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The Weight Of Nothing
MEMORY. REGRET. REVENGE. FORGIVENESS. Steven Gillis’ second novel, THE WEIGHT OF NOTHING, explores these issues through the eyes of Bailey Finne, a gifted pianist who has nonetheless forsaken his talent to become a perpetual graduate student in Art History. Niles Kelly, his somnambulistic friend with Albert Camus for a muse, is the heir to a fortune he has rejected and carries the burden of the unresolved deaths of both his father and lover at the hands of a mysterious bomber. Together Bailey and Niles journey to Algiers to confront that which has haunted each of them for years. Following a tragic end to his time in North Africa, Bailey returns to his hometown in an effort to reconcile his familial losses, lack of ambition, and love for his girlfriend, Elizabeth. Gillis skillfully weaves this compelling tale of mystery, love, music and art into a dramatic story that unfolds as a spiritual odyssey in search of truth and redemption in the midst of unspeakable violence.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 15, 2023
Steven Gillis has a way of writing that I enjoy.I was very surprised with how much this book has stuck with me and the ending had me on the edge of my seat!
August 15, 2007
I'm not really going to talk about this book because I did not enjoy the majority of it. For me it was just too wordy, not real and too philosophical. Mind you if I was someone interested in philosophy than maybe I would have connected with this book a lot more. But I'm not and I didn't.
I didn't connect with any of the characters or what they were going through. The entire time I felt that I was just watching them from some rooftop. The casual outside observer. The fact that all the dialogue was extremely dry and fake sounding didn't help me bond either.
There were moments that I did start getting hooked and didn't want to put down the book, but they would more than likely be ruined by some sort of artsy or philosophical comment. Some of it I understood, a lot of it I didn't, and that was what killed the book for me. I don't think I was expecting something this intense and the book honestly was intense.
That's it. The book killed any sort of depth I could give this review. I don't want to think about it anymore, let's just put it behind me now.
I didn't connect with any of the characters or what they were going through. The entire time I felt that I was just watching them from some rooftop. The casual outside observer. The fact that all the dialogue was extremely dry and fake sounding didn't help me bond either.
There were moments that I did start getting hooked and didn't want to put down the book, but they would more than likely be ruined by some sort of artsy or philosophical comment. Some of it I understood, a lot of it I didn't, and that was what killed the book for me. I don't think I was expecting something this intense and the book honestly was intense.
That's it. The book killed any sort of depth I could give this review. I don't want to think about it anymore, let's just put it behind me now.
June 16, 2009
My kids gave me this book for Mother's Day - local author. Very confusing - I couldn't keep the characters straight, and they were all very strange. Decent writing, some beautiful paragraphs.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews