Customer Reviews

The Old Ballerina: Novel

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In this novel, Ellen Cooney tells a story about the art of dancing. The Old Ballerina tells a story about teaching and learning. The book tells about how Mrs. Kamsky is recovering from a hip injury while teaching a class of teenage boys. The novel talks about how Mrs. Kamsky is dealing with her hip injury. The book will inspire you to never want to give up at something you love. The Old Ballerina is a book we will never want to put down. The book The Old Ballerina will help anyone realize the importance of learning. The author Ellen Cooney makes you feel as though you are right there watching everything that is going on, by giving lots of details about what is happening and what people and places look like. The Old Ballerina has now become one of my favorite books, because it has lots of excitement and you never know what will happen next.

There's magic at work here as Ms. Cooney reveals both the pleasure and pain that a brush with culture can bring to otherwise mundane lives. THE OLD BALLERINA raises several heavy issues too, but always with a gifted touch that's as light as the wonderful "tinkle tinkle tinkle" music one of its many characters plays.

"The Old Ballerina" is an exquisite portrait of a ballet studio run by a crippled old dancer in a crippled old New England town, It's about real people with real troubles finding sanctuary abd community in a world of honor and discipline and music. The writing is poetic, yet simple and clean, a series of melodies that flow with breathtaking grace, then linger and endure. Though the lives of the characters are hard, the book is about triumph. It is transcendent. I loved this book, a sanctuary in itself.

As with everything else I have read by Ellen Cooney, (her short stories are amazing!), The Old Ballerina took me on a journey that I did not want to end. Ms. Cooney's character development is almost like peeling an onion; she goes one layer at a time until the reader knows each character intimately. The stories that they tell pull you in and stay with you long after the book is finished. Pick up this book and you will not want to put it down. The writing is intelligent, tight, original and thought-provoking. I look forward to her next novel.

A gorgeous piece of work that captures the essence of what it means to be an artist in ways that are fluid, graceful, and lovely--just like the art of dance. Told in numerous points of view, the author does a remarkable job of capturing each distinctive voice--which run the gamut from an 8-yr-old girl to a machinist--and managing to produce a novel that is much more than the sum of its disparate parts. The prose is lush, pure poetry. At its heart, the novel asks the question: what does an artist do when his/her instrument of creating art is taken away? It is the kind of novel you savor and want to read again as soon as you reach that last page.

Told from many different points of view, the narrative shifts, throughout this literary masterpiece, add remarkable depth to the character of Mrs. Kaminsky, the old ballerina. Hers is a profound and rich study of human resilience likened to all creative individuals, even when they face limitations that hinder expression, but never their dedication and love for the art. Intertwined are the frailities which beset even the most gifted.

THE OLD BALLERINA is neither character driven or plot driven; being narrative driven creates the feel of a bird in flight that periodically touches the ground while he's soaring, but this is a bird that never lands. Literary novels also provide a glimpse into the mind of the author; THE OLD BALLERINA is an example of this at its finest. An appreciation for the artistry of Ellen Cooney is beautifully expressed by a linear, well-calculated placement of chapters and hence, the rich contribution of each voice. While every point of view Ms. Cooney uses is easily identifiable, it's not until the last sentence that the language of this gifted author, coupled with the personality of each character, is like that bird soaring high into the heavens, his belly full, the horizon now yours.

Mrs. Kamsky recovers from a hip injury and teaches a class of teen boys while longing for the world of ballet. From the world of performer to that of teacher is a big reach; the central character forms a new circle of friends and relationships in the process of her transition in this warm story.

Ellen Cooney writes like an angel. This story about an aging artist, with all her eccentricities, is made more compelling by the style in which Ms Cooney tells it, with multiple voices, in a non-linear way. The plot develops almost like a dance, and you admire the writer's skill in the same way you admire a dancer's. At the same time, you experience the beauty at the novel's core...again, like the dance. In short, this is a marvelous accomplishment by a very talented writer.

This book is full of sloppy writing. On the first page there is the phrase "an old woman's dark moustache ran the length of her upper lip." Well, where else would the moustache be? I just picked this example because it was on the first page. There are lots of other instances of this on the other pages. Please, if the publisher is reading this or if the author is reading this, can I please get my money back?