Violin

Rating:
Summary: Bad Story, Good Book
Review: I have to express the oposite point of view here as Mr. Knight. :) (But for nearly the same reason...)

I love Anne Rice, and have for several years. There is simply something marvelous about the immersion in all the infinite details of life as if there were a magical, mystical, romantic quality to everything. And here it is music. Not just any music, but the great music of the great composers, especially Beethoven, the Maestro, who takes a key role in this novel (both in person and in spirit.)

But to say it is a "bad story", well, in my mind the plot not only lags a bit, it could very well be non-existent. (Is there a plot - the book is almost sheer poetry, and it is difficult at all to decipher a plot at times!) I say, "bad story" because really, there isn't much of a story here at all. Maybe there could have been but Anne didn't bring it to fruition. I say "good book", because the writing is melodic, even symphonic. It is a joy for any lover of poetry to read. But I couldn't really bring myself to say "Good novel" because a "novel" needs a plot. If you are looking for a good story, look again.

Rating:
Summary: Good story, Bad novel
Review: The Violin is perhaps better than good, as a story, but as a novel it is bad. Generally, it is twice as long as it NEEDED to be. It took too much time to say anything, which left me with too much time to figure out where it was going. If you've heard of boxers talking about someone `telegraphing' their punches, consider Rice to have done the literary version of same here. And the conclusion was drawn out needlessly.

Perhaps the author is considered too important to edit at this point in her career. But I really believe this COULD have been a classic ghost story, if the story itself was given more importance than the page count. It reads like an excellant 100 page novella that had scenes stretched and added until it was merely interesting here and there as a novel. It's like the difference between having a glass of wine, or having a pitcher of water with a glass of wine poured in. The value, the enjoyment has been diluted. Which is going to taste the best?

It will make a great 90 minute film, or a terrible two-part made for tv miniseries.

But what DID she get right? The fascination with music. The appreciation of the great composers, which leads to few powerful scenes best not revealed in a review -- there are a few shining gems here. The ghost's genius temper gives rise to some fine arguments. Her exploration of departure and grief was well done. So well done, I would have to say that if you gave a grieving friend Matheson's What Dreams May Come, you could just as well hand them Rice's the Violin too. She did try to write something of value here. The potential is obvious, though the execution was flawed.

Rating:
Summary: In Defense of "avid" Rice Fans...
Review: I would like to address the reviews of those who cannot understand why this book left so many Rice fans cold. I have read everything Rice has written, under all her pen names. Some of her best work, in my opinion has nothing to do with ghosts, witches, or vampires. She has a rare gift with the historical novel, "Cry to Heaven" and "The Feast of All Saints" are both cases in point. However, "Violin" (which does focus around a ghost) failed to inspire me because I could not develop empathy for her main character, nor the ghost that haunts her. The mere facts of Triana's life do not in themselves inspire warmth towards her character. If I had read nothing else Rice has written, perhaps I would have enjoyed "Violin" for itself. But one of Rice's great talents is character development, and in this instance, I felt she failed.

Rating:
Summary: They just keep getting worse
Review: I loved the first 5 vampire chronicles. _Cry to Heaven_ is probably my 2nd favorite book ever from anyone in any genre. Then there was _Pandora_ - not bad but not great. Then _Vittorio_ - was this a short story? and then _Merrick_ - wake me up when it's over or when Lestat says a couple words. Now _Violin_ - the story starts about 200 pages in and ends about 50 pages later. This books seemed more like writing practice for Mrs. Rice. Her writing is so beautiful but NOTHING happens.

Next...

Rating:
Summary: A heartwrenching tale that mesmerizes you to the end!
Review: Incredibly tantalizing! It is the essence of what true tragedy actually is. I felt myself crying from the beginning to the very end. A sad and tragic tale of two lost souls traveling through space and time searching for forgiveness, for happiness, for something unknwon.Traveling through painful memories as well as through emotions that are conjured up when the tortured soul of Stefan Stefanovsky plays his precious Stadivarius. Only Anne Rice could bring to life such characters with an almost poetic, almost tragic, and very much tortured souls. This book is definitely worth reading over and over again, though I recommend that you have a box of tissuses near by. Especially as Trianna and Stefan take you through the deepest darkest of their emotions.They hold you prisoners as they tale their sad tales, mesmerizing you futher with the chaotic, yet poetic music they create. This is definitely a heartwrenching tale that mesmerizes you to the end! Paulina, Anaheim, CA

Rating:
Summary: Lacking inspiration
Review: Try as I might, this book could not hold my interest. There was so much information of thoughts about everything, I kept wanting the characters to actually DO something! I have been immensely pleased with all of her other books and I love how Anne Rice keeps the reader entranced with the history and plot lines. Perhaps I missed something or it was an off time for me, but I just could not find anything to keep me interested in this one.

Rating:
Summary: It was... nice
Review: Anne Rice's writing is extremely poetic. This book lacked nothing in language... but... the thing that irritated me about the book was the one-sided perspective. In every arguement between Triana and Stefan, Triana was always portrayed as the one who was right- no matter what she said. I empathized more with Stefan. I often felt that his points were true and pursuasive. Yet, through all of it, Triana never seemed to doubt herself. I suppose that should be taken as strength, but I saw it as a weakness. She never seemed to review the situation no matter what changes occured. Triana and Stefan seem to be constantly debating... but nothing changes, so it seems pointless for them to be doing so. And the whole thing about playing the violin so powerfully and famously without her actually even knowing how to play... well, that just seemed completely rediculous. The book as a whole seems somewhat weak for the greatness that is "Anne Rice." Although, there were some very origional and powerful images and experiences thrown in. Those parts made it worth the read. I would recommend this book to people who want to read something that has more of an interesting "inside the character's mind" thing going on than something that tells a story.

Rating:
Summary: These reviews are drivel.
Review: Although it is understandable for a fan of Anne Rice to dislike this book, it's hard to believe they can't read this book for what it actually is. It is so obvious Violin is partially autobiographical. It lacks the typical lust, blood and action of most of her other books, but it makes up for it in descriptive imagery.

I shudder to think of what other reviewers would say about books like Anna Karenina or Herodotus. Would those also, in their extreme descriptions and tangents, be frowned upon?

It is a tough read. It's also an incredible story. It's not full of action. The back cover states that it's a journey through a woman's mind, not a gallavant with vampires. Forget who wrote it, and if you do decide to read it, do so with an open mind. This is an incredible book, just remember what it's meant to be.

Rating:
Summary: Painful and Torturous
Review: I have tried and tried to read this book. The first time, I made it only to page 14. Feeling that maybe it picked up after that, I gave it another chance and, after two weeks and sixty seven pages, I am crying uncle. I think that a book should pull you in - it should be read out of entertainment, not perserverence.

Rice is usually the very best when it comes to character development but her efforts here to pull you into the main character's madness results in pages and pages of ramblings from the character's mind about classical musicians and disjointed recollections of unintroduced and/or undeveloped characters. While she convinces you of the near madness of the character, she fails to begin to develop the plot. Each little thing that happens in the story - and there have been frustratingly few of those so far - sends the character into long departures from the story line. While other writers, like Gilman (The Yellow Wallpaper) have successfully used stream of consciousness writing to portray madness, Rice's tendency towards the inadvertant ramble makes this a inadvisable attempt on her part.

Plus, new characters keep being introduced so that it is difficult to keep the 'cast' straight in your head for the main character's coherent moments when it would be nice to remember, for example, which chaffeur had always been around and which was the new one. Vague references to her life before meeting her present late husband leave the reader reeling trying to figure out where the character has been, what happened, and which of the people she talks about are actually involved with the current story line. On average, I would say that there is about one paragraph of explanations to every two to three pages of ramblings.

Having faith in Rice, who is one of my favorite fictional authors, I wouldn't be surprised if the story eventually took hold and blossomed. But it will only be the determined reader and avid Rice fan that will make the effort to find out.

Rating:
Summary: Musically Stirring
Review: I'm not quite sure as to why many people hate this book. This is actually my first introduction to Anne Rice and I loved it! The book is able to evoke emotions that only music thus far has been able to do. Her dramatic use of language not only alerts the senses but also deepens the book as the reader gets to look inside the mind of the character. This book stands alone in its theme and the way it is written and that is good. As a musician I saw in her writing the emotions I felt when I play. I highly respect this work as a piece of fiction that is honest, from the heart, and extremely well-written. No one should shy away from this work. I highly recommend it to everyone who loves an emotional reading experience as well as an intellectual experience.