Fire In The Blood
Irene Nemirovsky was a wonder - a true voice for the 20th Century - and FIRE IN THE BLOOD just proves it again. After reading SUITE FRANCAISE last year, I could have just stopped reading anything for a while, as that novel was stunning and moving and tragic and remarkable. But I often wonder: what would the world have been like with her voice?
FIRE IN THE BLOOD is something else, entirely. It's like a perfect, tiny jewel: a small piece of chocolate that you find sitting on a table and, as you place it in your mouth, you just melt away. It is a simple story, and Nemirovsky's magic is found in the little details.
Of course, having finished it, I can even see more clearly what she was going to do in SUITE FRANCAISE, so reading this brought forth all of the tragedy of the loss of that majestic work.
But, taken on its own, FIRE IN THE BLOOD is lovely. And I RECOMMEND it without reservation. On a side note, I have to say that I was reading an uncorrected proof of the novel; it was one of the more perfect proofs I've seen, so there's another blessing!
posted by David Quinn @ 7:58 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home