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amloiandy's review
3.0
There are no concepts in this story except those casually alluded to in the descriptions of the many many characters. The humility and honesty and straightforward-ness of Bernadette triumph over the self-importance, manipulation and calculation of the town and church officials. The perseverance and devotion of Bernadette triumph over the self-consciousness, pettiness and materiality of her family and classmates. Of course there’s casual sexism, ableism, racism and classism sprinkled throughout the text, but I don’t think it’s meant to be malicious. The author gave no credence to the suggestions that Bernadette was a “hysterical” woman, a “lunatic” or “low-born” grifter. I’m bringing down the concept score to four not because there’s any concept that particularly offends me, but because there’s such a palpable lack of direction, purpose, theme, moral or lesson in this recounting. Isn’t the point of fiction to use lies to reveal (universal) truth? Why is this fiction, if the author is using facts to say nothing at all?
The essentials of the quality are difficult to assess fairly since this is a translation. If some of the phrasing or word choices sound odd it could be entirely because their turn isn’t idiomatic in English or because the translator made a poor choice. The library has only one copy of this book, so it’s not like I had a selection of translations at my disposal. Despite the occasional odd word or phrase, I actually very much enjoy the way Werfel writes. He has a way of twisting his sentences around to hold as much information as possible and be in the most logical order without ever becoming confusing. It’s a skill I personally aspire to. And of course this is so much a page turner. The pages fly by, and the book is easy to come back to every time it has to be put down.
However, I can’t account at all for what draws me in about this story. The chapters are redundant; for so many it’s just Bernadette having her frankly uninteresting visions and then the town officials trying to figure out how to stop her. Over and over again for most of the eighteen events. The characters aren’t as interesting as they could be, and Bernadette is possibly the least developed character of all. Throughout, she doesn’t change, doesn’t grow, doesn’t learn. That seems to me antithetical to good literature. And then there’s still the fact that there’s not really a plot or a conflict or any driving force behind this story. It’s a very straightforward retelling that lacks the relief of a good old denouement. For this lack of substance I subtract two points: one for the characters and one for the basic scaffolding all good fiction stories need: a message, a purpose, a moral. With some reluctance, I add a point back for the compelling mystery that makes this book so eminently readable.
Enjoyment is high. Not only did I enjoy reading this book, but I found myself talking about it a lot. Christian miracles are a compelling subject of conversation. I think they get to the very heart of human nature. Despite my awareness that he could have done so much more with it, I’m very grateful for what Werfel did give us.
The essentials of the quality are difficult to assess fairly since this is a translation. If some of the phrasing or word choices sound odd it could be entirely because their turn isn’t idiomatic in English or because the translator made a poor choice. The library has only one copy of this book, so it’s not like I had a selection of translations at my disposal. Despite the occasional odd word or phrase, I actually very much enjoy the way Werfel writes. He has a way of twisting his sentences around to hold as much information as possible and be in the most logical order without ever becoming confusing. It’s a skill I personally aspire to. And of course this is so much a page turner. The pages fly by, and the book is easy to come back to every time it has to be put down.
However, I can’t account at all for what draws me in about this story. The chapters are redundant; for so many it’s just Bernadette having her frankly uninteresting visions and then the town officials trying to figure out how to stop her. Over and over again for most of the eighteen events. The characters aren’t as interesting as they could be, and Bernadette is possibly the least developed character of all. Throughout, she doesn’t change, doesn’t grow, doesn’t learn. That seems to me antithetical to good literature. And then there’s still the fact that there’s not really a plot or a conflict or any driving force behind this story. It’s a very straightforward retelling that lacks the relief of a good old denouement. For this lack of substance I subtract two points: one for the characters and one for the basic scaffolding all good fiction stories need: a message, a purpose, a moral. With some reluctance, I add a point back for the compelling mystery that makes this book so eminently readable.
Enjoyment is high. Not only did I enjoy reading this book, but I found myself talking about it a lot. Christian miracles are a compelling subject of conversation. I think they get to the very heart of human nature. Despite my awareness that he could have done so much more with it, I’m very grateful for what Werfel did give us.
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