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stella_starstruck's review against another edition
3.0
The first story was heartbreaking and difficult to read. The second story didn't work that well for me. I didn't see the point when it was over.
zisi's review against another edition
4.0
Ozick's literary style (dense, allusive, poetic) makes reading her always a pleasure. I first read "The Shawl" ("The Shawl," short story; "Rosa" novella) when it first appeared in 1984, and have returned to it several times in the years since. The stories, better read as a single narrative, are about Rosa, a Holocaust survivor, in mourning for over thirty years (the narrative takes place in 1977) for her dead parents, siblings, and infant child, who the Nazis discovered and threw against the camp's electric fence. The story is marred somewhat by its brevity (69 pages) and underdevelopment, and the protagonist's self-torment, which, after awhile becomes a bit tedious to read. But Ozick's prose, as usual, soars, the suppleness of the language making up for the story's unrelenting bleakness.
asililydying's review against another edition
how hard it is not to feel contempt for everyone who can't even begin to understand
haley_j_casey's review against another edition
3.0
Another short story for class!
I don't really know how I feel about this one... The writing was well-done, and the subject was brutal but honest, but overall I wasn't caught up in the few pages. I felt like I knew what was going to happen in the end (though I don't think it was supposed to be a secret, either), and in the beginning, I thought the story was going to be from one POV and it ended up being from another. I also felt like some of the details were described completely clearly, and then a paragraph later the descriptions were vague and had to be deciphered.
I just don't know. It wasn't bad. But I don't think I, personally, liked it.
After discussing it in class, I liked the meaning better. But not necessarily the story itself :/
I don't really know how I feel about this one... The writing was well-done, and the subject was brutal but honest, but overall I wasn't caught up in the few pages. I felt like I knew what was going to happen in the end (though I don't think it was supposed to be a secret, either), and in the beginning, I thought the story was going to be from one POV and it ended up being from another. I also felt like some of the details were described completely clearly, and then a paragraph later the descriptions were vague and had to be deciphered.
I just don't know. It wasn't bad. But I don't think I, personally, liked it.
After discussing it in class, I liked the meaning better. But not necessarily the story itself :/
dllh's review against another edition
4.0
A study in pathology and, maybe, escape from it, told in affecting, crystalline prose.
zelinacarstens's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
nick_jenkins's review against another edition
4.0
Ozick evidently hates Florida almost as much as I do.
matissaflono's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
ostrava's review against another edition
1.0
"The Shawl" is an unneeded new entry into the recreation of the Holocaust. Nothing new was said and the short length doesn't allow for any meaningful introspection. Its power instead comes from the image it conceives, one based on real events apparently, around which the rest of the tale is built. So why do I say it's unnecessary? Because it's shocking and poetic, and we've been here before, a thousand times already. This is closer to poetry, and I've read better poetry.
It didn't move me. It saddened me, horrified me even. I cannot even process something of this level of brutality happening in real life. But it doesn't leave a mark. Not necessarily distasteful, but not exactly of good taste either.
As for Rosa... well. There's not much to say. I get where it's going for, but it's clear that what made Ozick a sensation was The Shawl, and not Rosa. Rosa is an overwritten study of character that dives too deeply into someone projecting too little, which is something I didn't believe I could say about a victim of the Holocaust. I'm not a fan of the structure and the concept of recapturing one's life only through the power of "love". We've also been here before, and I'm sadly not impressed. There's not much too like, sadly.
Now, one star is harsh given the intention behind the work, but it utterly fails in my eyes in too many ways, and doesn't have the benefit of being of my taste either. Not the worst pack of short stories, just sadly not my jam at all.
Watch the Son of Saul instead...
It didn't move me. It saddened me, horrified me even. I cannot even process something of this level of brutality happening in real life. But it doesn't leave a mark. Not necessarily distasteful, but not exactly of good taste either.
As for Rosa... well. There's not much to say. I get where it's going for, but it's clear that what made Ozick a sensation was The Shawl, and not Rosa. Rosa is an overwritten study of character that dives too deeply into someone projecting too little, which is something I didn't believe I could say about a victim of the Holocaust. I'm not a fan of the structure and the concept of recapturing one's life only through the power of "love". We've also been here before, and I'm sadly not impressed. There's not much too like, sadly.
Now, one star is harsh given the intention behind the work, but it utterly fails in my eyes in too many ways, and doesn't have the benefit of being of my taste either. Not the worst pack of short stories, just sadly not my jam at all.
Watch the Son of Saul instead...
catherine392's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0