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Rating: 
Summary: A story of a woman that can only be described through music.
Review: Anne Rice's novel, Violin, tells the story of a woman in New Orleans who is trying to deal with her past and present visions of death. Triana Becker is constantly thinking of the deaths of family and friends that she has endured throughout her life, when she is visited by a mysterious violinist. The dark mood and emotional imagery of life and memories of death mesmerizes the reader. The life of a woman dealing with death and also a new-found happiness is affected by music.
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly unreadable
Review: I consider myself to be something of an Anne Rice fan. Not that I read everything she writes, but of what I have read, I'm usually entertained enough to read more of her work. I've never considered her to be the paragon of writers, but she entertains, usually lovely language(usually), and for that, I enjoy her.This book, however, is simply unreadable. It is terribly slow, and frankly, I couldn't buy into it. When the main character makes contact with the ghost, the dialogue between them seems too contrived. I couldn't believe that an actual human would react the way she did. And even the language the characters used seems artificially romantic, and not at all true-to-life. I'm pleased to see I wasn't th eonly person who simply could not read this book. It was an utter disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: The worst of the Anne Rice Books
Review: I usually adore Anne Rice's books, but for some reason this one I couldn't even get half way through. Not only was it slow, but it seemed almost too personal.
Rating:
Summary: keeps you guessing whats going to happen next
Review: In life, a 19th-century Viennese aristocrat who studied the violin with Beethoven, Stefan Stefanovsky, torments Triana with her lack of talent, then transports her into his own past, where she witnesses his death and hears performances by Beethoven and Paganini. Returning to the present, Triana makes a journey to Brazil where she believes her daughter may be reincarnated. This is a really excellent story. Once I started reading it I did not want to put it down. I could not be more impressed by a book. It was a book that dealt with all of my emotions. I was very moved by the powerful words she used. Another great thing about the book is it offers something for people of all ages. I myself am young and I couldn't enjoy a book more than I did Violin.
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely
Review: This Anne Rice book is very imaginative, creative on different levels and aspects, and beautiful in its poetic form. Triana and Stefan are the main characters in this book. Both of them have their own problems they have to deal with, and these problems are not little by any means. This book is very carefully written. Triana is the first you learn about, and then Stefan's fantastic history is made to light later on in the book. But each character is connected by a perfect violin throughout. Eventually, their pains in life comes full circle at the end with resolve. Their lives are fantastic and a bit unrealistic at the same time. But that is the gem of fiction. You can make the unrealistic realistic. Mostly, I did enjoy the inclusion of great past figures like Mozart, Salieri, and even Beethoven. Music is the link between all these characters that are included. The music of a violin. You might enjoy Triana in all her New Orleans glory and pain, and Stefan in his ghostly state. You might enjoy the descriptive poetry and lavish sights they take you to. Then again you might love the dream state the characters involve you in. Find your love in this book and enjoy your read. Thanks,
Joy
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: This Anne Rice book is very imaginative, creative on different levels and aspects, and beautiful in its poetic form. Triana and Stefan are the main characters in this book. Both of them have their own problems they have to deal with, and these problems are not little by any means. This book is very carefully written. Triana is the first you learn about, and then Stefan's fantastic history is made to light later on in the book. But each character is connected by a perfect violin throughout. Eventually, their pains in life comes full circle at the end with resolve. Their lives are fantastic and a bit unrealistic at the same time. But that is the gem of fiction. You can make the unrealistic realistic. Mostly, I did enjoy the inclusion of great past figures like Mozart, Salieri, and even Beethoven. Music is the link between all these characters that are included. The music of a violin. You might enjoy Triana in all her New Orleans glory and pain, and Stefan in his ghostly state. You might enjoy the descriptive poetry and lavish sights they take you to. Then again you might love the dream state the characters involve you in. Find your love in this book and enjoy your read. Thanks,
Joy
Rating:
Summary: keeps you guessing whats going to happen next
Review: This is an interesting tale, although at times I wanted to stop reading. The first third of the book bogs down a bit as we get long dialogues between Triana Becker and Stephan the ghost. It is a romantic kind of tale. Faced with the death of her second husband Karl from AIDS who left her a wealthy New Orleans widow, Triana lays in bed with the corpse for days lamenting until a mysterious stranger comes to serenade her with the beautiful violin. This is music so gorgeous, that it casts a spell that makes one seem to lose track of time and place. We discover as family comes and goes that the violinist is a ghost who was a pupil of Beethoven and died trying to rescue an especially rare long necked Stratavarius violin. Stephan sees into her mind, brings back memories of loss such as Triana's child Lily, her divorce from her first husband, the death of her alcoholic mother, the disappearance of her much-loved sister Faye, & the recriminations of her sister Katrinka. However, the haunting goes awry as Triana snatches the violin and will not return it. Here, the novel really picks up the pace as we are transported back centuries into Stephan's life in Vienna as the son of a wealthy Russian diplomat who funds Beethovan to educate his son. Triana and ghost Stephan step outside of this world of the past as they see the real-life memory Stephan rescue the violin from his father's burning palace, fight with his father when Stephan wants to study with Paganini, and murder his father after he smashes his fingers with a cane for the son's disobedience. We see Stephan murdered by guards and go through the discovery of his ghostly existence. All of this is punctuated by beautiful dream-like visions of Triana. Apparently, this is a contest of wills between the living and the dead. Triana is victorious and winds up mysteriously transported from her New Orleans home to Vienna, unable to explain the shadowland she has traversed. Triana becomes master of the violin, inherits Stephan's talent for music, and gives concerts globally. She becomes wealthy beyond her already considerable estate. The novel concludes in Rio, which is beautifully described. Ghostly dreams from the first part of the novel are brought into reality in Rio. Rice does a good job of bringing us through the second two-thirds of the book to the final resolution. While the pacing is not completely excellent, there is a lyrical quality to the way Anne describes the power of the music. All in all, this was an interesting tale, a mostly pleasant read. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A Ghostly Serenade
Review: This is an interesting tale, although at times I wanted to stop reading. The first third of the book bogs down a bit as we get long dialogues between Triana Becker and Stephan the ghost. It is a romantic kind of tale. Faced with the death of her second husband Karl from AIDS who left her a wealthy New Orleans widow, Triana lays in bed with the corpse for days lamenting until a mysterious stranger comes to serenade her with the beautiful violin. This is music so gorgeous, that it casts a spell that makes one seem to lose track of time and place. We discover as family comes and goes that the violinist is a ghost who was a pupil of Beethoven and died trying to rescue an especially rare long necked Stratavarius violin. Stephan sees into her mind, brings back memories of loss such as Triana's child Lily, her divorce from her first husband, the death of her alcoholic mother, the disappearance of her much-loved sister Faye, & the recriminations of her sister Katrinka. However, the haunting goes awry as Triana snatches the violin and will not return it. Here, the novel really picks up the pace as we are transported back centuries into Stephan's life in Vienna as the son of a wealthy Russian diplomat who funds Beethovan to educate his son. Triana and ghost Stephan step outside of this world of the past as they see the real-life memory Stephan rescue the violin from his father's burning palace, fight with his father when Stephan wants to study with Paganini, and murder his father after he smashes his fingers with a cane for the son's disobedience. We see Stephan murdered by guards and go through the discovery of his ghostly existence. All of this is punctuated by beautiful dream-like visions of Triana. Apparently, this is a contest of wills between the living and the dead. Triana is victorious and winds up mysteriously transported from her New Orleans home to Vienna, unable to explain the shadowland she has traversed. Triana becomes master of the violin, inherits Stephan's talent for music, and gives concerts globally. She becomes wealthy beyond her already considerable estate. The novel concludes in Rio, which is beautifully described. Ghostly dreams from the first part of the novel are brought into reality in Rio. Rice does a good job of bringing us through the second two-thirds of the book to the final resolution. While the pacing is not completely excellent, there is a lyrical quality to the way Anne describes the power of the music. All in all, this was an interesting tale, a mostly pleasant read. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: The unlikely vampire story
Review: This is my first book I read by Anne Rice. I decided to hear it on tape during my interstate trip by car. I was suprised to see that vampire character had a tortured past and that the enourmous suffering he encountered propelled him to cross roads with the middle aged woman from New Orleans horribly shaken by the losses in her life. The two are joined by their love for the violin and the wonderful music the instrument produces. It is an unlikely story of redemption for both characters and that is what I liked about this book.
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