When one is finished, it is with a sense of wonder at how much beauty and satisfaction the writer has managed to create - beginning with funeral of an old great aunt of the protagonist no one in the family visited who died in an old home at ripe age of 105, everyone wanting the funeral to be over, and the successful ones there only to further their own interests via a photo op to proclaim the humanity of their character. And then there is a spirit that is - instead of the good old tradition of scaring one, or even seeming funny - plain boring and irritating as some children or old people (or any age relatives really) can manage to be, exasperating.
The transformation of this comes unexpectedly and so gently one is only aware of it at the end, after the growing grip and the not too severe jolts take one to a sudden pinnacle of interest, beauty, wonder, all so smoothly one is only aware of the change at the end.
An entirely satisfactory read if one is fond of art, beauty, jewels, young women, worthy men, love, and life. Although I am unsure if rhinestones retain their lustre over a century, and for that matter why the name, do they originate in the Rhine.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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