pfff, hard read, actually pretty boring ( )

Disappointing ( )

In reading the reviews I didn't know what to expect as they were all over the place. For an Anne Rice book, there were far more unhappy or disappointed ratings. Well after forcing myself to finish this book I fully understand. Only Anne Rice could write such a so well written story and basically have it feel almost like gibberish! The writing was very good, great descriptions and very interesting thoughts. Sounds absolute delightful, doesn't it!? Well it wasn't delightful, it was brutal. I did enjoy what I think was the premises, hate to say it this way, but I'm guessing. This book, to be effective, should have been told in half the pages. At points in the book, especially in the first part, the descriptions were so very very very very detailed and over done that I was sick of the story before it ever started, if it did actually every start.

It reminded me of the first James Bond book I ever tried to read, it took Ian Fleming an entire page to describe how Bond wanted a martini made. Prior to that it was already a bit verbose, for me as a young teenager, and I simply could not take any more. My best friend loved James Bond and thought they were great books BUT I never picked up another one after that. I was horrified of what I felt was drivel.

Im much older now and more tolerant and understanding of writers quirks and Anne Rice has more than her fair share of quirks. In this instance, in my opinion, this is a book the puts all of Anne Rice's quirks on display and foregoes any real story, overwhelming the reader with the primary characters emotions ad nauseam. Admitted the principle character appeared to have some significant emotional issues. Unfortunately Anne's presentation of these issues, and how they seemingly controlled her life, simply lost whatever story there was within them. Yes there was a story. Emotions detracted from the story rather than made the story, as that is my assessment of the intent.

The one comment that might be redeeming is that maybe Anne was trying to translate dark poetry into a novel. For all her quirks, I enjoy most of her works and quite disappointed in this one. Even for those who love Anne Rice I would have a difficult time recommending this book. ( )

Anne Rice's Violin tells the story of two charismatic figures bound to each other by a passionate commitment to music as a means of rapture, seduction, and liberation. At the novel's center: a uniquely fascinating woman, Triana, and the demonic fiddler Stefan, a tormented ghost who begins to prey upon her, using his magic violin to draw her into a state of madness. But Triana sets out to resist Stefan, and the struggle thrusts them both into a terrifying supernatural realm. Violin flows abundant with the history, the drama, and the romantic intensity that have become synonymous with Anne Rice at her incomparable best.

Now I really get the fascination and sensuality of Anne Rice's novels. The novel opens with the protagonist, Triana, absorbing herself in the music of the masters after her husband, Karl's, death in their home in New Orleans. Serenading her outside her window as the relatives come into her cave of loneliness is a long-haired, sensuous musician, Stefan. Stefan's story begins to come out in bits and pieces and forms the second third of the novel. We learn about the many deaths in Triana's life and her guilt about them (probably shades of the author's own life), including the horror of a child growing up in an alcoholic household. We then journey to mid-19th century Austria, to the home of Russian aristocrats, and enter Stefan's journey with all its passion and horror. A step into another world that is still quite absorbing, and the first Anne Rice book I've ever read. ( )