Rating: 
Summary: Guess what? No vampires
Review: Anne Rice's historically accurate novel, Cry to Heaven, is set in Rome during an era when a papal ban prohibited women from performing on stage. The inevitable substitute, men who were capable of singing soprano roles in opera, were the castrati, castrated boys whose voices would never change to that of men.
In Rice's novel, we are privy to the life, study, and hard work of the castrato student: vocal exercises, music lessons, technical exercises, and the proper wearing of the black tunic with the red sash and the black ribbon at the neck which identified them as castrati - and finally, the stage performance.
Ann Rice is a complex, complicated, multi-talented writer with a wide range of talents and interests. This one, I believe, is unique.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: The characters and emotions are so real. I loved this book. I feel it is Anne Rice's best. You become completely immersed in the world she describes. The story is exciting, moving, arousing, and dark. I highly reccommend this book. Tonio, the main character, has become my favorite character of any book I have ever read. I love Tonio! And you will enjoy reading and following along on his journey.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful Story!!!
Review: I am a huge Anne Rice fan and have read everything that she has ever written, and I can definitely say that this is my favorite book by her. It is so engrossing right from the first page. I can't put it down, the story is so captivating and you can't help but get caught up in the lives of the characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone, whether or not you are an Anne Rice fan.
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: My favorite Anne Rice book yet
Review: I have loved Anne Rice's books for a long time, but I never wanted to venture away from the vampire or witch series. I am so glad I gave this book a shot. It is so colorful and full of wonderful history. Anne does a great job of setting up characters and getting you so wrapped up into this story about castrati singers. Sensuous and sensational!
Rating:
Summary: Cry to Heaven
Review: Truly a wondeful work of art-You will fall in love with young Tonio, feel his pain and his happiness, and truly feel as if you know the characters fully. The emotion and sexuality put into these characters is spellbinding... A wonderful book!
Rating:
Summary: wonderful book!
Review: There are very few books that I have read that grabbed me from the first page and kept my attention throughout. Obviously, this is one of those books. As with other Anne Rice books, she can be a touch wordy, but her books are not so much about plot (as one non-fan complained) but more about human feelings and emotions. She shows you a new way of thinking. This is a great book, but not light-hearted and not for people who don't want to read about 'alternative' sex. I am a straight female and took the book for what it was, not as a preferance. Thumbs up!
Rating: 
Summary: Love/Hate Relationship With Anne Rice
Review: The book "Cry To Heaven" I thought was beautifully set-up with stylistic prose and tons of eroticsm. I just love how Anne Rice adds a touch of sexuality to everything she writes; but I must admit, I could care less for her plots. "Cry To Heaven" lagged on so much and was sooooooo pointless, by the time I reached the end of the book, I felt like crying to heaven myself (in frustration). I can say the same for the other three novels I've read: "Interview With The Vampire", "The Vampire Lestat" & "The Witching Hour". Completely ... foolish; and you ask why I continue to read her books? Because she is the only author I know who does not repress sexuality in all it's glory. As for those of you who felt uncomfortable about the book's countless homoeroticsm, I only have one thing to say: Get over it!...
Rating: 
Summary: When an interesting premise goes awry...
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I bought it because I was ordering a bunch of books at once. I disliked the book version of Interview with a Vampire, and have read only snips of other Anne Rice books. I thought I should give this novel a chance. Wrong-o! As Ash in Army of Darkness says, "Whoa. Wrong book." This story is utter garbage. It toys with an interesting idea, that of a young Venetian noble being forcibly castrated so he cannot inherit. The young man becomes a castrato, one of the prized male singers with high, pure voices. I found the premise intriguing. However, Anne Rice's prose is terrible. She introduces plot points that do not need to happen for her story to go further, and they are awful. The book is full of tawdry and unneccesary sex scenes. I tolerated it for about 300 pages, but when Tonio had sex with the cardinal I put it down. It went on my shelf so I never buy another copy. I cannot finish this work of disgusting refuse. Ms. Rice could have done SO MUCH MORE with the characters, the plotline, the concepts. She could have used the beautiful Italian words she incorporated to better ends. In short, if you must buy this book, be warned. It reeks. My advice is, if you want to read it, go check it out of the library first.
Rating: 
Summary: You should know...
Review: I bought this book because I am a singer. Rice really did her research and placed the fictional characters in a historically accurate setting. The book deals a lot with singing and the joys and challenges of music. I really like these aspects and also the vivid descriptions of beautiful sights in Italy. What you should know about this book is that is contains a lot of homoeroticism. That element became a little distracting to me. I will say that I feel that true art should sometimes make us feel a little uncomfortable. Rice definately delivers the discomfort in this book. I also felt like there was a long, long set up for the climax of the book which comes at the very end with not a lot of falling action. It took me awhile to get through it. For me it was not an "I can't put it down" book.
|
