Stone Virgin

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but Flawed
Review: A beautiful sculpture, a Madonna Annunzziatta, whose creation is shrouded in mystery, murder, and, of course, Venice, herself, the once-dazzling, now dying "Queen of the Adriatic"...STONE VIRGIN certainly seems to possess all the qualities necessary for a page-turning book. And, when you consider the fact that the novel's author is Barry Unsworth, one of today's best writers, the above combination seems unbeatable.

STONE VIRGIN is definitely a plot-driven novel as opposed to one that is character-driven. It was exactly what I was looking for at the time: a good, old-fashioned story that kept me turning the pages far into the night. Even a good, old-fashioned story, however, needs strong characters to carry the action, people we can either root for or despise. I didn't find any strong characters in STONE VIRGIN and their lack is the reason I gave this book only three stars.

The characters in STONE VIRGIN weren't cardboard cutouts; they were more like tansparancies. They lacked substance and simply weren't developed. At times, several of the characters, including the main character, said or did things with seemingly no or little motivation at all. By the time I reached the book's end I didn't feel I knew any of the characters any better than I had on the book's very first page. The protagonist, Simon Raikes, in particular, was very thinly drawn.

Plotwise, STONE VIRGIN was pretty good as far as it went. The problem was, it really didn't go far enough. I kept waiting for some terrible and fascinating secret to be revealed since the book seemed to be heading in that direction but nothing really profound was ever forthcoming. For me, the plot didn't have enough focus; individual strands weren't really developed and nothing really seemed to come together until the book was almost at its end.

Despite the novel's shortcomings, especially in characterization, it was sophisticated and masterfully-constructed, cutting back and forth among several time periods. Personally, I found the fifteenth century story to be more compelling and better told than the one set in the twentieth century. It was darker and more atmosheric; it took greater advantage of the rich and unique Venetian atmosphere. I found the twentieth century story to be very accurate in its presentation of Venice (a city I know well), but even though I found it factually accurate I didn't get any "sense" of Venice in this story. The mists, the decay, the sinister aspect, the claustrophic atmosphere, all unique to Venice, were sadly absent.

I think art lovers might be more attracted to this book than non art lovers. It's filled with details of art restoration, especially the restoration of sculpture. I found these details fascinating (one of the best things about the book, really) but people who don't love art like I do might find these same details tiresome.

STONE VIRGIN certainly isn't Barry Unsworth's best book, but, except for the lack of strong characterization, it's well-written. I consider it rather "lightweight" but, for me, at least, it was an interesting change of pace.

Rating:
Summary: Venice, Art, Passion all in one book
Review: A great web of stories that makes you really think of the power that people exert over others. Especially the power of this stone virgin and how she affected (affects) those who come in contact with her. Will history continue to repeat itself? Beautifully written.

Rating:
Summary: The Banality of Evil
Review: While beautifully written, The Stone Virgin ultimately centers around acts of base evil, murders noteworthy for their sociopathic cruelty, contempt for justice, and worst of all - their utter triviality. The combination of murder for trivial reasons is stomach turning. I finished the book feeling dirty and fouled. It was an extremely disappointing experience. It's almost that the author wanted to magnify horror by soft and beautiful presentation. I, for one, don't need any "enlightenment" as to this distorted and malignant view of meaning or life. It was a shame to find that such a gifted writer is so obsessed with filth in the name of some sort of deep truth. Anyone who is caught up in the beautiful imagery, the sculpture, or the various interweaving stories is just that - caught - in an emotional setup designed to get you to lower your boundaries for the final emotional rape of the tawdry murders and psychopathic and cowardly responses. Get a clue - this is not high art. Instead, it is the story of the degradation of the human spirit, all under the false cover of the exaltation of the human spirit. As such, it will fool most of the people, most of the time. It's one of the few books I've ever thrown in the garbage after finishing. I don't recommend it.