Customer Reviews

Innocence

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

As a fan of the author's first, widely (mis-)read book, I was so looking forward to her next effort, hoping she would take her lyrical imagination and gifts for lucid prose to new heights. I have never been more shocked. Rather than soaring even higher than Amelia, this book plumbs a kind of literary depth that you won't often find outside Dante. If Amelia was a dream, this one's a nightmare. If Stephen King and Virginia Woolf mated, the result would be this wild, wonderful, brilliant book.

I admit, I was put off by some of the negative reviews (oh me of little faith) that the back-biting, presumably jealous journalism types have doled out to this dark little gem, but what gets me is that no one seems to be reading the book on its own terms - as allegory - as fable - as metaphor. Beckett herself (the narrator, a wonderful, sassy, smart girl, and how glad I am that my own girls will grow up with such a heroine, as I did with Holden Caulfield) tells us, again and again - it doesn't matter if something is real. What matters is if it's true. Well this book is like a brace of cold truth on all of our faces - about youth, about the culture, about the country - and it's also as entertaining as can be. Bravo, Mendelsohn! You've done it again....and once again, the people seem to be missing it (although I've actually read quite a few great reviews around the country on line - maybe the New Yorkers are simply too jealous of your first book's success to know how to read this book for the allegory it is - but that doesn't excuse my fellow Amazonians, who usually read with such distinction....)

Before writing this, I went back and reread my own review of I Was Amelia Earhart, and everything I said there is even truer of Inocence: Mendelsohn's writing remains positively entrancing, "a compelling hybrid of Hemingway, Garcia Marquez, and Virgina Woolf." And as with Amelia, I'm suprised by how few "picked up on the book's exquisite irony, its dry wit, its utterly deadpan sense of humor." My final comment may need some amending: I wrote that "I have a feeling that her next book will more clearly establish Mendelsohn for what she is -- the writer of her generation." Well, Innocence definitely confirms that in my mind, but if the reviewers, professional and otherwise, continue their campaign of idiocy, we may have to wait for her next book for the rest of the country to catch up with the plain unvarnished truth: she's the best we have, a heavyweight like very few others writing today.

I began reading "Innocence" and after the first 30 pages or so, I was trying to reconcile in my mind whether or not the storyline was a dream. So....I started over and began reading this book again, WITHOUT my intellectual predilection to examine and "prove" every detail in a novel. That's the whole point of this novel, as "Beckett" the main character herself mentions several times, that her view is not believed by those around her. She is a teenager who has recently lost her mother in an accident and is facing womanhood, moving to a new school, where she doesn't fit in, dealing with her father's new romance with the school nurse. The actual events of the novel, while I never had a strong feel for whether or not they were real, as Beckett says, were "true." I think that this novel is as another reviewer said, mostly allegorical, and that the entire point is to look through the eyes of Beckett, as she struggles to process momentous changes in her life. After I read the book [in one sitting, by the way] and closed the cover, my thoughts were just as Beckett said...It doesn't matter if it was real, it was true... This book is not for everyone, I will concede that point. It is filled with so much imagery and the fantastical thoughts of a teenage girl in turmoil that it is impossible to tell which parts are truly supposed to be real. But after reading it, well, it doesn't really matter. I was entertained, and concerned, because I agree that there is great disolutionment in our youth. This book points that out so well.

Little Willow recommended this book to me..Oh, and in simple words, it is FABULOUS. Mendelson uses analogies to omnipotent Final Girl of horror fame, and Alice in Wonderland to convey a dark and deep feeling, so that the reader really is with Beckett. The words employed by Jane bring vivid pictures, making you want to devour it within seconds. A delicious coming of age with a unique twist, this no ordinary tale.

Jane Mendelsohn's writing has a haunting, lyrical quality to it that makes you want to wrap yourself up in the words and never stop reading. Beckett's story of an evil stepmother, suicidal peers, a father she can't trust anymore and a boy she loves is vague at times, almost dream-like, but that's part of the effect. "Innocence" is a coming-of-age, conspiracy-riddled, horror masterpiece. Highly recommended.

I hardly ever agree with The New Yorker, but they were right about this novel: it's mesmerizingly bad. To paraphrase what Kirkus or PW said about Boston Teren's equally crummy novel God Is A Bullet: when it's not awfully bloody, it's bloody awful. The prose is minimalist (one sentence paragraphs, no quotation marks, anemic characterizations), but there are lots of awful similes (the sky went black as a limousine, the city turned like channels) and examples of overwriting (...a red and orange and purple massacre, spilling its guts...), not to mention characters with names like Beckett, Myrrh, and Sunday. Apparently, it took Jane M. years to write this trash and, despite how mesmerizingly bad it turned out, you can really feel her straining for the book's precise, ultra-lean prose and its mindboggling, can-you-top-this?, visionary metaphors (unfortunately, they come off like bad special effects). As the dust jacket suggests, Innocence is indeed a page turner, but only because you'll want to see how bad it can get (and it gets very, very bad). The tea party at the end is like that bad old joke about the vampire who goes to a bar and orders a cup of hot water....Since movies play such a big role in this novel, I'd like mention that I think Jane M. rips off Jean Rollin and Dario Argento (notably, Suspiria) far more than either Michael Lehman or Brian DePalma (though Dr. Kent is an awful lot like the Michael Caine character in Dressed to Kill...). Anyway, I'm giving it five stars because Innocence: A Novel is so bad it's good. Don't miss it; it's probably the worst of the year.

This novel is written in a beautifully poetic fashion. To those who are complaining about the grammar "errors" and missing quotations, it's SUPPOSED to be that way. Anyone who can't see that must not be very smart. If the book had been written in typical fashion it would not have been the same. The way it was written makes it much deeper.

Beneath the coming of age and adolescent issues this book presents, there is actually a twisted vampire like storyline. If this doesn't interest you then obviously you probably won't like the book. But I related to Beckett's adolescent confusion and found the novel to flow very well.

The book I read was Innocence by Jane Medelsohn. Pros about the book would be how a lot of teens can relate to it, and in another sense they can loose the feeling of being insecure. "I walked into the cafeteria and saw them, mermaids washed up on shore...their hair swung down like rope...there I am sitting alone. I'm the ugly girl, the smart girl, the boyish girl, the loser. I'm the one who knows too much." [Pg.8-9] Then Beckett realizes her whole life was a false image and everything up until then was what was real. [Pg.64] My cons about the book are much stronger though. I think Jane Medelsohn got too carried away with the use of the thesaurus, personification, and sensory detail. "I wipe my hand across the sky. It turns dark blue. The moon stands out. It hangs between the branches like a silver egg now, a magical glowing orb. I walk through the garden by the light of the moon." [Pg.138] I know writers are encouraged to use good elements of writing, but I think it was all a game for her to show off to her readers. It honestly made me want to put the book down. The theme of the book is to never let things bring you down because there's always a way out. If you're trapped in situation friends, family, or even miracles can help you. I honestly can say that I do agree with that message. In all of my past experiences when I was about to breakdown and give up, out of nowhere a miracle happens. Some people believe in luck, but I believe it was the work of God. If I had to list all the times where I've been aided during my all time lows, I might as well write a novel. It's similar to the saying, "good things happen to those who wait." So you have to hang in there. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about teen conflicts and issues. Also to anyone who can relate to problems dealing with lost of a family member. Once again if you're feeling insecure, read this book to find out how you can solve your problems. To find out what Beckett had to go against and how she managed to pull through.

I adored this book, but I think it was mis-marketed. It should have been published as a Young Adult book for older teens, because it's absolutely perfect for that age group. (And for those of us adults who still enjoy YA fiction, at least when it's this beautifully written). It reminded me of Francesca Lia Block's "urban fantasy" fiction, but set in New York rather than in Block's stomping ground of LA. Yet it's better written than Block (who veers wildly from the sublime to facile), and far more memorable. I just hope this book can find its way into the hands of bright teens who like Block's fiction, Charles de Lint's, or Alice Hoffman's. It's a wonderful read.

This book is truly brilliant. I enjoyed every moment of it. The lack of punctuation and quotation marks make is seem like one flowing poem. Innocence is a dark story, one that is so believable in its own horrific way, I could not put the book down. I'm sorry so many people cannot see through to the beauty of this incredible novel. I hope to see many more like this from JAne Mendelsohn.

Having just finished Jane Mendelsohn's "Innocence", I must say that I am sadly disappointed. On the recommendation of a friend, I expected a ferocious social satire, a commentary on the teenage obsession with media and pop culture. I was instead treated to a very poor approximation of "Catcher in the Rye", mixed with a bit of "The Bell Jar" and far too much "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" style vampire paranoia. The novel centers on the self-absorbed teenage girl Beckett, with whom we are clearly intended to sympathize. However, instead of understanding Beckett, I was continually disgusted with her. I never for a moment believed that her delusions were real; I was completely shocked in the end when Beckett is NOT confined to a mental institution. The reader is expected to take her ridiculous explanations of "truth" as some sort of enlightened reality. Instead, I was confused and depressed. Teenage suicide is seemingly played as a cliched plot device, never dealt with as a bleak reality. Though Mendelsohn peppers her unbelievable, undeveloped story with some poetic descriptions of New York City nightlife, the whole is a painfully strained gothic parody. Don't expect a well-thought out and beautiful allegory; this was, in my opinion, very little more than glorified pulp.