Violet’s review of The Nightingale > Likes and Comments
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Good review, Violet. I like it when people think critically about what they've read instead of mindlessly going along with the crowd. That's exactly what you did here. Sad, isn't it, that so many bad books become blockbuster movies..
Thanks Mona. I almost didn't write a review for this because i felt guilty for not sharing the love almost everyone else seems to feel for this book. And because the end moved me in a way I was completely unprepared for which definitely was a clever trick.
Incisive review, articulating the books shortcomings and acknowledging its merits. I like the way you characterise the village as the distillation of all the bad of WW2.
You did find some redemption in the ending, after all, Violet! But not enough, huh? But your review is coherent, precise and directional; as per usual :)
I was completely unprepared for the emotional power of the ending, Seemita even though I knew what was coming. It almost made me feel I had been unduly harsh on the rest of the novel. Perhaps I have? But essentially it's commercial writing without the thrilling artistry of All the Light so to my mind any comparisons are doing Anthony Doerr a massive disservice.
I understand your predicament there. It happens with the books we love that we come to be protective about them. I have Doerr's ATLWCS lying for far too long on my TBR. It needs to be bumped up!
You have a keen eye and analytical mind, combined with a remarkable ability to express your thoughts clearly. A masterful review, Violet.
Don't know about that Karen but thanks!
I think I am a more gullible reader Violet, and so I can easily envision myself being more generous with my rating, if moved by an ending. But whatever the case, two things I know for sure. First, that I need to read ATLWCS and second, that I will watch rather than read this story. Thanks for another cogent review, as per usual.
I try hard to be gullible Dolors because I think it's the part of the suspension of disbelief mindset you need to make reading an active experience but I get irritated when I feel I'm being manipulated by hyperbole. In this novel everything that happened in France during WW2 happens to these two women. You name it and it's checklisted and there. It's a shame because with less insecurity and more subtlety this could have been a decent novel.
Violet wrote: "I try hard to be gullible Dolors because I think it's the part of the suspension of disbelief mindset you need to make reading an active experience but I get irritated when I feel I'm being manipul..."
Yes, overstating the point can lead to unbelievable, almost eye-rolling frustration and achieve the opposite effect on the reader, I completely agree. I guess it's a matter of noticing that you are being manipulated, or if you are, that it's being done in a tasteful/artful manner, and that requires a discriminating eye, which you clearly have!
I agree All the Light was better. So much more sophisticated than this book. I give this book credit for the storytelling but you are right in pointing out its flaws. I might have to downgrade my rating now.
I'm just stingy with my stars Naomi! It is good page-turning storytelling.
I really appreciate this review. I am reading it now and likely won't finish it. No time for this when there are great book out there like All the Light. I want a book that on top of being a good read, is going to make me see something in a new way and touch me. nightingale is not doing it.
I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it. Where you call it melodramatic and - I forget your wording - that what could go wrong in France in WWII actually went wrong for these women... I see your point, but when I read a novel, I expect to be entertained and for the historical accuracy to be a bit over exaggerated. I enjoyed this book immensely but perhaps your right - the ending is so well done and moving that it cures any faults I found with it up until then. I struggled with this book in the beginning mostly because I hated the characters personalities, but I'm glad I pushed through. What struck me about your review was that you compared it to All the Light... I've just begun that book, and I am STRUGGLING. I feel nothing for the characters and I dislike the writer's style; yet you enjoyed that more than this one. Should I press on with All the Light? Or, if I loved the Nightingale as much as I did, will All the Light be a lost cause? Thanks!
Lots of people have loved both books, Patricia and I'm in a massive minority to have felt little love for The Nightingale. The plot is much more high octane than All the Light which is perhaps more focused on language. I see you've already read more than 100 pages of and if you don't like it so far I'm guessing you never will as it continues more or less in the same vein. To each their own though. It'd be a dull world if we all agreed all the time!
We're a rare species, Pamela! I've never seen a best selling novel with such a high percentage of five star reviews as The Nightingale.
Maybe I should press on with Nightengale. It does not seem like anything special. Maybe it gets better? I'm on chapter 6
Might this be your Bel Canto Violet ;)
Excellent Review.
Pamela-I enjoyed Nightingale so much more than All the Light....was torture to finish it.
Patricia wrote: "I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it. Where you call it melodramatic and - I forget your wording - that what could go wrong in France in WWII actually went wr..."
I loved BOTH Nightingale AND All the Light - for me, they were both 5-star books, and not really comparable except that they both took place in France during WWII. I am so bummed you didn't like this book, Violet, but each to his own. I agree completely with Patricia when she says ""I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it." It IS a great review, Violet, and thanks so much for posting it! I wish you'd received the same enjoyment from it that I found.
I think my hopes were up too high, Paula. It's definitely a novel that eventually gets you emotionally involved and I can see why most people love it, especially because the end is truly powerful and moving. I think for me she just threw in too much drama.
Ha ha Jaidee. I think I'm going to try Bel Canto though.
Thanks, Paula! That's good to know. I think I'll continue on with All the Light simply because I hate giving up on a book... But since you loved both, maybe there's hope for me! Thanks!
I'll be interested in what you make of it Elyse if you do read it. If nothing else it shows how important the ending of a novel is in terms of garnering praise. You do kind of forget how implausible you found much of the early drama in this novel by the time you reach the much more compelling climax.
I have read both... I liked the Nightingale better!!
Forgot to add.., I don't need a level of sophistication in what I read... just a good moving novel... It took me a long time to read All the Light.... I could not put down the Nightingale
I've got this perverse thing Karen where I don't enjoy books i can read too quickly! I agree The Nightingale was really easy to read - like always cycling downhill - whereas with All the Light you sometimes had to get off your bike and wheel it up steep hills - but that done there were some terrific views.
another thorough and fully reasoned review from Violet. I suspect that if my disbelief had beensuspended that far, I would not have persisted to the end. Then I would clearly have missed something really well conceived and handled. Sadly, I am left wanting to read more Violet reviews rather than the book.
What a brilliant review Violet! I agree 1000%.
Violet wrote: "I've got this perverse thing Karen where I don't enjoy books i can read too quickly! I agree The Nightingale was really easy to read - like always cycling downhill - whereas with All the Light you ..." Great analogy - you have a wonderful way with words Violet.
MomToKippy wrote: "What a brilliant review Violet! I agree 1000%."
I remember reading your review when i was about half way through. You were just about the only person who wasn't gushing.
Perhaps the tidal wave of praise overwhelms those who are more critical or don't want to diss their friends. I have no such tact. lol
i am only at chapter 10 and dissaointed. i question how a married teenage girl in Europe would go to the Univrersity. A
career woman wife and mother in pre-ww2 Europe? If i was not so obsessive about finishing a book I'd drop this one.
I don't recall the married teenage girl, Mimi. Was that Vianne? I agree she often resorted to highly implausible scenarios to pump up the plot adrenaline though!
I appreciate your review. I didn't get far before realizing that it seemed written like a romance novel with little care for language, and description that I found trite and cliché. I may go back and read it now after reading your review, and try to focus on the storytelling.
The second half is better than the first Betsey but it's a bit of a struggle getting there because of, as you say, all the trite descriptions and cliche.
yes to your review- I am halfway into the book and have been feeling exactly this way. you nailed it.
I'm glad I read your review, because I had this book on my list, but I am reading All the Light We Cannot See right now and I couldn't agree with you more! I'm afraid The Nightingale would be a big disappointment after reading All the Light. Unfortunately, I'm worried about any book being a disappointment after All the Light We Cannot See!
While you make a good point, I get sense that you're damning the whole book because the language wasn't poetic. "All the Light You Cannot See" was better crafted, but I was bored to tears through most of it.
I'm so glad to see your review. I kept thinking something was wrong with me when I was yelling at the audio book at every cliched similie and informed attempts at character development. I cannot finish this book.
I have not read All the Light You Cannot See and I also gave this 2 stars.
So glad to see this! I am about 20 pages in and am already disgusted by the overuse of cliche. I thought I was alone in this and I'm glad to see it isn't just me. :)
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.
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Jul 28, 2015 03:59AM
Good review, Violet. I like it when people think critically about what they've read instead of mindlessly going along with the crowd. That's exactly what you did here. Sad, isn't it, that so many bad books become blockbuster movies..
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Thanks Mona. I almost didn't write a review for this because i felt guilty for not sharing the love almost everyone else seems to feel for this book. And because the end moved me in a way I was completely unprepared for which definitely was a clever trick.
Incisive review, articulating the books shortcomings and acknowledging its merits. I like the way you characterise the village as the distillation of all the bad of WW2.
You did find some redemption in the ending, after all, Violet! But not enough, huh? But your review is coherent, precise and directional; as per usual :)
I was completely unprepared for the emotional power of the ending, Seemita even though I knew what was coming. It almost made me feel I had been unduly harsh on the rest of the novel. Perhaps I have? But essentially it's commercial writing without the thrilling artistry of All the Light so to my mind any comparisons are doing Anthony Doerr a massive disservice.
I understand your predicament there. It happens with the books we love that we come to be protective about them. I have Doerr's ATLWCS lying for far too long on my TBR. It needs to be bumped up!
You have a keen eye and analytical mind, combined with a remarkable ability to express your thoughts clearly. A masterful review, Violet.
Don't know about that Karen but thanks!
I think I am a more gullible reader Violet, and so I can easily envision myself being more generous with my rating, if moved by an ending. But whatever the case, two things I know for sure. First, that I need to read ATLWCS and second, that I will watch rather than read this story. Thanks for another cogent review, as per usual.
I try hard to be gullible Dolors because I think it's the part of the suspension of disbelief mindset you need to make reading an active experience but I get irritated when I feel I'm being manipulated by hyperbole. In this novel everything that happened in France during WW2 happens to these two women. You name it and it's checklisted and there. It's a shame because with less insecurity and more subtlety this could have been a decent novel.
Violet wrote: "I try hard to be gullible Dolors because I think it's the part of the suspension of disbelief mindset you need to make reading an active experience but I get irritated when I feel I'm being manipul..."Yes, overstating the point can lead to unbelievable, almost eye-rolling frustration and achieve the opposite effect on the reader, I completely agree. I guess it's a matter of noticing that you are being manipulated, or if you are, that it's being done in a tasteful/artful manner, and that requires a discriminating eye, which you clearly have!
I agree All the Light was better. So much more sophisticated than this book. I give this book credit for the storytelling but you are right in pointing out its flaws. I might have to downgrade my rating now.
I'm just stingy with my stars Naomi! It is good page-turning storytelling.
I really appreciate this review. I am reading it now and likely won't finish it. No time for this when there are great book out there like All the Light. I want a book that on top of being a good read, is going to make me see something in a new way and touch me. nightingale is not doing it.
I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it. Where you call it melodramatic and - I forget your wording - that what could go wrong in France in WWII actually went wrong for these women... I see your point, but when I read a novel, I expect to be entertained and for the historical accuracy to be a bit over exaggerated. I enjoyed this book immensely but perhaps your right - the ending is so well done and moving that it cures any faults I found with it up until then. I struggled with this book in the beginning mostly because I hated the characters personalities, but I'm glad I pushed through. What struck me about your review was that you compared it to All the Light... I've just begun that book, and I am STRUGGLING. I feel nothing for the characters and I dislike the writer's style; yet you enjoyed that more than this one. Should I press on with All the Light? Or, if I loved the Nightingale as much as I did, will All the Light be a lost cause? Thanks!
Lots of people have loved both books, Patricia and I'm in a massive minority to have felt little love for The Nightingale. The plot is much more high octane than All the Light which is perhaps more focused on language. I see you've already read more than 100 pages of and if you don't like it so far I'm guessing you never will as it continues more or less in the same vein. To each their own though. It'd be a dull world if we all agreed all the time!
We're a rare species, Pamela! I've never seen a best selling novel with such a high percentage of five star reviews as The Nightingale.
Maybe I should press on with Nightengale. It does not seem like anything special. Maybe it gets better? I'm on chapter 6
Might this be your Bel Canto Violet ;)Excellent Review.
Pamela-I enjoyed Nightingale so much more than All the Light....was torture to finish it.
Patricia wrote: "I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it. Where you call it melodramatic and - I forget your wording - that what could go wrong in France in WWII actually went wr..."I loved BOTH Nightingale AND All the Light - for me, they were both 5-star books, and not really comparable except that they both took place in France during WWII. I am so bummed you didn't like this book, Violet, but each to his own. I agree completely with Patricia when she says ""I appreciated your review, despite the fact that I disagree with much of it." It IS a great review, Violet, and thanks so much for posting it! I wish you'd received the same enjoyment from it that I found.
I think my hopes were up too high, Paula. It's definitely a novel that eventually gets you emotionally involved and I can see why most people love it, especially because the end is truly powerful and moving. I think for me she just threw in too much drama.
Ha ha Jaidee. I think I'm going to try Bel Canto though.
Thanks, Paula! That's good to know. I think I'll continue on with All the Light simply because I hate giving up on a book... But since you loved both, maybe there's hope for me! Thanks!
I'll be interested in what you make of it Elyse if you do read it. If nothing else it shows how important the ending of a novel is in terms of garnering praise. You do kind of forget how implausible you found much of the early drama in this novel by the time you reach the much more compelling climax.
I have read both... I liked the Nightingale better!!
Forgot to add.., I don't need a level of sophistication in what I read... just a good moving novel... It took me a long time to read All the Light.... I could not put down the Nightingale
I've got this perverse thing Karen where I don't enjoy books i can read too quickly! I agree The Nightingale was really easy to read - like always cycling downhill - whereas with All the Light you sometimes had to get off your bike and wheel it up steep hills - but that done there were some terrific views.
another thorough and fully reasoned review from Violet. I suspect that if my disbelief had beensuspended that far, I would not have persisted to the end. Then I would clearly have missed something really well conceived and handled. Sadly, I am left wanting to read more Violet reviews rather than the book.
What a brilliant review Violet! I agree 1000%.
Violet wrote: "I've got this perverse thing Karen where I don't enjoy books i can read too quickly! I agree The Nightingale was really easy to read - like always cycling downhill - whereas with All the Light you ..." Great analogy - you have a wonderful way with words Violet.
MomToKippy wrote: "What a brilliant review Violet! I agree 1000%."I remember reading your review when i was about half way through. You were just about the only person who wasn't gushing.
Perhaps the tidal wave of praise overwhelms those who are more critical or don't want to diss their friends. I have no such tact. lol
i am only at chapter 10 and dissaointed. i question how a married teenage girl in Europe would go to the Univrersity. Acareer woman wife and mother in pre-ww2 Europe? If i was not so obsessive about finishing a book I'd drop this one.
I don't recall the married teenage girl, Mimi. Was that Vianne? I agree she often resorted to highly implausible scenarios to pump up the plot adrenaline though!
I appreciate your review. I didn't get far before realizing that it seemed written like a romance novel with little care for language, and description that I found trite and cliché. I may go back and read it now after reading your review, and try to focus on the storytelling.
The second half is better than the first Betsey but it's a bit of a struggle getting there because of, as you say, all the trite descriptions and cliche.
yes to your review- I am halfway into the book and have been feeling exactly this way. you nailed it.
I'm glad I read your review, because I had this book on my list, but I am reading All the Light We Cannot See right now and I couldn't agree with you more! I'm afraid The Nightingale would be a big disappointment after reading All the Light. Unfortunately, I'm worried about any book being a disappointment after All the Light We Cannot See!
While you make a good point, I get sense that you're damning the whole book because the language wasn't poetic. "All the Light You Cannot See" was better crafted, but I was bored to tears through most of it.
I'm so glad to see your review. I kept thinking something was wrong with me when I was yelling at the audio book at every cliched similie and informed attempts at character development. I cannot finish this book.
I have not read All the Light You Cannot See and I also gave this 2 stars.
So glad to see this! I am about 20 pages in and am already disgusted by the overuse of cliche. I thought I was alone in this and I'm glad to see it isn't just me. :)
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.
Excellent review; my thoughts exactly but better articulated than I could.