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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
The Rehearsal is a literary novel that deals with the loss of innocence, the reinvention of oneself and revelations of the human psyche. However, it is far from boring or overly philosophical. Each pages gifts upon you a new way of looking at something, or an explanation of a happening that you didn't realise that you needed all the while managing to keep you engaged and glued to it's pages.
It follows three adolescent girls who can occasionally talk as though they are 40, their saxophone teacher who seems to take immeasurable joy in the insecurities of others, and a college aged boy who is really nothing remarkable. We follow them throughout the entire book, so it is very much character based.
The first chapter was, to say the least, difficult for me to read. It was overtly sexual and dramatic to a degree where it was not needed. Before you dismiss this statement as an exaggeration or me as a prude, let me quote some lines to you.
Continued on my blog.
It follows three adolescent girls who can occasionally talk as though they are 40, their saxophone teacher who seems to take immeasurable joy in the insecurities of others, and a college aged boy who is really nothing remarkable. We follow them throughout the entire book, so it is very much character based.
The first chapter was, to say the least, difficult for me to read. It was overtly sexual and dramatic to a degree where it was not needed. Before you dismiss this statement as an exaggeration or me as a prude, let me quote some lines to you.
Continued on my blog.
challenging
dark
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:
No
The Rehearsal is something different. It's almost impossible to classify.
There is a sex scandal at a girls private school: a teacher and a student. The local theatre school decides to put on a play about the scandal. And a saxophone teacher counsels the private-school girls when they come for their lessons. This may seem to be a simple plot, but the author plays games with the reader by revealing no clear distinction between what's the scandal, what's the saxophone lesson and what's the play. A saxophone lesson that at first seems to be part of the plot may suddenly switch to descriptions of stage lighting, set design and costume. The students become the actors and the actors become the students.
This is twisted even further by the naming of the characters. The teachers at the theater school are the "Head of Movement" or the "Head of Improvisation" or the "Head of Acting." The saxophone teacher is just that, the "Saxophone Teacher." The girls and boys are either "girls" and "boys," or sometimes they have names. It might depend upon where they are, what they're doing.
The Rehearsal's about watching and being watched. It's about our impressions of others and how many times we get things wrong. Was the scandal at the private school a rape? Or are the teacher and the student in love? No one knows, but everyone has an opinion. And the scandal's existence determines more than you'd imagine. When the actors are given a playing card as the central prop for the play they will perform, one of the characters states, "because at the end of it everything collapses. For the girl, the victim, the one who was abused. It all comes down around her like a castle of cards."
Eleanor Catton writes beautifully. And differently. Her descriptions, dialogue, character situations and plotting techniques are always surprising. She manages to carry this high level of expectation throughout the entire novel. Not once does she falter. I can open the book at any page and quote something that stands out. For example, regarding the girls' reaction to the sex scandal:
"It's a mark of the depth of their wounding that they are pretending they suspected it all along. Everything that they have seen and been told about love so far has been an inside perspective, and they are not prepared for the crashing weight of this exclusion. It dawns on them now how much they never saw and how little they were wanted, and with this dawning comes a painful re-imagining of the self as peripheral, uninvited, and utterly minor."
There is a sex scandal at a girls private school: a teacher and a student. The local theatre school decides to put on a play about the scandal. And a saxophone teacher counsels the private-school girls when they come for their lessons. This may seem to be a simple plot, but the author plays games with the reader by revealing no clear distinction between what's the scandal, what's the saxophone lesson and what's the play. A saxophone lesson that at first seems to be part of the plot may suddenly switch to descriptions of stage lighting, set design and costume. The students become the actors and the actors become the students.
This is twisted even further by the naming of the characters. The teachers at the theater school are the "Head of Movement" or the "Head of Improvisation" or the "Head of Acting." The saxophone teacher is just that, the "Saxophone Teacher." The girls and boys are either "girls" and "boys," or sometimes they have names. It might depend upon where they are, what they're doing.
The Rehearsal's about watching and being watched. It's about our impressions of others and how many times we get things wrong. Was the scandal at the private school a rape? Or are the teacher and the student in love? No one knows, but everyone has an opinion. And the scandal's existence determines more than you'd imagine. When the actors are given a playing card as the central prop for the play they will perform, one of the characters states, "because at the end of it everything collapses. For the girl, the victim, the one who was abused. It all comes down around her like a castle of cards."
Eleanor Catton writes beautifully. And differently. Her descriptions, dialogue, character situations and plotting techniques are always surprising. She manages to carry this high level of expectation throughout the entire novel. Not once does she falter. I can open the book at any page and quote something that stands out. For example, regarding the girls' reaction to the sex scandal:
"It's a mark of the depth of their wounding that they are pretending they suspected it all along. Everything that they have seen and been told about love so far has been an inside perspective, and they are not prepared for the crashing weight of this exclusion. It dawns on them now how much they never saw and how little they were wanted, and with this dawning comes a painful re-imagining of the self as peripheral, uninvited, and utterly minor."
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
http://mariesbookgarden.blogspot.com/2011/05/rehearsal-life-is-too-short.html
To be honest, I could not get past page 15, so in all fairness I probably shouldn't give it a rating. At one point, I pledged to read only books that get at least a 3.5 or 4 rating in Goodreads, and this one has a 3.27. But it sounded interesting, and I feel lacking in the modern female adolescent category, and it involved theater and music...right up my alley, right? So wrong.
The Rehearsal has been described as a postmodern novel, and some readers describe it as brilliant. But right from the very first page, I didn't like it. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I think it's because the characters were so removed and distant, the dialogue completely stiff and unrealistic, and it seemed artificial. Reading the other reviews, I understand that this is the point. However.
I have learned something: when I've had this initial instinct about a book and plowed on ahead (after reading other people's glowing reviews and convincing myself to give it a chance), I'm always disappointed. Sometimes I find redeeming qualities in the book and it's not as bad as I initially think.
But is that really good enough? When I have so many books I want to read? No way. Life's too short to read books that you don't enjoy (or that don't at least have some educational, redeeming quality).
To be honest, I could not get past page 15, so in all fairness I probably shouldn't give it a rating. At one point, I pledged to read only books that get at least a 3.5 or 4 rating in Goodreads, and this one has a 3.27. But it sounded interesting, and I feel lacking in the modern female adolescent category, and it involved theater and music...right up my alley, right? So wrong.
The Rehearsal has been described as a postmodern novel, and some readers describe it as brilliant. But right from the very first page, I didn't like it. It's hard to put my finger on it, but I think it's because the characters were so removed and distant, the dialogue completely stiff and unrealistic, and it seemed artificial. Reading the other reviews, I understand that this is the point. However.
I have learned something: when I've had this initial instinct about a book and plowed on ahead (after reading other people's glowing reviews and convincing myself to give it a chance), I'm always disappointed. Sometimes I find redeeming qualities in the book and it's not as bad as I initially think.
But is that really good enough? When I have so many books I want to read? No way. Life's too short to read books that you don't enjoy (or that don't at least have some educational, redeeming quality).
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Sexual assault
This was a weird book. I'm pretty sure it's good. Especially the theme of theatre and playing a role was constantly present. It just leaves me a bit confused. 3,5/5 Sternen