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Anne Rice is an author who showed great promise in the early stages of her writing career. She then devolved into mass produced, contrived, poorly... (show more)
Cry To Heaven
In this mesmerizing novel, the acclaimed author of THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES and the LIVES OF THE MAYFAIR WITCHES makes real for us the exquisite and otherworldly society of the eighteenth-century castrati, the delicate and alluring male sopranos whose graceful bodies and glorious voices brought them the adulation of the royal courts and grand opera houses of Europe, men who lived as idols, concealing their pain as they were adored as angels, yet shunned as half-men.
As we are drawn into their ... (show more)
In this mesmerizing novel, the acclaimed author of THE VAMPIRE CHRONICLES and the LIVES OF THE MAYFAIR WITCHES makes real for us the exquisite and otherworldly society of the eighteenth-century castrati, the delicate and alluring male sopranos whose graceful bodies and glorious voices brought them the adulation of the royal courts and grand opera houses of Europe, men who lived as idols, concealing their pain as they were adored as angels, yet shunned as half-men.
As we are drawn into their dark and luminous story, as the crowds of Venetians, Neopolitans, and Romans, noblemen and peasants, musicians, prelates, princes, saints, and intriguers swirl around them, Anne Rice brings us into the sweep of eighteenth-century Italian life, into the decadence beneath the shimmering surface of Venice, the wild frivolity of Naples, and the magnetic terror of its shadow, Vesuvius. It is a novel that only Anne Rice could have written, taking us into a heartbreaking and enchanting moment in history, a time of great ambition and great suffering--a tale that challenges our deepest images of the masculine and the feminine.
"To read Anne Rice is to become giddy as if spinning through the mind of time."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"Dazzling in its darkness...Spellbinding."
--The New York Times (show less)
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Slow moving, hard to follow, characters not identifiable. Of all the books Anne Rice has written, and now I have read all of them, this was by far ... (show more)
Slow moving, hard to follow, characters not identifiable. Of all the books Anne Rice has written, and now I have read all of them, this was by far my least favorite. (show less)
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This is one of the most beautiful novels I've read by Anne Rice. Both dark and delicious, Anne breathes life into a subject I previously knew nothing of. As a historical novel, it transcends her work with Feast of all Saints, in my opinion. Feverishly researched, a history book with mostly fictional characters that are completely believable. I feel like I've read the accounts of actual people. I'm glad I took my time with it.
This novel is about the castrati of the 17th and 18th centuri... (show more)
This is one of the most beautiful novels I've read by Anne Rice. Both dark and delicious, Anne breathes life into a subject I previously knew nothing of. As a historical novel, it transcends her work with Feast of all Saints, in my opinion. Feverishly researched, a history book with mostly fictional characters that are completely believable. I feel like I've read the accounts of actual people. I'm glad I took my time with it.
This novel is about the castrati of the 17th and 18th centuries in Italy. Of the two main characters, one is a castrato by choice and the other was forced to become one. And this is the tale of their lives, the thoughts, prejudice, and music industry of the day, and how all of this affected society both outside and inside of this group of people.
Absolutely unforgettable from beginning to end, the story of this novel with sit with me forever. (show less)
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This is an INCREDIBLE book! One of the "historical novels", it gives an account of a singer, one of the castrati, who were especially gifted singers who were castrated in order to preserve the powerful soprano voices of the singers, usually performed by the Church. These boys grew up and became men who sang the soprano roles in opera where a soprano with amazing power was required. The protagonist is from a noble family and is sold by his older brother out of fear that his birthrigh... (show more)
This is an INCREDIBLE book! One of the "historical novels", it gives an account of a singer, one of the castrati, who were especially gifted singers who were castrated in order to preserve the powerful soprano voices of the singers, usually performed by the Church. These boys grew up and became men who sang the soprano roles in opera where a soprano with amazing power was required. The protagonist is from a noble family and is sold by his older brother out of fear that his birthright will be passed from him to his younger brother because he is more beloved and the older brother is a failure at being responsible. What follows is an incredible journey for a boy who can never go back and relive the life that was meant to be his, because it was all taken away from him so abruptly, and yet he succeeds in making his way in the world in spite of his trials, and triumphs because he uses his past as a source of strength. (show less)
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