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baklavopita's review
5.0
Wow! You can't judge a book by its cover. The cover looks so cheesey, like it's a dippy tame romance. It is a powerful story and a apt illustration of the "fire in the blood" that runs through and controls the lives of the young. In fact, that point is made a little too clearly, a little too often. It reminded me of Ethan Frome in a way.
lamv98's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
srm's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Nemirovsky just understood people so well, in this case a group of people in a small village with secrets and entangled histories you wouldn't at first suspect.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Murder, and Infidelity
zoemig's review against another edition
4.0
"I’m undoubtedly wrong to generalise; there are people who are sensible at twenty, but I’ll take the recklessness of my youth over their restraint any day."
Fire in the Blood is my first read by Irène Némirovsky, most famous for Suite Française. The history behind the book is actually also quite interesting- only a partial text of the book was known to exist until recently when the manuscript which had been put into safe keeping when Némirovsky was deported to Auschwitz by the Nazis in 1942, was found. Considering that Némirovsky did not have the chance to edit and revise the book, its beauty is all the more impressive. Fire in the Blood is a short novel, narrated by Silvio who spent his life traveling the world only to settle down, having spent his inheritance, at his home in the French countryside. The story is told side by side with Silvio's reflections on life and love, youth and aging. One example of such observations is:
"When older people get together there is something unflappable about them; you can sense they’ve tasted all the heavy, bitter, spicy food of life, extract its poison, and will now spend ten or fifteen years in a state of perfect equilibrium and enviable morality. They are happy with themselves. They have renounced the vain attempts of youth to adapt the world to their desires. They have failed and now, they can relax. In a few years they will once again be troubled by a great anxiety, but this time it will be a fear of death; it will have a strange effect on their tastes, it will make them indifferent, or eccentric, or moody, incomprehensible to their families, strangers to their children. But between the ages of forty and sixty they enjoy a precarious sense of tranquility."
The remarkable thing is that Némirovsky manages to have such reflections not only be observant of the world, but also the character who is making them- a character who seems himself as being in perfect equilibrium after his "vain attempts of youth". When reflecting on the cost and pain of love, Silvio says:
"I remember a game I loved, which was an omen of my future life. I would dig a channel with high sides in the sand for the sea to fill. But when the water flooded the path I had created for it with such violence that it destroyed everything in its way: my castles made of peddles, my dikes of sand. It swept away everything, destroying it all, then disappeared, leaving me with a heavy heart, yet not daring to ask for pity, since the sea had only responded to my call. It’s the same with love. You call out for it, you plan its course. The wave crashes into your heart, but it’s so different from how you imagined it, so bitter and icy."
It is difficult to explain how Fire in the Blood is subtle yet powerful, how it captures the setting like a painting of careful brushstrokes- although I know each action must have been intentional all I can see is the overall beauty. So instead I have copied passages to give you a taste of a beautiful book and an author who's career was cut tragically short. The book ends rather abruptly and is also fairly sparse at times; I can guess that if Némirovsky had the opportunity to revise Fire in the Blood she may have added to it slightly, but one thing she wouldn't need to add is brilliance- it's already there. ****
Fire in the Blood is my first read by Irène Némirovsky, most famous for Suite Française. The history behind the book is actually also quite interesting- only a partial text of the book was known to exist until recently when the manuscript which had been put into safe keeping when Némirovsky was deported to Auschwitz by the Nazis in 1942, was found. Considering that Némirovsky did not have the chance to edit and revise the book, its beauty is all the more impressive. Fire in the Blood is a short novel, narrated by Silvio who spent his life traveling the world only to settle down, having spent his inheritance, at his home in the French countryside. The story is told side by side with Silvio's reflections on life and love, youth and aging. One example of such observations is:
"When older people get together there is something unflappable about them; you can sense they’ve tasted all the heavy, bitter, spicy food of life, extract its poison, and will now spend ten or fifteen years in a state of perfect equilibrium and enviable morality. They are happy with themselves. They have renounced the vain attempts of youth to adapt the world to their desires. They have failed and now, they can relax. In a few years they will once again be troubled by a great anxiety, but this time it will be a fear of death; it will have a strange effect on their tastes, it will make them indifferent, or eccentric, or moody, incomprehensible to their families, strangers to their children. But between the ages of forty and sixty they enjoy a precarious sense of tranquility."
The remarkable thing is that Némirovsky manages to have such reflections not only be observant of the world, but also the character who is making them- a character who seems himself as being in perfect equilibrium after his "vain attempts of youth". When reflecting on the cost and pain of love, Silvio says:
"I remember a game I loved, which was an omen of my future life. I would dig a channel with high sides in the sand for the sea to fill. But when the water flooded the path I had created for it with such violence that it destroyed everything in its way: my castles made of peddles, my dikes of sand. It swept away everything, destroying it all, then disappeared, leaving me with a heavy heart, yet not daring to ask for pity, since the sea had only responded to my call. It’s the same with love. You call out for it, you plan its course. The wave crashes into your heart, but it’s so different from how you imagined it, so bitter and icy."
It is difficult to explain how Fire in the Blood is subtle yet powerful, how it captures the setting like a painting of careful brushstrokes- although I know each action must have been intentional all I can see is the overall beauty. So instead I have copied passages to give you a taste of a beautiful book and an author who's career was cut tragically short. The book ends rather abruptly and is also fairly sparse at times; I can guess that if Némirovsky had the opportunity to revise Fire in the Blood she may have added to it slightly, but one thing she wouldn't need to add is brilliance- it's already there. ****
laia279's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mandraluhana's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vanettashund's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
beccas_books's review
5.0
I ADORE Irene Nemirovsky's books. Like many other people, I started off with Suite Français and then I was hooked. This book, Fire in the Blood, was an interesting insight into life in a small French village and how the people in them interact. It helps that the perspective is that of a man who was born in the village, left to travel the world, and then returned. As this is another of the 'found' books, the ending seemed a bit quick, but the whole story was beautiful so I forgive it. :) I want to try and find a french copy now!
tanyarobinson's review
3.0
I love how Nemirovsky developed the metaphor of fire in the blood in this novella. It made me think a lot about where I am in the spectrum of fiery tempestuous youth vs. cool peaceful old age. I enjoyed it, but found it nowhere near as impressive as her masterpiece Suite Francais.