Cry to Heaven

Rating:
Summary: If I ever find myself in Venice....
Review: I am glad that I read this book because it reminded me that Anne Rice is not just a great writer of the supernatural and gothic, she is simply a great writer, period. There is nothing of the supernatural here, yet it is perhaps the most horrifying, at least for a male, of any of her books. As a measure of the effect of this book upon me, I kept reading it even after I realised what the main theme was (I had no idea when I started reading.) Not only that, but music is probably the biggest gap in my education- and yet, she not only made me appreciate it, but I actually felt like an insider in that world.

For the first time in ages, I actually felt myself totally caught up in the atmosphere of a book. Yet, it is by no means "pure atmosphere", for there are deep and eternal lessons to be learned here about betrayal, death, worse than death, and.... rebirth and transcendance.

If I ever find myself in Venice one day, it will be because of the lasting effect that this novel had on me....

Rating:
Summary: So-so Plot - Crappy Characters
Review: I've read a lot of Rice's works and this one is pretty much near the bottom. We are transported back to the world of classic Italy and the castrati - that class of young men robbed of the fruits of their manhood in order to sing opera. While the historicity is excellent as always, the characters evoke little empathy and zero sympathy.

The whole novel borders on the tongue in cheek with all the overwhelming lushness, sensuousness, effeteness and sultriness she can bring. You almost expect an androgynous designer type to pop up complete with frilly shirts and heavy jewelry. Whereas same sex [physical attraction] was simply implied or suggested in the vampire chronicles, it is fully explored in this work. The entire drama of feminine men may be a turnon to Rice but arouses little desire or interest for most folks.

Rice tries to solve the problem of the utterly boring characters with languid language but it lacks the (pardon the pun) "bite" found in the vampire tales. Give this one a pass.

Rating:
Summary: So-so Plot - Crappy Characters
Review: I've read a lot of Rice's works and this one is pretty much near the bottom. We are transported back to the world of classic Italy and the castrati - that class of young men robbed of the fruits of their manhood in order to sing opera. While the historicity is excellent as always, the characters evoke little empathy and zero sympathy.

The whole novel borders on the tongue in cheek with all the overwhelming lushness, sensuousness, effeteness and sultriness she can bring. You almost expect an androgynous designer type to pop up complete with frilly shirts and heavy jewelry. Whereas same sex [physical attraction] was simply implied or suggested in the vampire chronicles, it is fully explored in this work. The entire drama of feminine men may be a turnon to Rice but arouses little desire or interest for most folks.

Rice tries to solve the problem of the utterly boring characters with languid language but it lacks the (pardon the pun) "bite" found in the vampire tales. Give this one a pass.

Rating:
Summary: great
Review: ok no seems to read anne rice's non vampire books but they should i loved this book it was written and research very well. It had everything betrayal sex twisted people sin and it also had a awesome ending.
this book in short is about a boy betrayed by his brother castrated and sent to become an opera singer. sorry i can't put more detail in to it but i gotta go. email me if you really want to discuss this book.

Rating:
Summary: an addictive little thing
Review: This is the written equivilant of "The Jerry Springer Show". Every ten pages (or every ten lines if it's during a homoromantic love triangle -- it doesn't matter that they're eunuchs; this is Anne Rice), you ask yourself, "Why am I reading this sheist?" But you keep on reading anyway.

Though some may find the author's treatment of gender (psychological vs. biological, mainly) amusing, my favorite aspect of this book is Tonio's surreal life after being, ahem, snipped. How does the mind adapt to such a change in the body, and what of the man survives that trauma? The author's answers to these questions take a few hundred pages, but they're fascinating answers.

Though Freud would have probably considered the sword to be a phallic symbol, it's remarkable just how far the author carries this symbolism. The way the protagonist balances a life of drag and swordfighting isn't, in sum, androgynous; it's something far more complex than that.

Overall, the history is well researched; Rice stretches it by making a fourteen year-old into a eunuch, but that's not technically impossible, just improbable. Her writing and plot at times mimic the melodrama of an Italian opera, but it's no cheesier than those goth vampires in her other books, and the fact that it's based in reality is refreshing.

Rating:
Summary: an addictive little thing
Review: This is the written equivilant of "The Jerry Springer Show". Every ten pages (or every ten lines if it's during a homoromantic love triangle -- it doesn't matter that they're eunuchs; this is Anne Rice), you ask yourself, "Why am I reading this sheist?" But you keep on reading anyway.

Though some may find the author's treatment of gender (psychological vs. biological, mainly) amusing, my favorite aspect of this book is Tonio's surreal life after being, ahem, snipped. How does the mind adapt to such a change in the body, and what of the man survives that trauma? The author's answers to these questions take a few hundred pages, but they're fascinating answers.

Though Freud would have probably considered the sword to be a phallic symbol, it's remarkable just how far the author carries this symbolism. The way the protagonist balances a life of drag and swordfighting isn't, in sum, androgynous; it's something far more complex than that.

Overall, the history is well researched; Rice stretches it by making a fourteen year-old into a eunuch, but that's not technically impossible, just improbable. Her writing and plot at times mimic the melodrama of an Italian opera, but it's no cheesier than those goth vampires in her other books, and the fact that it's based in reality is refreshing.