Blood Acre

Rating:
Summary: Drop your guards
Review: Before reading this book, it is necessary to drop all your guards and preconceived notions on what is and is not good prose. Yes, this novel starts out pretentiously. However, as the pages quickly turn...and they will, it become apparent that this is not pompous writing; it is writing by a skilled and talented author. Only a man with greatness in his fingertips can type out the consistently colorful and vivid phrases which he does. This novel is a murder mystery that I read cover to back in two sittings. I almost felt guilty reading the rich prose and hanging on to the dark and sexy storyline. I would recommend this only to true lovers of fiction. I read this after finishing Hemingway's "True at First Light" and it was an tasty turnabout from H's more terse (yet amazing) declarative sentences. Like eating fresh french baguette and then switching over to a gateau chocolat.

Rating:
Summary: A waste of time
Review: I couldn't agree more with the NY reader. The author's prose is incredibly pretentious, mendacious, self-absorbed and devoid of meaning. This is "it was a dark and stormy night" writing at its best. All form, no substance. Can't understand the good reviews on the back cover.

Rating:
Summary: Could be better, could be worse.
Review: I'll keep this short.

Peter Landesman was very precise in describing the cold,dismal,(...) version of New York that Nathan Stein lived in. However, he seamed to take less care in the plot of the story, and the developement of its characters. I still enjoyed this novel in some ways, but would only recommend it to certain groups of people.

It kept my interest from cover to cover, and that's all I asked of it.

Rating:
Summary: Head-acre
Review: I'm forced to agree with the negative reviews on this page. The prose is horribly overwrought (The Sins of the Fathers! Ooga-booga-booga!) and dull. Nathan's downfall is never interesting, never achieves the level of real tragedy because we're never convinced he had the possibility of being a better person; so he played jazz saxophone once upon a time, so what? His character is really unappealing and self-pitying, the womanizing almost a Mel Brooks joke. The character of the murdered half-sister, Isabel, with whom he was involved is inexcusably thin...This book practically herniates itself trying to be Under the Volcano and is not even close. I got a headache from Blood Acre.

Rating:
Summary: Head-acre
Review: On a recent holiday, I made the mistake of packing only one book. A particularly troublesome mistake because it was this book. From the first paragraph, this book read like a high school overachiever's attempt to win over an English teacher. As if his dreaded prose was not enough to stop the reader cold, his poor descriptions of New York City--especially Coney Island--made me doubt his stated city of residence. For the author to name his primary character Nathan and then to refer to Nathan's Famous as "Famous," (something I've never heard in New York), showed he has more ego than talent. Even if this book was in the $1 bin at a garage sale, I'd never recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Hope He's A Better Painter
Review: On a recent holiday, I made the mistake of packing only one book. A particularly troublesome mistake because it was this book. From the first paragraph, this book read like a high school overachiever's attempt to win over an English teacher. As if his dreaded prose was not enough to stop the reader cold, his poor descriptions of New York City--especially Coney Island--made me doubt his stated city of residence. For the author to name his primary character Nathan and then to refer to Nathan's Famous as "Famous," (something I've never heard in New York), showed he has more ego than talent. Even if this book was in the $1 bin at a garage sale, I'd never recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Great prose not much plot.
Review: While it is true that the prose and descriptions in this novel are compelling, the plot lacks a driving force. This book takes you inside a series of events, describes them beautifully, but does not take you on the a journey which reaches a true end or conclusion. I waited for everything to come together, but the novel simply concluded without resolution.