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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
What a story! If you want to read a mystery about a Stanley Kubrick/Werner Herzog/Stephen King/David Lynch combo character, enmeshed in film culture, who may or may not be supernatural, run and get this book! Wow did I enjoy it. I'm a lover of Herzog/Kubrick/Lynch type directors and their curated personalities, which made me adore this story, but it's hard to say if you'd find it interesting without that knowledge. Fantastic mood setting, excellent pacing, and really clever twists. This book also had A+ integration of texts from newspapers, online media and other snippets that were used in the right places in the story. The main character was a bit dull, but that is sometimes OK with me, because it's everything else that's happening that you care about.
Synopsis:
Scott McGrath is a washed up investigator journalist, who after publicly decrying a reclusive, disturbing, and cult-followed director, Stanislas Cordova, his career is in shambles. Scott McGrath deals with his life, but when the sudden suicide of Cordova's daughter, Ashley Cordova, happens he is on the case to figure out what happened. He is followed by Hopper, who keeps his own reasons as to helping out the investigation, and Nora who is a starry eyed Floridian who wants to act in New York but joins the chase. The investigation is not easy, and much like Cordova's films unravels to the darkest core of human nature.
My thoughts
First, I will say that my experience with mysteries and thrillers are limited. Beyond The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larson, I don't have much experience. I thought this would be a good character driven mystery, and some interesting psychological insights. Larson weaved his tale with socio-political commentary as well. This novel however fell flat on many different counts.
There were MOMENTS that I liked (there were some pretty creepy moments in this novel). However, I feel like this novel is too uneven for a mystery/thriller novel. The author did f*ck with my brain at times, but when the conclusion came I rolled my eyes.
The saving grace for me is the idea of reality versus fantasy, and how it plays out in this novel. I did like that aspect, but I thought the conclusion was a lot of infodumping and not a lot of integration of previous information. I also felt extremely cheated, considering she used one cliche after another and by the end the ending did not feel satisfactory. Good mystery/thrillers have endings that keep you on the edge of your seat and when you find it out you wished you figured it out yourself.
This novel does not live up to the hype of its author or being a good mystery/thriller.
Characters
Thinly sketched out. I never really knew the people at all. Even though the Cordovas were an interesting enigma, it felt too unbelievable regarding certain things. Scott McGrath wasn't an interesting narrator at all. Hopper's place in this story was too easy to know, and wasn't that hard to figure out. Nora is just an odd character, and how any of these characters worked together is beyond me. I wanted more character moments in this story.
Premise
I liked the premise: reclusive/cult horror filmmaker daughter commits suicide, and journalist wants to find out why. I like film, and I wanted to know how it would be interwoven. Stanislas Cordova is what you get if you put Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarentino, and small auteur reclusive filmmakers is who you would get. However, the execution was less than stellar.
Pacing
It dragged at parts. This book could have been cut down to about five hundred pages, if she took out all the cheap tricks with the internet articles, photographs, and newspaper clippings. A lot of telling rather than showing happened. Lots of infodumping towards the end, which displeased me.
Believability
A lot of things in this book are hard to believe. The Cordova family would still have money, despite the fact that the director LOST DISTRIBUTION. If a film doesn't have wide distribution, it will be hard to make money and self-finance films. They own two huge estates, despite all this. Also, Theo Cordova created a language his family could speak? Really? That does not happen anywhere I know of. Ashley is the most perfect child ever, and prodigy?. I feel like Marisha Pessl should have done some research on auteur filmmakers and the film industry in general. Most of this book I rolled my eyes at the plausibility.
Writing
Pessl thinks she is a clever writer, and I'll admit (begrudgingly) that were some great passages. However, there was a lot of overwriting done too.
Overall thoughts
There was a blurb that a fan of Stieg Larsson's series would like this, but Night Film does not have the characters, plotting, or thematic tones that The Millennium Trilogy has. I thought this book was too long for what it really had, and the characters and believability issues need to be rethought. Though the themes of reality versus fantasy were interesting, I wanted more psychological reasoning and less gimmicks.
Scott McGrath is a washed up investigator journalist, who after publicly decrying a reclusive, disturbing, and cult-followed director, Stanislas Cordova, his career is in shambles. Scott McGrath deals with his life, but when the sudden suicide of Cordova's daughter, Ashley Cordova, happens he is on the case to figure out what happened. He is followed by Hopper, who keeps his own reasons as to helping out the investigation, and Nora who is a starry eyed Floridian who wants to act in New York but joins the chase. The investigation is not easy, and much like Cordova's films unravels to the darkest core of human nature.
My thoughts
First, I will say that my experience with mysteries and thrillers are limited. Beyond The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larson, I don't have much experience. I thought this would be a good character driven mystery, and some interesting psychological insights. Larson weaved his tale with socio-political commentary as well. This novel however fell flat on many different counts.
There were MOMENTS that I liked (there were some pretty creepy moments in this novel). However, I feel like this novel is too uneven for a mystery/thriller novel. The author did f*ck with my brain at times, but when the conclusion came I rolled my eyes.
Spoiler
for over two hundred pages we are lead to believe there is a supernatural element, by the end we find out that Ashley had cancer on and off. She was delusional because her mother brought a voodoo specialist for fun to her childhood home, and Ashley got caught up in it. Really? Two plot elements that are so much a trope, cliche, and trite? Those plot points annoyed me to no end.The saving grace for me is the idea of reality versus fantasy, and how it plays out in this novel. I did like that aspect, but I thought the conclusion was a lot of infodumping and not a lot of integration of previous information. I also felt extremely cheated, considering she used one cliche after another and by the end the ending did not feel satisfactory. Good mystery/thrillers have endings that keep you on the edge of your seat and when you find it out you wished you figured it out yourself.
This novel does not live up to the hype of its author or being a good mystery/thriller.
Characters
Thinly sketched out. I never really knew the people at all. Even though the Cordovas were an interesting enigma, it felt too unbelievable regarding certain things. Scott McGrath wasn't an interesting narrator at all. Hopper's place in this story was too easy to know, and wasn't that hard to figure out. Nora is just an odd character, and how any of these characters worked together is beyond me. I wanted more character moments in this story.
Premise
I liked the premise: reclusive/cult horror filmmaker daughter commits suicide, and journalist wants to find out why. I like film, and I wanted to know how it would be interwoven. Stanislas Cordova is what you get if you put Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarentino, and small auteur reclusive filmmakers is who you would get. However, the execution was less than stellar.
Pacing
It dragged at parts. This book could have been cut down to about five hundred pages, if she took out all the cheap tricks with the internet articles, photographs, and newspaper clippings. A lot of telling rather than showing happened. Lots of infodumping towards the end, which displeased me.
Believability
A lot of things in this book are hard to believe. The Cordova family would still have money, despite the fact that the director LOST DISTRIBUTION. If a film doesn't have wide distribution, it will be hard to make money and self-finance films. They own two huge estates, despite all this. Also, Theo Cordova created a language his family could speak? Really? That does not happen anywhere I know of. Ashley is the most perfect child ever, and prodigy?
Spoiler
Despite the fact that she's told the drugs she takes for her cancer will not allow her to become a pianist, and the opposite happens? Is that medically plausible?Writing
Pessl thinks she is a clever writer, and I'll admit (begrudgingly) that were some great passages. However, there was a lot of overwriting done too.
Overall thoughts
There was a blurb that a fan of Stieg Larsson's series would like this, but Night Film does not have the characters, plotting, or thematic tones that The Millennium Trilogy has. I thought this book was too long for what it really had, and the characters and believability issues need to be rethought. Though the themes of reality versus fantasy were interesting, I wanted more psychological reasoning and less gimmicks.
The more I think about this book the less I liked it. Cliche, drawn-out, & peppered with borderline offensive stereotypes. There were a few scenes of genuine suspense, but they all rely on you to “believe” what is happening - and I never did.
very interesting delve into an eccentric and mysterious filmmaker and the apparent suicide of his enigmatic gifted (and cursed?) daughter. the baggage that each of the characters brought to this story made them, as characters go, extremely interesting and realistic and somewhat unlikeable. but i'm not looking for friends in a book, i'm looking for great reading...
the quality of the writing was really stellar. exciting, thrilling, and downright scary at times.
there are a lot of twists and turns throughout the novel. each layer of the onion peeling away to reveal an even crazier character or event or story or memory. keeping me guessing what the hell was going to be uncovered.
i agree with other reviewers in that the ending was lackluster, especially when we had such a spectacular lead up. i wanted a little more of the mystery, the demons, the darkness....
but overall this is a great book, and i would highly recommend it
the quality of the writing was really stellar. exciting, thrilling, and downright scary at times.
there are a lot of twists and turns throughout the novel. each layer of the onion peeling away to reveal an even crazier character or event or story or memory. keeping me guessing what the hell was going to be uncovered.
i agree with other reviewers in that the ending was lackluster, especially when we had such a spectacular lead up. i wanted a little more of the mystery, the demons, the darkness....
but overall this is a great book, and i would highly recommend it
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Night Film is just as spectacular as I remember it being. It's the book equivalent of going down the rabbit hole. Our protagonist, Scott McGrath, a failed investigative journalist, is obsessed with the Truth, but as a reader... the journey itself is simply so epic, so full of tension, and so thrilling, you end up not caring quite so much what the Truth really is. Which, luckily for me, makes the experience of re-reading this book just as fun as it was first time round :')
dark
mysterious
slow-paced