Empire of Light

Rating:
Summary: End Justifies the Means
Review: David Czuchlewski's cult novel picks you up and carries you along swiftly with its fast moving plot. Czuchlewski skillfully weaves the plots in Matt Kelly's life with his girlfriend Anna Damiani and his father's illness. This leads Matt into a soul-searching period that unsettles his stable life as a teacher. The title of the book obviously indicates the focus centering on the plot with the Imperium Luminis or "Empire of Light." Yet, it was the subplot of Matt discovering his father as he says goodbye that was the most moving and compelling for me. The scene at the end with the windows open and curtains blowing mirroring the Irish traditions rooted the novel for me. The Benefactor of the cult, Giuseppe Conti, wrote a book called "The Pilgrim." The snippets of the book we read through Kelly's eyes are actually quite beautiful spiritual sentiments. I found the setting in Sicily to be moving. The spy-like part of the book with Anna's stepfather Carl Barrett trying to deprogram the woman and Matt's entrance into the cult made the pages turn quickly, but were ultimately less satisfying for me. The hypocrisy of lying to someone, as Anna does to Matt, should have been enough to eradicate any trust he felt for her. So the Orwellian ending didn't ring true for me. Czuchlewski more manipulates the characters and moves them around like chess pieces than he draws us into the lives of people we come to care about and find unforgettable. However, the theme of whether the end justifies the means is one that remains important and gives the novel depth. "Empire of Light" is interesting, if not totally satisfying. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: End Justifies the Means
Review: David Czuchlewski's cult novel picks you up and carries you along swiftly with its fast moving plot. Czuchlewski skillfully weaves the plots in Matt Kelly's life with his girlfriend Anna Damiani and his father's illness. This leads Matt into a soul-searching period that unsettles his stable life as a teacher. The title of the book obviously indicates the focus centering on the plot with the Imperium Luminis or "Empire of Light." Yet, it was the subplot of Matt discovering his father as he says goodbye that was the most moving and compelling for me. The scene at the end with the windows open and curtains blowing mirroring the Irish traditions rooted the novel for me. The Benefactor of the cult, Giuseppe Conti, wrote a book called "The Pilgrim." The snippets of the book we read through Kelly's eyes are actually quite beautiful spiritual sentiments. I found the setting in Sicily to be moving. The spy-like part of the book with Anna's stepfather Carl Barrett trying to deprogram the woman and Matt's entrance into the cult made the pages turn quickly, but were ultimately less satisfying for me. The hypocrisy of lying to someone, as Anna does to Matt, should have been enough to eradicate any trust he felt for her. So the Orwellian ending didn't ring true for me. Czuchlewski more manipulates the characters and moves them around like chess pieces than he draws us into the lives of people we come to care about and find unforgettable. However, the theme of whether the end justifies the means is one that remains important and gives the novel depth. "Empire of Light" is interesting, if not totally satisfying. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Light not bright enough!
Review: I usually stay away from novels about young people getting caught in a cult. There's a pattern I find irritating: troubled person flees, undergoes torturous initiations and penances, tries to escape...yawn! However, Empire of Light is different because we're seeing the cult from an outsider's perspective.

And author Czuchlewski can write. I found myself turning the pages, genuinely caring about what would happen to the characters. If you've got a long miserable airplane flight, tuck this book into your carryon bag. It IS hard to put down.

Matthew Kelly's ex-girlfriend, Anna, joins Empire of Light and a cat-and-mouse game ensues.
Will Matt give in and join? Will Matt's staunchly Catholic family encourage him? And what secrets in Matt's own family will emerge through Matt's own quest? We learn that Matt's father, a brilliant Columbia U graduate, spent his life as a motorman on the NYC subways -- and eventually we learn why.

I gave the book only three stars because after awhile,the plot seemed to be going in circles. I don't want to give away the story, but at some point, the hero needs to say, "If Anna wants to join the cult., more power to her! I want to get on with my own life."

And my credibility was strained by the vast reach of the cult -- hidden cameras, cars, people available for surveillance...

A healhy, smart young man would have friends in his life, especially male friends, who might ask him some thought-provoking questions. The hero seems to live completely alone, except for his family and this ex-girlfriend.

The ending, to me, was unsatisfying, even annoying. I kept wanting to shake the hero and say, "Get a grip!"

There is one flashback that may explain a great deal. After his freshman year, the hero gives up an internship with a law firm to spend a summer with Anna in Italy -- giving him a lifetime of memories that can never be replaced. On the one hand, I rejoiced in the hero's decision -- never turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! -- but I also wonder if that wasn't the beginning of the end. Most young men outgrow their youthful romances. This one should have.

Rating:
Summary: uncertainty principle...
Review: Matt Kelly fell in love with Anna Damiani from almost the first time he saw her but her stepfather, real estate mogul Carl Barrett thought he wasn?t good for her. He forced Anna to break up with Matt in high school but when they met up in Princeton they started seeing each other again until her alcoholism drove them apart. He went on to become a teacher in Harlem and she drank her way around the world until she joined the Imperium Luminis, dried out and turned her life around.

Anna visits Matt to ask him to join this sect that is a part of the Catholic Church. The order actively recruits wealthy members and helps the poor and the sick. Carl contacts David because he believes that the Imperium Luminis is a cult that he wants to free Anna from them and get her deprogrammed. From his own research, David agrees with Anna?s stepfather and pretends to join the organization in order to spirit Anna away from them. It is when Matt sees what good the order does for people he begins to have doubts about his role in Anna?s life.

EMPIRE OF LIGHT is a powerful, compelling and illuminating tale about real people searching for answers in an indifferent, at times, dangerous world. The author questions, through the actions of his protagonist, whether the end justifies the means. Readers start to wonder what is the difference between a cult and an organized religious sect. Neither question is answered in this novel but by raising them it makes this work of psychological suspense an outstanding reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Disenchanting sophomoric effort
Review: This title's review must surely hint to my high expectations for this novel. His first novel, the Muse Asylum, struck a particular chord with me... Having read the brief excerpts I was eager to read about Mr. Czuchlewski's take on faith, uncertainty, and a young man/couple trying to find their way in this world, all the while weaving an intricate story around cultism.

That being said, the pace of the novel seemed strained and I really found myself struggling to fill in imaginative gaps to keep the characters believable. The only character I could identify was with somewhat mysterious Anna. Matt, the main character's display of emotions seemed half-hearted, and his thought processes were too elementary. The story just didn't have the "ummmpphh" factor.

The climax of the book did justify my reading it, simply from the standpoint of seeing the resolutions of my questions of uncertainty and cultism listed above. However, this is not a story that will leave you with retrospective awe.

The cutting, elegant dialogue of the Muse Asylum simply wasn't present here.

Rating:
Summary: Disenchanting sophomoric effort
Review: This title?s review must surely hint to my high expectations for this novel. His first novel, the Muse Asylum, struck a particular chord with me? Having read the brief excerpts I was eager to read about Mr. Czuchlewski?s take on faith, uncertainty, and a young man/couple trying to find their way in this world, all the while weaving an intricate story around cultism.

That being said, the pace of the novel seemed strained and I really found myself struggling to fill in imaginative gaps to keep the characters believable. The only character I could identify was with somewhat mysterious Anna. Matt, the main character?s display of emotions seemed half-hearted, and his thought processes were too elementary. The story just didn?t have the ?ummmpphh? factor.

The climax of the book did justify my reading it, simply from the standpoint of seeing the resolutions of my questions of uncertainty and cultism listed above. However, this is not a story that will leave you with retrospective awe.

The cutting, elegant dialogue of the Muse Asylum simply wasn?t present here.