The idea to read this book came after reading Styron's Darkness Visible (also reviewed here)
Without giving too much away (but there are some major spoilers here), the book is broken up into two parts. The first part takes a look at the intersecting lives of a group of characters, mainly, southern lawyer Peter Leverett, artist Cass Kinsolving, and wealthy playboy Mason Flagg. Our narrator Peter recounts the memories of his vacation where he travels to a small town in Italy called Sambuco, where he is reunited with his old friend Mason Flagg. Not long after his arrival Mason is discovered dead. Peter who has his suspicions is not to figure out the riddle until the second part of the book.
The second part is primarily a character study based on the background of Cass Kinsolving and his conversations with Peter where we get a closer explanation of what really happened the night Mason was killed. I say 'character study' becasue the second part reads like an unnecessarily deep scaled look into Cass, giving details that are nice to know, but for me not important for the development of the story that just rocks your world in part one. Part two introduces an interesting character named Luigi; a police officer with a deeply rooted philosophical conscience, that I wish more of that part was dedicated to.
Truly, part one set ME on fire with anticipation to get to part two as quickly as possible. I had an uncontrollable excitement that so rarely occurs and ONLY does with the right kind of book, which must have the ability to set the right kind of mood. But, once I arrived at part two and began to slip the pages I literally stalled, I began to struggle to get the pages finished, and often wondered if Styron had made a terrible mistake. It was like an entirely different read.
I recommend this book for readers looking for a lengthy read that leaves NOTHING to the imagination, and I truly don't say this in a negative light. This book is exquisitely written, as I have found all the works of Styron so far (at point of this review I am only 3 deep). As such, he never once lets the reader miss something, or to peer too deeply into the hearts of the characters on their own. It is all written out (in unnecessary length at times) but all parts summing together to give you the full experience. If you're going on a trip, or a lazy vacation; this might just be what the doctor ordered, as you'll require some time to finish it.
This book (as seen in the picture) is a densely written 507 pages long and took me approx one month to read this mammoth. This was remarkably longer than I would have liked, however, I was letting other books get in the way of its completion due to the drawn-out nature of the second part, which I can honestly say took away from the enjoyment overall. Please note this books first part can stand alone as an example of triumph in literary mastery!!
On my sliding scale I give this book a solid 8/10. I could have easily given this book a 10/10 if it hadn't have been for the second part interfering with the beautifully composed first part. Styron, for those familiar, is a MASTER storyteller, and he has been compared to Hemingway with his insanely intelligent 'wordiness' for better lack of terms. (obviously I do not suffer from the same) You can tell while reading this that Styron sincerely is a burning intellect. This is not a bad thing, and I could appreciate that style for the first 241 pages of part one which took me to a new level. However, part two became too drawn out for me, and there was far too much examination of Cass's life that I felt was unnecessary, and as already stated; it ended up actually taking away from the full force of the story. All that being said, this is without question worth reading; a MUST for fans of a long and complicated story that never leaves you requiring the details that other books often do. Styron has written damn near everything you should hope to discover about the story...and sadly just a little bit more.
No comments:
Post a Comment