Reviews

Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky

courthughes's review

2.0

Pretty prose, would be gorgeous in French. I liked it well enough but would have liked more - it felt rushed.

enelvee's review against another edition

4.0

I didn't find it as rich as the Suite, but well worth the time nonetheless.

lusimusi's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I don't think this aged very well or maybe it's just me that is a spiteful person.

nunuseli's review against another edition

4.0

Otra pequeña joya a descubrir de Irène Némirovsky. En este caso está narrada y protagonizada por un hombre que un día había sido un gran aventurero y un gran seductor, pero que ahora se ha convertido en un viejo arruinado y huraño que vive recluído en su caserón. Él es espectador de como el secreto de una pequeña tragedia protagonizada por unos jóvenes sale a la luz. Y esto le hace recordar su propia pequeña tragedia del pasado. Escrita como una intriga sentimental, engancha, a pesar de que no haya nunca grandes sorpresas. Es una obra sobria y que funciona como un mecanismo de relojería. Impecable. Pasado y presente se entrelazan para acabarnos contando que la historia se repite eternamente. Una obra cíclica, inteligente y amarga, que además describe a la perfección (con un punta de vista crítico) la vida de un pueblo rural y su gente, con sus secretos, su mezquindad y su monotonía. Ya lo he dicho: una pequeña joya.

ailsahatton's review against another edition

3.0

That time of year when I pick up short books to try and finish more of them - but also when I pick up things I normally wouldn't. Interesting to me because of the way it's been written (or translated) rather than the content - a straightforward kind of storytelling that works well for it.

ibebrie's review against another edition

3.0

Definitely an unfinished work. Just as I was beginning to enjoy this novel, it ended. I loved Nemirovsky's novel Suite Francaise, this novel could definitely have been on par with Suite Francaise.

biblio_popins's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Punts a favor:
- Parla d'amor d'una forma més natural i no tant flipada com altres llibres (ejem ejem F. Sagan). 
- La història acaba prenent un gir que no t'esperes i això està guay. No m'ho esperava. 
- La Nemirovsky escriu bastant bé en general, i excepte algunes parts, no es fa avorrit. 
- Sorprenent que un llibre tant curt pugui contenir tantes personalitats, girs i trama.

Punts en contra: 
- Putos nazis que van matar a la Nemirovsky i ens van deixar sense més llibres. 
- Els personatges són molt provincians i poc variats, no sé, en aquest sentit una mica avorrits.
- Em va agradar més el de El ball, per la trama tan de mala persona. 

pppaigeee's review

5.0

I cannot BELIEVE I had never heard of Irène Némirovsky before a very kind stranger gave me a copy of this book! Thank you, kind stranger! Sandra Smith's translation is amazingly written, the characters are surprisingly complex for such a short book, and the story is nuanced and gripping, albeit in a very pastoral, quotidian kind of way. I have fallen in love. I'm dying to read this book in French, and then to devour everything else that Némirovsky wrote in her short lifetime.

bethberry18's review against another edition

4.0

Young complicated love in a French farm town. I liked this a bit more than Suite Francaise.

meki's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0