Reviews for Blue Angel

The average rating for Blue Angel based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-17 00:00:00 DAvid Scarpetti Don't you love train wrecks? Or, better question, who doesn't? This book is a train wreck, and in the best way. A failing, aging writer is forced to make a living as a professor, teaching creative writing to talentless snots at a small Vermont university. Said writer, who has a lovely, blameless wife, finds himself drawn to one of these students. Spoiler alert: it doesn't end well. We witness sexual humiliation, professional humiliation, the disintegration of a marriage, career, a man. What voyeur can possibly turn from these pages? I dare you to try. Even the classroom scenes are cringeworthy - and brilliant - particularly for anyone who has participated in a writing workshop. The story isn't exactly original. There are plenty of other books that feature this type of taboo "relationship". But what sets this apart, and what I loved, is the voice of this novel. This voice, belonging to the aging writer, has a sardonic, sniping quality - a nasty tone which is perfect for the satirical heart of this book. It's like the uncensored voice we all have inside our heads. Using this voice, Francine Prose transplanted me into the body of this guy, with his massive ego, his equally massive insecurities, his good intentions, his failures, and his sexual appetite. It's this very believable voice that makes up for somewhat weak, less believable aspects of the plot. You could rant on about political correctness gone mad in academia. You could discuss ad nauseam about sexual power imbalances. But I saw this novel is really about the truth - how hazy it becomes, how we become ensnared in the lies we tell ourselves and in the stories others tell us. How eventually, the truth can become so tangled there is no clear path out. This is also a fantastic example of how the walls of a carefully constructed life can be taken down in a moment. The foundations of one's life dismantled over the course of a meal. Unfortunately, the first three quarters of this book are much more compelling than the ending, which took the form of a long, drawn out kangaroo court scene with less than shocking revelations. Though the conclusion is realistic, I felt there was something lacking... a missed opportunity for that last shot of venom I was craving. The fourth and final leg of this table is uneven to the other three, and thus I am left walking away with a bit of a wobbly opinion. But that didn't stop me from rubber necking. It is a train wreck, after all. 4.5 stars

Review # 2 was written on 2015-07-06 00:00:00 ITUMELENG Tshabalala Tale as old as time: teacher and student's amorous liaison. But the notes on THIS scandal are particularly exquisite. The mind of the disgraced professor is put out fully naked on the table, so let the anatomy session begin! The innards are salacious, for its pretty hard to find empathy with the sap. Francine Prose, a more adequate name has never existed!