Wednesday, January 14, 2009
"The War of the Rosens" by Janice Eidus
It's been quite some time since I've read a third-person omniscient novel where the narration changes so rapidly between characters, like a flipbook. This is the story of a four-person, mid-twentieth century Jewish family in the Bronx. The story line's alright, nothing ground-breaking, but few books are. Of more interest is the narrative voice. There will be a scene that involves all four family members (parents and two daughters), and with each action in the scene, the viewpoint changes to the character who matters at that very moment. I can only imagine how exhausting it must be to keep track of so many character's personal thoughts like this. When it works, the book feels like good gossip.
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