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angelsv's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
elena_1902's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
laila4343's review against another edition
4.0
Nemirovsky is an absolutely marvelous writer. I am so thankful her manuscripts were found and published all these years later. This reminded me of the section "Dolce" in Suite Francaise. I get lost in her lush, descriptive writing and her feel for the human condition. Not as brilliant as that novel, but very, very good.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
4.0
A drowning in an insular French village opens up a can of worms in an "idyllic" village and an "idyllic" marriage. This very short novel, narrated by Silvio, seems to be the answer to the previously jotted down ideas by Nemirovsky of the purity of the parents who were guilty when they were young.
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
This novel was discovered many years after Irene Nemirovsky's tragic death. It is technically unfinished, but not to the point where it cannot be read and enjoyed. The narrator is Silvio, aged in his 60s, who lives alone just outside a small French village. In his youth he traveled the world and had affairs, but now he regards that younger self as being so removed from him that it's almost as if it were someone else. He believes that "fire in the blood" is only for the young: living life with passion and disregard for the consequences.
The book takes place over a few years, as Silvio observes the actions of the younger people in the village. It is only towards the end of the book that we realise the secrets that connect them all.
It's a beautifully written story that develops at its own pace. You can almost see the village, smell the lavender, hear the insects buzzing, taste the rustic soup. It's a shame that the ending is as abrupt as it is. It's not that you're left wondering what was going to happen, but more that you feel cheated of having the ends neatly tied up. Nevertheless a lyrical, evocative read.
The book takes place over a few years, as Silvio observes the actions of the younger people in the village. It is only towards the end of the book that we realise the secrets that connect them all.
It's a beautifully written story that develops at its own pace. You can almost see the village, smell the lavender, hear the insects buzzing, taste the rustic soup. It's a shame that the ending is as abrupt as it is. It's not that you're left wondering what was going to happen, but more that you feel cheated of having the ends neatly tied up. Nevertheless a lyrical, evocative read.
nationofkim's review against another edition
4.0
the story behind the book was almost as great as the book itself.
wsk56's review
3.0
Although Suite Francaise is a better book, Fire in the Blood is interesting because it illuminates rural life in France among those who have held their land for hundreds of years. They are not wealthy, but not peasants either. This group of middle class landowners keep to themselves and don't air their private lives publicly. Irene Nemirovsky was a French writer of Ukranian-Jewish descent who was arrested as a Jew and died at Auschwitz. She completed these two novels as part of a planned series of 5 books. The manuscripts were preserved by her daughters and published in 2004.
lindseysparks's review against another edition
3.0
This was good but felt a bit unfinished. The bones of the story are here but there's some character development or something missing, which is completely understandable because the was cleaning it up when she was taken to Auschwitz.
The story starts really slow and then spirals into all these infidelities that we're interesting but lacked some of the punch because you didn't know the characters well yet.
The story starts really slow and then spirals into all these infidelities that we're interesting but lacked some of the punch because you didn't know the characters well yet.
belduran's review against another edition
4.0
El primer libro del año. Me gustó mucho.
Una historia sobre los efectos de la guerra en la pequeña burguesía: la pérdida, el desamor, la pobreza y la crianza en soledad.
Se lee rápido y está muy bien narrado. La construcción de los personajes es muy buena, pero lo que más me llamó la atención es el detalle y la precisión al mostrar el contexto.
Una historia sobre los efectos de la guerra en la pequeña burguesía: la pérdida, el desamor, la pobreza y la crianza en soledad.
Se lee rápido y está muy bien narrado. La construcción de los personajes es muy buena, pero lo que más me llamó la atención es el detalle y la precisión al mostrar el contexto.