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A review by eschoeps
Devotion by Michelle Herman
2.0
Quit reading at about page 171.
Ack! I hate when I get really hyped for things that really let me down. I was supposed to see this author read at an event near me, but a friend's ex-boyfriend's mother was going to be there (haha)...
So I bought the book. An autographed copy! And it didn't even cost more!
But there was a red flag... The image on the front cover is pixellated? But you can't really tell unless you look closely. From far away, it looks okay. But if you turn it over, the image on the back cover is horrendous. It's the same image as the one on the front, but zoomed in INTENSELY. Wow. It's so pixellated.
Me, screaming in my head, repeatedly, : "THE AUTHOR IS A PROFESSOR. DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER." I bought the book anyways.
I have to say though, WOW. I don't mean to make this review a dump of personal information, but I've done a little bit of publication work; you shouldn't release a pixellated image. Especially for covers! It doesn't even look okay when nestled within a paper-thin weekly black and white newspaper. Now, moving on because I'm a terrible, superficial human being who is concerned with BOOK COVERS.
This book is about a young girl who marries her much older vocal teacher after a fling. MUCH older. She's pregnant, and her relationship with her family and friends is wrecked. The vocal teacher is "Old World" (pretty sure Hungarian), and young girl (Esther) is New York New York.
The entire novel mostly takes place within Esther's head and Esther's son's (Alexander) head. There are only a few scenes. The first scene is directly after the wedding. Because they are eloping, Esther and her husband, János Bartha, have a simple ceremony with his cousin Vilmos and his wife Clara. Esther is disappointed by the lack of significance that the ceremony holds. For her, she thinks that it is supposed to change her world. She realizes that she is marrying a man she barely knows, running away from everything she has ever known, etc. This scene continues this way, slowly, internal, for about 70 pages. Small, external events happen-- Vilmos toasts their passion, Esther questions whether they are in love or passionate; Esther is distracted by the menu, Bartha orders for her, this reminds Esther of her controlling father, she reminisces about her family.
Writing this, it doesn't sound so bad. And honestly, it wasn't. It kind of continues like this, lukewarm, vaguely interesting, seemingly connected. Maybe you can pull something from it. A few little moments are pretty, and Herman seems to try to put a lot of weight into gestures. But I honestly just didn't feel like I knew the characters.
Even after reading all of this stuff, I never stopped feeling like I did at the beginning of the book when I had just read the blurb. I barely knew who the characters were, and I'm unsure what kind of message the theme is working towards. A helpful blurb from the back I kept in mind was "Michelle Herman's beautifully written and wise novel probes the crucial and enduring questions of how we choose our paths in life."
Honestly, I had no answers to the questions of why the characters chose what they chose or even why I should care. The main character just seemed young and confused. Her husband was mysterious and so "Old World" that he was unfathomable and absent. His key feature is that he is distant and unfathomable. He isn't controlling like her father, but he's blank. But, so is she?
She realizes that her oncoming marriage is terrifying and perilous, but then she just sucks it up. I guess that's why I kept reading this one for a while. I was really waiting for a literary twist, for something to happen. For the climax where she stands up and says that she isn't okay. And maybe it comes later. But so far, there was just quiet musing, little connections, small external actions that lead to little thought trails. It just trails and trails and trails and trails and trails.
Ack! I hate when I get really hyped for things that really let me down. I was supposed to see this author read at an event near me, but a friend's ex-boyfriend's mother was going to be there (haha)...
So I bought the book. An autographed copy! And it didn't even cost more!
But there was a red flag... The image on the front cover is pixellated? But you can't really tell unless you look closely. From far away, it looks okay. But if you turn it over, the image on the back cover is horrendous. It's the same image as the one on the front, but zoomed in INTENSELY. Wow. It's so pixellated.
Me, screaming in my head, repeatedly, : "THE AUTHOR IS A PROFESSOR. DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER." I bought the book anyways.
I have to say though, WOW. I don't mean to make this review a dump of personal information, but I've done a little bit of publication work; you shouldn't release a pixellated image. Especially for covers! It doesn't even look okay when nestled within a paper-thin weekly black and white newspaper. Now, moving on because I'm a terrible, superficial human being who is concerned with BOOK COVERS.
This book is about a young girl who marries her much older vocal teacher after a fling. MUCH older. She's pregnant, and her relationship with her family and friends is wrecked. The vocal teacher is "Old World" (pretty sure Hungarian), and young girl (Esther) is New York New York.
The entire novel mostly takes place within Esther's head and Esther's son's (Alexander) head. There are only a few scenes. The first scene is directly after the wedding. Because they are eloping, Esther and her husband, János Bartha, have a simple ceremony with his cousin Vilmos and his wife Clara. Esther is disappointed by the lack of significance that the ceremony holds. For her, she thinks that it is supposed to change her world. She realizes that she is marrying a man she barely knows, running away from everything she has ever known, etc. This scene continues this way, slowly, internal, for about 70 pages. Small, external events happen-- Vilmos toasts their passion, Esther questions whether they are in love or passionate; Esther is distracted by the menu, Bartha orders for her, this reminds Esther of her controlling father, she reminisces about her family.
Writing this, it doesn't sound so bad. And honestly, it wasn't. It kind of continues like this, lukewarm, vaguely interesting, seemingly connected. Maybe you can pull something from it. A few little moments are pretty, and Herman seems to try to put a lot of weight into gestures. But I honestly just didn't feel like I knew the characters.
Even after reading all of this stuff, I never stopped feeling like I did at the beginning of the book when I had just read the blurb. I barely knew who the characters were, and I'm unsure what kind of message the theme is working towards. A helpful blurb from the back I kept in mind was "Michelle Herman's beautifully written and wise novel probes the crucial and enduring questions of how we choose our paths in life."
Honestly, I had no answers to the questions of why the characters chose what they chose or even why I should care. The main character just seemed young and confused. Her husband was mysterious and so "Old World" that he was unfathomable and absent. His key feature is that he is distant and unfathomable. He isn't controlling like her father, but he's blank. But, so is she?
She realizes that her oncoming marriage is terrifying and perilous, but then she just sucks it up. I guess that's why I kept reading this one for a while. I was really waiting for a literary twist, for something to happen. For the climax where she stands up and says that she isn't okay. And maybe it comes later. But so far, there was just quiet musing, little connections, small external actions that lead to little thought trails. It just trails and trails and trails and trails and trails.