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mrchance 's review for:
Night Film
by Marisha Pessl
Poor Night Film fell by the wayside as I got distracted by other books. As a result, I felt that Night Film itself started to fall apart near the end. The problem is that it's trying to be two different things. There's a quote on the back describing it as, "A literary mystery that's also a page-turner." Good description. Unfortunately, it gets too page-turnery during a strange shift in structure about 3/4 through the end of the book. At that point, it becomes focused more on finding answers than it does on the emotions and feelings behind them. And to start funneling the reader down a hallway where he expects answers, and then to not deliver them, is a cop-out.
I didn't even want answers going into this. The mystery is so dark and rich and wonderful, I didn't want it to end. Answers ruin the mystery. It happens on TV all the time when a show has to cater to those who demand false closure in order to go on with their lives. It happened with Lost, and it happens with Night Film.
But an ending does not define a book. The set-up is so great, and it could be *more* than just set-up if things were structured differently. Pessl does a fracking brilliant job at creating fake magazine articles, message board posts, and newspaper clippings that feel real. The mysterious horror film director Cordova's entire filmography feels real, and Pessl chooses the perfect details to make these movies seem like disturbing masterpieces that I /need/ to see.
The narrator, however, is a mistake. It's like Pessl gets it, but she's writing someone who doesn't quite it. I don't want to go on a journey of self-discovery with a 40-something douchebag who should have learned his lesson 20 years ago. I want a guide who already knows what he's talking about.
My recommendation is to read Night Film for a night. In the dark and quiet. Get as far as you can get before you put it down, because you're tired, creeped out, bored, whatever. And that's it. Leave the rest open to your imagination. That's the way it should be.
I didn't even want answers going into this. The mystery is so dark and rich and wonderful, I didn't want it to end. Answers ruin the mystery. It happens on TV all the time when a show has to cater to those who demand false closure in order to go on with their lives. It happened with Lost, and it happens with Night Film.
But an ending does not define a book. The set-up is so great, and it could be *more* than just set-up if things were structured differently. Pessl does a fracking brilliant job at creating fake magazine articles, message board posts, and newspaper clippings that feel real. The mysterious horror film director Cordova's entire filmography feels real, and Pessl chooses the perfect details to make these movies seem like disturbing masterpieces that I /need/ to see.
The narrator, however, is a mistake. It's like Pessl gets it, but she's writing someone who doesn't quite it. I don't want to go on a journey of self-discovery with a 40-something douchebag who should have learned his lesson 20 years ago. I want a guide who already knows what he's talking about.
My recommendation is to read Night Film for a night. In the dark and quiet. Get as far as you can get before you put it down, because you're tired, creeped out, bored, whatever. And that's it. Leave the rest open to your imagination. That's the way it should be.