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mad_eleine_c's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
servemethesky's review against another edition
2.0
HALLELUJAH! I FINALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK!
Wow. Rochester Knockings was pretty terrible. I was excited to read it, because I was a history major in college and I live in (and love) Rochester. I knew of the Fox sisters and thought a neat work of fiction about them would be quite enjoyable. Sadly, it wasn't. I'm not sure if the original text was bad, or if something is very much lost in translation, but this little novel was exceedingly difficult to read. The language is clunky. It's verbose. Some of it is written from a childlike perspective that doesn't seem to add much to things. I think the novel also struggles with being a novel. It wants to stick to the truth, and has so little plot it almost feels like it's nonfiction. You could have done so much more with this, Haddad, if you just let it be fiction! Instead, we're stuck drudging through the lives of the three Fox sisters.
It's cool to see Rochester in the 1800s; I never knew what a bleak ending the Fox sisters had. Those are about the only two positives I have to take away from this reading experience. Don't bother with this one, folks.
Wow. Rochester Knockings was pretty terrible. I was excited to read it, because I was a history major in college and I live in (and love) Rochester. I knew of the Fox sisters and thought a neat work of fiction about them would be quite enjoyable. Sadly, it wasn't. I'm not sure if the original text was bad, or if something is very much lost in translation, but this little novel was exceedingly difficult to read. The language is clunky. It's verbose. Some of it is written from a childlike perspective that doesn't seem to add much to things. I think the novel also struggles with being a novel. It wants to stick to the truth, and has so little plot it almost feels like it's nonfiction. You could have done so much more with this, Haddad, if you just let it be fiction! Instead, we're stuck drudging through the lives of the three Fox sisters.
It's cool to see Rochester in the 1800s; I never knew what a bleak ending the Fox sisters had. Those are about the only two positives I have to take away from this reading experience. Don't bother with this one, folks.
lady_ness's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mfeldma3's review
4.0
A tale of the Fox Sisters, mediums from Rochester, NY whose communications with spirits in their Hydesville farmhouse started the modern spiritualist movement. Three stars awarded for the book itself - took me a long time to get through, and my investment in the characters came and went. Fourth star given for my own biases - as a native of Rochester, NY it was cool to read such descriptions of the city, its industry, and the historical characters & moments peppered throughout, especially from the perspective of a Tunisian author. The language was beautiful, poetic, unique, and the book itself a product of intense historical research; at times its list of names and places read like a history textbook instead of a novel, which was either unwelcome or welcome, but always gave me pause on what a feat of translation this was.
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