Outside Reading: Book Review

Hearts full of Sorrow
By: Rebecca Goldstein

This Book review is about the book “Great House” by Nicole Kruass, Rebecca Goldstein discusses how Kruass’s new book compares to “The History of Love” that many readers already like, and how it stands out as a book of its own also. She comments on the tone of the two books and how they differ to portray a similar plot, but also how “Great House can stand on its own in a new and effective way.

Goldstein’s tone shows how much she really enjoyed both of Kruass’s books; she praises the new book with comments that support the complicated characters and relationships that the author has created. This tone is made by Goldstein’s diction choices; she uses words that make it evident that she is speaking positively of the books. For instance, she uses “immaculate” to describe the way the two contradictory tones of the book blend perfectly. She also describes some of the content of the books almost poetically because she enjoyed it, enriching the way it sounds to make it even more motivating for the reader to go get a copy.

The strongest part of this review is the detail of the book that is included in it, without any spoilers, and the positive response to the book, which makes it very motivating. Although, in some ways this is also a weakness, by taking such a firm stance on the book, and drawing connections to the author’s other book, she alienates and discourages readers that may not like this kind of book or didn’t enjoy “The History of Love”.

This review is from formalist perspective, analyzing the different things in the text that Kruass has accomplished well, she also makes a comparison to the author’s other book drawing in some of her past, adding a new historicism aspect to the piece.

One of Goldstein’s main analyses of the book has to do with the tone, which is a subject that we learned about earlier in the year. She discusses how the two distinct tones in the book create the complex main character.

The way all these things are accomplished is very different then the other two book reviews that I have read. It definitely takes a much more strikingly positive spin, and encouraging the reader, emphasizing the positive attributes of the book, but nowhere are any shortcomings mentioned. In the other reviews it was a more unbiased approach, where both sides were displayed and it is up to you to decide whether the book is right for you.