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: The One to Read
Review: I have read all of Anne's books and rate this number one. While
I love the vampire and witches series, a Cry to Heaven is a
superior writing style and a story that will keep you hooked.

Rating:
Summary: Anne Rice's stand-alone masterpiece!
Review: Let me add my enthusiastic "bravo!" to the list. Read this book! This novel is a wonderful tale of music and the passion of lives fully lived...and the pain to which that fullness is wed. What thrilling, erotic read. This is the story of an 18th century castrato who is torn between getting revenge against those who mutilated him...or rising above that-- with his angelic voice and impossible good looks-- to become Italy's next opera star.

Rice steeped her novel in betrayal, obsession, the drive for revenge, the lust for power, and the need of a astarved soul to find love. But beyond all these "bodice-ripper" adjectives, Cry to Heaven is at its heart an unflinching character study of a man who has his manhood stolen from him, and of how his mind has to twist in on itself to cope with this loss.

Ms. Rice's protagonist, Tonio Treschi is wonderfully nuanced, and we get to see into his tortured soul at every step of his journey-- from the confused and unfocused pain of being castrated, to the cold, focused revenge on the one responsible. Masterful! Add to this the lush backdrop of the intrigue of the opera scene in Naples, Venice, Milan and Rome...well, this is truly a feast. And I ate every morsel. After reading this novel, you'll felt like you've earned a PhD in musicology, opera seria, and Italian political history-- it's that detailed. But the details NEVER bog down the story, just make it richer and richer. Again, bravo, bravo Anne Rice!