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A review by jeanetterenee
Day for Night by Frederick Reiken
4.0
"...I promise you that nothing, in the end, will seem conclusive. Stories are like dreams in this way. They happen. They do not happen. They are right here. They exist in some other place entirely."
This book has an unconventional format and may be mistaken for a short story collection, but I assure you it is a novel. The strange format is what kept me glued to the book, and I polished it off within 24 hours.
It's best to be mostly clueless going into this book, so I suggest avoiding reviews that might set up expectations before you start. With that in mind, my review will be deliberately vague.
Each chapter is narrated by a different character who describes an experience or series of events in his or her life. All of the events are in some way connected to the experiences of all the other characters, but this is not readily apparent. Finding out how all the people's lives intersect, and how those meetings alter outcomes, is the fun of starting each new chapter.
The book is a mystery, but not in the traditional sense. More like a mystery of life, and how a random event in your life could lead to a major change in someone else's life. Might even make you think about woo-woo stuff like the six degrees of separation and the nature of what we choose to call reality. As one character puts it: "...what we comprehend about this world may always be called into question."
Outstanding writing quality throughout the book. There's a lot of interesting Jewish lore sprinkled here and there. Some of it no doubt went right past me, goy that I am. There's also a bit of an exotic wildlife theme---not central to the story but I really enjoyed reading about the various animals. The first chapter made me want to go swim with the manatees!
This book has an unconventional format and may be mistaken for a short story collection, but I assure you it is a novel. The strange format is what kept me glued to the book, and I polished it off within 24 hours.
It's best to be mostly clueless going into this book, so I suggest avoiding reviews that might set up expectations before you start. With that in mind, my review will be deliberately vague.
Each chapter is narrated by a different character who describes an experience or series of events in his or her life. All of the events are in some way connected to the experiences of all the other characters, but this is not readily apparent. Finding out how all the people's lives intersect, and how those meetings alter outcomes, is the fun of starting each new chapter.
The book is a mystery, but not in the traditional sense. More like a mystery of life, and how a random event in your life could lead to a major change in someone else's life. Might even make you think about woo-woo stuff like the six degrees of separation and the nature of what we choose to call reality. As one character puts it: "...what we comprehend about this world may always be called into question."
Outstanding writing quality throughout the book. There's a lot of interesting Jewish lore sprinkled here and there. Some of it no doubt went right past me, goy that I am. There's also a bit of an exotic wildlife theme---not central to the story but I really enjoyed reading about the various animals. The first chapter made me want to go swim with the manatees!