definitely disappointing.
Review: I'm a huge Anne Rice fan - read and enjoyed everything else, but Violin is a tough read. It's got hints of Rice, but I found the format so confusing and hard to follow that it was too hard to get into the story. I coudln't even finish it! I got 2/3 into it and just couldn't endure anymore. I just bought Pandora, I'm a bit tentative, but I have to give Anne the benefit of the doubt.

Rating:
Summary: grief, obsession, and music: good topics, good book.
Review: Just because Anne Rice writes great books about vampires doesn't mean she's not entitled to write about grief, obsession, music and ghosts. If you're expecting Vampire Lestat Redux, don't read it. If you're expecting a heartfelt and chillingly beautiful (and supernatural) account of coming to terms with loss, "Violin" may well entice you as it enticed me. Please don't blame Anne Rice for chosing, as an author, to write about new territories. Life is change and growth, and authors are no different from the rest of us.