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alanffm's review against another edition
3.0
This was really a 4 star book. There were just too many micro problems with it to give it four stars. I found the novel was unnecessarily long and plagued with poorly written passages. The ending was also kind of lackluster. Besides that, The River Midnight is probably one of the greatest books you'll read regarding the intricacies and day-to-day lives of the now extinct Jewish shtetl. Nattel does a really good job at showing both the masculine and feminine (mostly this) perspectives of her characters making this a unique read for me. I definitely do not regret this read, but it would be hard for me to recommend it outside of a niche group of people who have an interest in this subject.
joaniesaltzman's review
3.0
Deserves a 3.5, I think. Nattel paints a moving portrait of the lives of Polish Jews in the 19th century, with every character beautifully fleshed out and fully human. Nattel has beautiful wisdom to share about our relationships to each other, to the world, and to God.
Unfortunately, she drags an otherwise wonderful novel down by repeating every event at least three times. The book is split into three parts, one for the women of the village, one for the men, and on for the midwife, Misha: the wild, unmarried, pregnant woman who provides the gossip and remedies that keep the town going. Each chapter in each section focuses on a different character as they experience the events that rock the village over the course of about a year. Each chapter ends at the beginning of Misha's labor...and the next picks up again at the beginning of the year, as the reader does her best not to throw the book against the wall.
I started this book in August, and when I finished the women's section and saw I was going to have to repeat every event AGAIN from the perspectives of four men, I put the book down and just picked it up again two days ago (the twelfth of December). The saving grace is the different histories given of each character, that make each chapter and perspective different. Each character recounts parts of their own lives that are unique to them, which makes the book compelling enough to finish.
Unfortunately, she drags an otherwise wonderful novel down by repeating every event at least three times. The book is split into three parts, one for the women of the village, one for the men, and on for the midwife, Misha: the wild, unmarried, pregnant woman who provides the gossip and remedies that keep the town going. Each chapter in each section focuses on a different character as they experience the events that rock the village over the course of about a year. Each chapter ends at the beginning of Misha's labor...and the next picks up again at the beginning of the year, as the reader does her best not to throw the book against the wall.
I started this book in August, and when I finished the women's section and saw I was going to have to repeat every event AGAIN from the perspectives of four men, I put the book down and just picked it up again two days ago (the twelfth of December). The saving grace is the different histories given of each character, that make each chapter and perspective different. Each character recounts parts of their own lives that are unique to them, which makes the book compelling enough to finish.
yarnpirate's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! It is beautiful and human and completely enchanting. Each chapter follows a different character's life over the same period of time. While this could result in a tedious re-telling of the same events over and over again, each person's life is so unique that the overlapping moments are subtle and often brilliant. Even a major event which affects the entire shtetl looks different each time depending on how it impacts an individual's life. Conversations between two characters can even be quite different when examined from both sides, as so often our own perspective filters and changes our memories. Threaded through the novel is just a touch of magical realism, which adds an additional depth and vibrancy to the world of Blaszka.
lgallo's review
4.0
This took me so long to get through, mainly because of the holiday craziness and the back-and-forth timeline of the chapters. Nattel goes from the women, to the men, to Misha's point of view and it's all wrapped up in the magical setting of rural Poland with a splash of dreamy/nightmarish visions.
hxs623's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0