The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Magic Circle
Book Review: An intriguing but sadly disappointing book
Summary: 1 Stars
In reading the back cover of this book I really thought I was in for a thriller. Even after having read the first few chapters, I wanted to read on....but about two thirds of the way through the book I began to ask myself, "Is this mystery ever going to begin to unravel?" And all of this to tell me...."Don't mess with Mother Nature?" PLEASE!!!!!Book Review: An outstanding person or product tends to polarize opinion.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Magic Circle is an outstanding novel. I mean outstanding literally: It stands out from the mundane. Some years ago, a study at Harvard showed that as people or their actions become more and more outstanding, evaluations tend to become more and more polarized. Mediocre accomplishments receive midscale ratings; those at the pinacle attract progressively more widely separate views.The main contemporary characters in The Magic Circle can become a reader's friends; the main historical characters ask us to sympathize with their problems or shock us with cruelty. The plot and subplots move along at such a rapid pace that re-reading uncovers added richness.
These valuation are shared by many of the reviewers. But there is another contingent that finds The Magic Circle "boring." The term immediately suggests the mundane, "I've read it all before," or just poor workmanship that puts one to sleep.
But there is another cause for boredom. Yawning ordinarily indicates sleepiness and thus boredom in the usual sense. In non-human primates, however, yawning occurs when the animal is threatened. The yawning response is an attenuated "baring of teeth" -- an indication of a potential for counterattack -- which, because of the strength of the threat, is being suppressed. I've seen this response in humans at lectures repeatedly: "I'm bored with this" often means that I'm threatened by the difficulties of the presentation, or actually by its content which challenges very basic belief systems.
The Magic Circle describes Jesus as a zealot, sometimes somewhat in a trance state. Caligula, the self-declared "god," is a childish human. Hitler, the devil of our century, comes off as severely misguided but human. Our own sanctity and immunity from engaging in atrocities is challenged by Zoe. Boring? Damn right. It's all superficial and certainly not true of me or my cherished black versus white values.
The Magic Circle is outstanding as indicated by the polarization of opinion. I've suggested one possible reason for the highly polarized negative opinions that are at such variance with those that indicated thorough enjoyment of the book
Book Review: An unusual and fantastic read!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I brought this book along on my honeymoon (in June '99). What a mistake! I simply could not put it down, and spent way too much time with Ariel & co., and not enough with my new husband! (luckily, he forgives me) This book is truly the perfect combination of mystery, adventure, history, anicent enigmas, and a bit of romance. The end left me dying for more - luckily, I had "The Eight" yet to read!Book Review: An utter waste
Summary: 1 Stars
This books wants to be a top-notch historical thriller on the same level as "The Eight," but it ends up being just a bad soap opera. The story is convoluted, some of the history is garbled and wrong, and not even Neville's way with words can disguise how awful the book is. If you must read one of her books, and everyone should, stick to The Eight or *maybe* A Calculated Risk..Book Review: Avoid this one
Summary: 1 Stars
Katherine Neville's other two books are loads of fun - The Eight is a fantastic book, and A Calculated Risk is really entertaining, even if it doesn't hold together as well. But I was really disappointed with this book. The plot falls apart early in the book, and it goes downhill from there. I didn't care at all about the characters, and the whole book feels like the author is simply trying too hard. Read Neville's other two books and stop there.