Testimony by Anita Shreve Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Testimony
Book Review: About as much fun as watching a car wreck.
Summary: 2 Stars
I think Anita Shreve is among a small handful of great contemporary writers. I look forward to each of her books. This novel, however, is not even close to her best work. As you proceed through the book, listening to almost two dozen voices, you realize, with growing dread and irritation, that you are witnessing a tragedy for no good reason. No lessons are learned. This is illustration without illumination. Bad things can happen- we know that. Moral ambiguity- we are familiar with that idea. Here no one escapes, all lives are ruined, everybody is trashed, and there is nothing redeeming to be found in the story. Even the style chosen, using first, second, and third party voices, is distracting and not the best way to display this author's remarkable talent with prose which usually, in the past, has approached poetry.Book Review: Action and Reaction...
Summary: 3 Stars
Mike Borden is the headmaster at a private school in Vermont. He is handed a sex tape that has two respected students and a post graduate student having sex with a 14 year old girl. From here the story spirals with Shreve changing viewpoints from chapter to chapter while various people included in the scandal, as well as some others outside of it, give their own testimony to what happened or may have happened. I found this technique to be a little confusing however and at times I lost track of what was going on.
In the end however, I found that I enjoyed the book. It is a testament to the fact that one small moment in time can forever alter your future and bring about catastrophic events. Every action can have a ripple effect.
Book Review: Anita Shreve's latest work
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a huge fan of Anita Shreve, but this book disappointed me. Her wonderful prose is still there, but the story and the way it was told didn't sit well with me. It reminded me of a Jodi Picout book, and I don't care for those. I hope Shreve goes back to her usual style with her future books. I will admit that Testimony is not a book I will soon forget.Book Review: Anita Shreve's masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, and I've read all of Ms. Shreve's books, this is her masterpiece.Book Review: Another compelling Shreve book
Summary: 4 Stars
As with all Anita Shreve books, this book held my interest from beginning to end. She offers a great blend of interesting storytelling and literate prose in all her books. I liked the idea of telling the story from various viewpoints; however, there were just too many people telling the story, and it made it hard to care much about the characters. Even in the middle of the book, new characters were being introduced to tell their part of the story.
I was a bit surprised at what a one-dimensional character the "victim", Sienna, was written to be. Shreve writes this girl with no redeemable qualities that I could see, she is just a rich little trollop with no morals. Whereas with the boys, we get more nuance, and by letting their parents narrate, we get a feeling for their good and bad qualities. Wonder why Shreve did this? She is such a good author, she could easily have made the character of Sienna if not more likable, at least a bit more relatable.