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A review by annemaries_shelves
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars
Even as a debut author, I can see the writer Emily St John Mandel matures into.
It's good - but not yet great.
But first and foremost it's so damn melancholic. At its heart, Last Night in Montreal is about what lengths family will go to protect those they love, and the lengths some people will go to find someone so tangential to their lives who nevertheless makes a huge impact.
It's philosophical (or tries to be - which is part of commentary by characters themselves) and obsessed with the idea of performing life and performing art, rather than living it.
Much of the literary content are seeds that will bloom in her later novels. There were a lot of passages that I've dogeared because of they were so eloquently expressive of an idea or emotion.
My favourite element is the partial Montreal setting. It's one of my favourite cities, and I was delighted by my personal connections to those scenes. That said, I'll never look at Place des Arts metro the same way again, which is a shame because it's one of my favourite stations... kidding (kind of). The characters are also weirdly obsessed with the language divide and how cold Montreal gets in the winter... I mean it's cold but not *that* cold.
Because it was written in 2009, the novel does feel of its time and she sometimes errs too close to "manic traumatized dream girl" with Lilia's characterization.
Overall, a strong (and short) debut and it scratched the itch for more of St John Mandel's writing after reading Sea of Tranquility.
Even as a debut author, I can see the writer Emily St John Mandel matures into.
It's good - but not yet great.
But first and foremost it's so damn melancholic. At its heart, Last Night in Montreal is about what lengths family will go to protect those they love, and the lengths some people will go to find someone so tangential to their lives who nevertheless makes a huge impact.
It's philosophical (or tries to be - which is part of commentary by characters themselves) and obsessed with the idea of performing life and performing art, rather than living it.
Much of the literary content are seeds that will bloom in her later novels. There were a lot of passages that I've dogeared because of they were so eloquently expressive of an idea or emotion.
My favourite element is the partial Montreal setting. It's one of my favourite cities, and I was delighted by my personal connections to those scenes. That said, I'll never look at Place des Arts metro the same way again, which is a shame because it's one of my favourite stations... kidding (kind of). The characters are also weirdly obsessed with the language divide and how cold Montreal gets in the winter... I mean it's cold but not *that* cold.
Because it was written in 2009, the novel does feel of its time and she sometimes errs too close to "manic traumatized dream girl" with Lilia's characterization.
Overall, a strong (and short) debut and it scratched the itch for more of St John Mandel's writing after reading Sea of Tranquility.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Child abuse and Car accident