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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A difficult book to review.
Mauriac writes the four short stories in this novel, centred around his vividly-imagined heroine Thérèse, with such ambiguity and purposeful vagueness that it was difficult to form an opinion as I read. Thérèse is an incredibly strong woman and Mauriac is at pains to show this in his descriptions of her as well as in her actions. He also has such intimate knowledge of her that he subtly shows the chinks in her armour by getting Thérèse to reveal them herself through interior thoughts.
By the end of the collection I thought I knew Thérèse but even then, the thoughts I had are hard to disentangle from the thoughts that Mauriac through the protagonist purposely convoluts in the readers mind. Mauriac in this regard is an absolute master at blurring the boundaries between what is right and what is wrong and this central theme is played out in the course of Thérèse’s life in a very sadly inevitable way.
Mauriac writes the four short stories in this novel, centred around his vividly-imagined heroine Thérèse, with such ambiguity and purposeful vagueness that it was difficult to form an opinion as I read. Thérèse is an incredibly strong woman and Mauriac is at pains to show this in his descriptions of her as well as in her actions. He also has such intimate knowledge of her that he subtly shows the chinks in her armour by getting Thérèse to reveal them herself through interior thoughts.
By the end of the collection I thought I knew Thérèse but even then, the thoughts I had are hard to disentangle from the thoughts that Mauriac through the protagonist purposely convoluts in the readers mind. Mauriac in this regard is an absolute master at blurring the boundaries between what is right and what is wrong and this central theme is played out in the course of Thérèse’s life in a very sadly inevitable way.