Customer Reviews

A Time of Angels: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is written in the most captivating, moving way. I was stuck into it from page one and had to start all over again when i reached the end. The intertwined lives of the characters are wonderful and each is interesting and touching. I was really impressed with this novel! Pure poetry

Before I review this book, it should be known that maybe I was not the target audience for this novel. I am a heterosexual male in my mid-twenties, who was looking for something different to read that would verge on the obscure and less popular when I bought this book. No, I did not buy it on Amazon - I bought it on sale at a bookstore in the mall.

Moving along, A Time of Angels was one of the few books I did not finish reading, which makes me feel slightly uneasy because I only do this with really horrible books, and I don't feel this book deserves that type of treatment.

I do, however, find it empty. At first I didn't know why. The story sounded good, and as I started reading it I was excited about the potential of the book and the writing.

A woman is torn between two lovers in a very whimsical setting where reality and the supernatural converge. Not exactly fantasy, but not exactly "Pride and Prejudice" either. A promised visit by Lucifer himself in the story was the final hook for me, and had me eagerly waiting to see how the book would turn directions when he finally arrived.

I, however, was the one who never arrived to that part of the story. I was 75-80 something pages in, before I realized why it was that I was struggling so hard to like this novel - and why I was having such a painful time getting through it.

The writing is pretentious. It feels as if you are going to read something very deep and meaningful, yet you constantly sense yourself waiting to find the satisfaction on the next paragraph, or maybe the next, or maybe....

But it never came. At least not for me. Maybe if I would've read just one more page, I would've hit that "jewel" I was searching for? But then again, that's how I felt the whole time.

Also, the author really missed out on a fantastic opportunity here. There was so much potential for symbolism, and deeper meanings in imagery and dialogue yet none of that was found. The characters talk as if they are deep, but I couldn't help the feeling that if it were a movie, the actors would be struggling to say some of the things that they are supposed to say without looking like they are acting. It was very forced.

In conclusion, the book was just too empty; devoid of any deep and symbolic imagery, and devoid of a grabbing plot. Not even Lucifer himself hooked me enough to continue reading.

The author has potential. Perhaps her other writings are better. I feel she has the writing talent, but just failed to execute the story and characters properly.

A Time of Angels starts out in post-World War II, about a group of friends and family, Italian Jews whose parents had migrated to South Africa. Ms. Schonstein starts describing the characters and all the little details of their lives. For my taste, she went into way too much detail, spending pages and pages about the Italian food one of her main characters, Pasquale prepares in his restaurant/deli.


The book is very disconnected. She jumped from character to character, back and forth in time until I was thoroughly confused as to who she was talking about and where they fit into the story. Part of the problem is there wasn't much of a story at all. A man loses his wife to his best friend while he is away on business, so he holes up alone in his house. Then the Devil comes to live with him.


Ms. Schonstein had some interesting ideas with the different vignettes she wrote about and how all the characters coincidentally entertwined in each other's lives throughout the years. That was really the only thing I enjoyed about the book. Maybe it was just too deep for such a shallow mind as mine!

This is one of the emptiest, most two dimensional books I have ever read. Schonstein repeats words such as philosophy, astronomy and "stories" ad nauseum without ever once furnishing the reader with a single description. Her idea of a deep philisophical argument is "is there a god?". Thoroughtly unoriginal and pretentious.

This book creates one of the bests milieus I have had the honor of stepping into. I was instantly caught up in a world of love, magic, mysticism, pain, and suffering. Though Schonstein takes time to introduce us to some interesting characters, the story, for me, is more interesting for the view of this South African community; a world where prostitutes, bakers, and various Angels walk casually into each others lives. I was grateful to have this book on a 12 hour plane ride.

To tell the truth, I have never read a book quite like this. It is an excellent introduction to South African culture, an interesting examination of food, and an intriguing series of slightly vignette-style stories. While the ending was a bit unclear to me, with appearences of the supernatural, I loved the background stories about Primo and Pasquale's families. They wove an enchanting story of culture in South Africa and insight into the way people act. While this book is not one of my favorites, it deserves 3&1/2 star rating, for its excellent descriptions.

Patricia Schonstein's novel is certainly interesting. It blends a bit of reality with appearances of the Madonna & Lucifer. The story was a bit confusing to me since there were so many characters from the past whose stories zigzagged back & forth with the present. The main love triangle is Beatrice who marries Primo when rejected by her lover Pasquale, only to have Pasquale 20 years later decide he wants her back. And she goes. The sequences in the Nazi era of WWII are compelling. From his father, Pasquale learns how to cook salami & fruited bread and becomes a great chef in Cape Town, only to have Primo place a spell on him that turns his salami blue & bitter. Trying to reverse the spell, Primo accidentally summons the devil, who is really a good angel taking care of God's dirty work. (Who knew!?!) Then Primo falls in love with the devil & takes him to a costume ball. The cosmic conclusion leads Primo back to where he began. Schonstein deals with some very interesting themes. However, with a rather short novel that ping-pongs back & forth between present & past, between the worldly & the supernatural, in the end it's a bit fuzzy as a reading experience. The Afrikaans references & glossary at the back help this to be an interesting international reading experience. Enjoy!