Violin

Rating:
Summary: The worst book ever written.
Review: Triana? A badly veiled pseudonym for Anne herself. Her family must be livid after reading about how she perceives them in this fantasy/fictional account. I'll preface this by saying she was my favorite author. I was an early member in her fanclub and went to the early Coven Parties. But somewhere along the way, probably the Witching Hour sequels, I started to see signs of atrophy. Anne, this is the laziest writing ever. I ever read the phrase "as for all the world" one more time from you I'm going to scream. You could make drinking games with this book. The sloppiness in writing, the lack of imagination (thinly veiled imaginings and fantasy's of her real world) and the sheer ... arrgh ... Ok. This is paint by numbers writing and I've been seeing a formula to her writing lately. Every hero is the same and every hero is basically Anne herself, but now it's Anne Rice the millionaire writer and that character is cloying, vain and carefree to the point of being slothful and needs to stop and take notice. I almost didn't finish this book and almost threw it across the room several times out of frustration with the writing and it has just about ruined my faith in her as a writer. For someone I thought had the greatest imagination, Anne shows a great lack of one these days. If I could give this negative stars I would because it is without a doubt the worst book I've ever read, which is shocking considering this is the same writer who wrote my all time favorite book Interview With The Vampire. I hoped the downward spiral ends here, but Pandora was a shocking display of laziness as it reads as an outline, and Armand is now essentially a Lestat clone, which is what Pandora was and all of her Vampires have become: Lestat/Anne Rice.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I am a great fan of Anne Rice but this book is one of the worst books I've ever read. I simply hated the main character Triana and only kept on reading just to see if the ghost finally gets his violin back. Maybe a short story would have been a better idea and not a complete novel of 372 pages.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed!
Review: I'm a big fan of vampire chronicles and the witching hour but this book is so disappointing. I don't think I could finish reading it. Where is the 'Anne Rice' who created Lestat ?????????

Rating:
Summary: Distressing!
Review: This was the first Anne Rice book I've read, but I'll read them all! It puzzled me as a novel but I strongly recommed my friends to read it.

Rating:
Summary: One of her most beautifully written and creative works yet.
Review: As with all of Anne Rice's masterpieces this book is worthy of the highest praise. She has delved into the psychy of her character bringing out the beauty of the human mind as never before. The story is very enthralling(one of those you can't put down) and includes some supernatural qualities which of course Anne is a master of. For everyone who loves her I know you've probably already read this book 3 times over, but for those of you who aren't familiar with her work I urge you to read any one of her awesome books. You'll be hooked!!

Rating:
Summary: A demanding novel but it pays off
Review: It is not easy to approach this novel if you are accustomed to a clear-cut linear storytelling. I agree with the reviewer who said this is not mass market fiction, which means, in Rice's case, we don't get powerful subversive vampires or gloomy, often despicable, but glamorous humans sold out to a miserable revengeful spirit.

Violin is about the horror of the ordinary. The heroine is an average woman, as she herself conveys at the beginning of the book and Stefan echoes once and again. Only, She is on the verge of madness after years of suffering and self-destruction feelings. At this point, She displays her morbid endless thoughts about guilt and sel-contempt, which have formed a barrier only Stefan and his music are capable of pulling down. But how can he approach an intelligent, yet painfully mistaken woman, lost in false believes about herself, life and death?. Surely not in a conventional way with clear-cut dialogues and a linear storytelling. Stefan speaks to Triana in her illogical inner language, which he has learned since he can read her thoughts. Part of this idiosyncratic language is the one thing Triana seems to enjoy in life: music. Stefan plays for her the devilish, mean creature who feeds on the pain of the living, just to awaken her to her fully resources and bring her back to life. Her victory over living death is the wonder of the book.

Violin is, in my opinion, a psychological battle held in a huge therapy session between a supernatural psychologist and his patient. I don't think I was ready to cope with it, but if Anne Rice is willing to reach new audiences She is absolutly entitled to do so. She doesn't need me or any of her old readers. For, as I see it, her work has always been so diverse I can't believe it has been targeted only at a certain kind of readers.

Violin puzzled me as a novel. It is very demanding and leaves unanswered many of the questions it arouses. It strikes me that it might be more enjoyable the second time you read it, when you get to know what it is not about and are determined to find your own answers. Still, I liked it and was glad to find many of the themes Anne Rice has dealt with in other books: family as the source of both goodness and most brutal violence, forgiveness over revenge, creation over destruction, and christianism causing vicious suffering.

Rating:
Summary: Was it a bomb?
Review: I know that most Anne Rice fans totally bombed this book, and that was my reasoning behind waiting so long to read it, but I really enjoyed this book! Although Anne Rice makes a disclaimer at the front of the book stating that the reader would not have to understand music to read the book, I disagree. As one who has played a musical instrument and seems to feel the same way about music as the main character (music is the soundtrack to your life!), I guess the book just seemed to touch me. The way the woman is 'given' her gift to play the violin, like I always wish I had been given a musical gift...For those Anne Rice fans who love music...this is a must read book!

Rating:
Summary: Madame Rice, this is your best, EVER!!!
Review: "Violin" is Madame Rice's best book. I just want to say I ended reading her novel crying my eyes out. Anne Rice, you're a true literature GODDESS. Thank God for your endless talent and for making this world a better place to live. LONG LIVE ANNE RICE!!!

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable!
Review: I am a new Anne Rice fan; a violinist and writer. I read Violin over the summer, and I must say that I believe it to be my all time favorite novel. While I didn't enjoy reading the descriptions of death, I couldn't get over how wonderful the book was! I read it over and over! Rice uses excellent word usage in order to create a vivid world in the reader's head. She does an outstanding job of protraying her characters for who and what they are. As an aspiring writer, I refer to Rice's techniques often enough. My peers made fun of me for rereading this book and my mom always says to me, "You're reading that book again?" I respond to her the simplest way possible; "How could I not?"

Rating:
Summary: Last Anne Rice I will ever read
Review: Here is my theory on Anne Rice books. If you were to read every other chapter of the book, you would still get the same experience. Anne is too wordy and she says things in 300-400 pages that could be said in 200 pages. Anne, you bore me.