biancaducks 's review for:

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

5.0

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This is a book about real things and what people imagine. Or, it is a book about imaginary things that have some basis in reality. This is a book about the way people are. Or, this is a book about the way people want to be. Masks or faces? That is the overall question of this book. Like The Illuminaries, this book took a good 150 pages to really get into. I was enjoying the ride, but not compelled to read it. Then, suddenly, BAM I WAS IN. And once you're in, you're definitely enjoying yourself. This book tries and tries again to throw you out (picture- a wooden roller coaster). You're reading and then suddenly are like "there's no way she said that" or "no 17 year old talks like that". But, that's the point. Catton puts words to our deepest feelings--and they're good words. In the end, I care less about what actually happened in the book and more about how I feel about what might have happened. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the point (I think).