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bogfinchgirl's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very quick read. Interesting story. Not as good as Suite Francais, but still very good. I love her style of writing. I could visualize everything she describes...both from a physical perspective and an emotional one.
lllmoon24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
gracaventura's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to like it. I find Nemirovsky's writing incredibly clear and she was a brilliant storyteller. Nevertheless, it was quite frustrating if you read some of her other works, including "Suite Francaise" and "Le Bal". Essentially, it's the same story, told with different names. Like a said, I wanted to like it, but I found that it was far too predictable for my liking.
electra_reads's review against another edition
4.0
A very well-observed portrait of a stifling upbringing, interspersed with incredible details from the front row of history, particularly the section in St. Petersburg after the 1917 revolutions.
direwolfsummer's review against another edition
3.75
如果一本书是好书，它一定有非常惊艳的自然景物描写。圣彼得堡和芬兰的冬天都太美了，像夏夜傍晚一饮而尽的冰牛奶和初春清晨还沾着露珠的樱桃一样沁人心脾。早料到Irène会横刀夺爱，但没想到复仇来得这么容易。Max说她不仅没有长大，反而变小了，因为她小时候就成熟到苍老，现在出落成少女，反而符合了真实的年纪。想起温女士说没有得到好好照顾的小孩永远也无法长大，他们只会变老，不会长大。因为长大需要爱。If you are lucky the love will come later. If you are lucky you won’t hit love in the face.
rocchino's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
tamarie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
3.5
sfgarnish's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
zoemig's review against another edition
http://inthenextroom.blogspot.ca/2014/01/the-wine-of-solitude-by-irene-nemirovsky.html
The Wine of Solitude is the second book I've read by Irene Nemirovsky, a Jewish novelist born in the Ukraine who lived and worked in France and died in Auschwitz. The first book I read by her, Fire in the Blood, was in 2010, and this was nearly three years later (yes, I'm still catching up on old reviews). Honestly, I can't tell you why I haven't read more, because the truth is every word I've read by Nemirovsky has blown me away.
At the centre of The Wine of Solitude is a young girl, Helene, intelligent and lost, searching and alone. There are a slew of complicated relationships, with her incredibly vain mother, her father, her mother's lover. Although the novel begins in the Ukraine, then moves to Russia, Finland, and France, as the family flees the Russian Revolution and World War I. Although the historical aspect is really interesting, this is really a story about Helene coming-of-age in a dysfunctional family and world.
The writing in The Wine of Solitude is beautiful, and out of the whole novel one quote really stuck with me, even now, a year after reading it:
I may be alone, but my solitude is powerful and intoxicating.
That said, I didn't have the strongest emotional connection to the characters in the story, I felt like I was at a distance to them, and so it was a book I often put down and picked up again. The words captured me, but the people did not. Reading The Wine of Solitude definitely reminded me how much I still need to read Nemirovsky's most famous novel, Suite Francaise.
The Wine of Solitude is the second book I've read by Irene Nemirovsky, a Jewish novelist born in the Ukraine who lived and worked in France and died in Auschwitz. The first book I read by her, Fire in the Blood, was in 2010, and this was nearly three years later (yes, I'm still catching up on old reviews). Honestly, I can't tell you why I haven't read more, because the truth is every word I've read by Nemirovsky has blown me away.
At the centre of The Wine of Solitude is a young girl, Helene, intelligent and lost, searching and alone. There are a slew of complicated relationships, with her incredibly vain mother, her father, her mother's lover. Although the novel begins in the Ukraine, then moves to Russia, Finland, and France, as the family flees the Russian Revolution and World War I. Although the historical aspect is really interesting, this is really a story about Helene coming-of-age in a dysfunctional family and world.
The writing in The Wine of Solitude is beautiful, and out of the whole novel one quote really stuck with me, even now, a year after reading it:
I may be alone, but my solitude is powerful and intoxicating.
That said, I didn't have the strongest emotional connection to the characters in the story, I felt like I was at a distance to them, and so it was a book I often put down and picked up again. The words captured me, but the people did not. Reading The Wine of Solitude definitely reminded me how much I still need to read Nemirovsky's most famous novel, Suite Francaise.