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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
There was so much packed into this book - some pretty interesting themes around sexuality, intimacy, and performance vs reality. I found the dialogue style a bit confusing at first, but then came to really like it - the characters were saying the types of things that you might think but never actually say aloud; or saying things you wish you could express but don’t know how to verbalise.
This book really blew me away. Structurally it is highly inventive. The writing is wise, gorgeous and sensual. Having gone to theatre school, I can vouch for the veracity of this setting in the book. It brought back so many memories for me of those cruelly formative and surreal classes! In "The Rehearsal" Catton looks at performance from many perspectives - from that of actors, teachers, parents, teenagers, lovers - and the result is insightful and thought-provoking.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
THE REHEARSAL is a complex, inquisitive, and nuanced exploration of girlhood and the performance of personhood. A high schooler is discovered having an affair with her jazz band teacher, and the effects are felt deeply within the tight-knit community. Through the eyes of schoolgirls and townspeople, Catton explores the aftermath of scandal and how it upends relationships of all kinds—lovers, mothers and daughters, teachers and students.
And while doing this, she also manages to create a narrative that holds many performances within it—a play, a storyteller, two girls trying to figure out how they want to be. It makes you wonder what parts of the novel actually happened and what was an imagination, reinforcing the nature of the scandal, as no one knows what actually happened. Clever! I don't think this narrative style will be for everyone, but I found it endlessly fascinating and clever.
Catton's writing of the schoolgirls is outstanding—they felt perfectly their age, with the teenage distractions, confidence, playacting, and moments of wisdom. The interiority she is known for shines through here in a more cutting, crisp way than her later novels.
I really enjoyed this novel, and it is definitely one that will stick around in my head for awhile. I'm sad that I don't have any more of Catton's writing to enjoy, but maybe it's just time for a reread of THE LUMINARIES.
And while doing this, she also manages to create a narrative that holds many performances within it—a play, a storyteller, two girls trying to figure out how they want to be. It makes you wonder what parts of the novel actually happened and what was an imagination, reinforcing the nature of the scandal, as no one knows what actually happened. Clever! I don't think this narrative style will be for everyone, but I found it endlessly fascinating and clever.
Catton's writing of the schoolgirls is outstanding—they felt perfectly their age, with the teenage distractions, confidence, playacting, and moments of wisdom. The interiority she is known for shines through here in a more cutting, crisp way than her later novels.
I really enjoyed this novel, and it is definitely one that will stick around in my head for awhile. I'm sad that I don't have any more of Catton's writing to enjoy, but maybe it's just time for a reread of THE LUMINARIES.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars
This is a very hard book to rate. And for a few reasons. I want to preface a little though, by saying this could have very well had a higher rating from me if I had chosen to read it at a different time. My three stars is a bit deeper than just "I liked it".
I think it's important to state that The Rehearsal is a piece of experimental fiction. The synopsis on the back cover was a little misleading (for purposes I completely understand). If I hadn't read and absolutely adored [b:The Luminaries|17333230|The Luminaries|Eleanor Catton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384015794s/17333230.jpg|24064531] last year, I probably wouldn't have picked this one up. Personally, it has to take some stunning reviews for me to want to read a story that takes place in the world of private schooling (something I'm just not too interested in right this moment). But that would be boiling this novel down to it's scenery, for it's more complex than it's cover lets on.
The Rehearsal takes place in the aftermath of scandal. The ecosystem is fragile, but self discovery and exploration are ripe. I enjoyed the floral dialog of the characters, and felt almost a voyeur in reading their "private" speeches. Yet, I didn't always know when I was experiencing the truth, or the reenactment. At times I just wanted details like the characters themselves, until I realized I've already read that before. What was shared, was perfect.
When I was in high school, a similar scandal had taken place a year or two before my class arrived. We all speculated, and found glee in little details. I remember it was a big deal if someone received an old textbook with the student's name in it. Extra points if it was from the class the teacher taught. The currency these little details still created invited darker questions and emotions, and I remember perfectly well feeling the anger this brought on, but not in the same sense that the parents perhaps felt. looking back on it now, it's a subject more complex than any teacher/student romance novel has conveyed (in my opinion, which is probably why I don't find them all that sexy). Catton conveyed it perfectly. So, in that sense this novel deserves more stars from me. But it basically comes down to did I actually like it, no matter how well it was written. And I half joke when I type this, but my answer is only: "kinda". Is it worth reading? yes, no doubt about that. Catton is still one of my favorite young authors. I can't wait to see what she she'll come up with next, considering the contrasting subjects of her two novels.
So, recommended, for the right time.
This is a very hard book to rate. And for a few reasons. I want to preface a little though, by saying this could have very well had a higher rating from me if I had chosen to read it at a different time. My three stars is a bit deeper than just "I liked it".
I think it's important to state that The Rehearsal is a piece of experimental fiction. The synopsis on the back cover was a little misleading (for purposes I completely understand). If I hadn't read and absolutely adored [b:The Luminaries|17333230|The Luminaries|Eleanor Catton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384015794s/17333230.jpg|24064531] last year, I probably wouldn't have picked this one up. Personally, it has to take some stunning reviews for me to want to read a story that takes place in the world of private schooling (something I'm just not too interested in right this moment). But that would be boiling this novel down to it's scenery, for it's more complex than it's cover lets on.
The Rehearsal takes place in the aftermath of scandal. The ecosystem is fragile, but self discovery and exploration are ripe. I enjoyed the floral dialog of the characters, and felt almost a voyeur in reading their "private" speeches. Yet, I didn't always know when I was experiencing the truth, or the reenactment. At times I just wanted details like the characters themselves, until I realized I've already read that before. What was shared, was perfect.
When I was in high school, a similar scandal had taken place a year or two before my class arrived. We all speculated, and found glee in little details. I remember it was a big deal if someone received an old textbook with the student's name in it. Extra points if it was from the class the teacher taught. The currency these little details still created invited darker questions and emotions, and I remember perfectly well feeling the anger this brought on, but not in the same sense that the parents perhaps felt. looking back on it now, it's a subject more complex than any teacher/student romance novel has conveyed (in my opinion, which is probably why I don't find them all that sexy). Catton conveyed it perfectly. So, in that sense this novel deserves more stars from me. But it basically comes down to did I actually like it, no matter how well it was written. And I half joke when I type this, but my answer is only: "kinda". Is it worth reading? yes, no doubt about that. Catton is still one of my favorite young authors. I can't wait to see what she she'll come up with next, considering the contrasting subjects of her two novels.
So, recommended, for the right time.
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Rehearsal is Eleanor Catton’s debut novel. It explores the fallout from a high school teacher’s relationship with a student and also revolves around two rehearsals, one for a music recital, the other for a college play. It delivers the intricate sentences, lush prose and cleverly constructed plots Catton’s later works are noted for. I didn’t enjoy this as much due to the structure which made it deliberately hard to differentiate fact from fiction, real-life drama from on-stage drama.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Death
Where do you start with this one? The central theme of the story is the aftermath of a relationship between a 31 year old teacher and a 15 year old schoolgirl. We learn about this in a second hand way, via a saxophone teacher and her pupils who attend the same school and one of whom is the sister of the girl involved. The first year of the local drama school is putting on a play and decide to take this local news story as their theme and this makes up the second strand and over time these two strands start to converge. But right from the very first page the saxophone teachers voice is too arch, too knowing - as indeed are some of her pupils. Eventually you realise there is a play within a play and you're never sure who's real and who's playing a part. I enjoyed the first three quarters or so of it, but by the end the ambiguity just overwhelmed me. I'm glad I read The Luminaries first because this might have put me off a little.