≡ PDF The Rehearsal A Novel Reagan Arthur Books Eleanor Catton 2015316074322 Books

The Rehearsal A Novel Reagan Arthur Books Eleanor Catton 2015316074322 Books

Download As PDF : The Rehearsal A Novel Reagan Arthur Books Eleanor Catton 2015316074322 Books

The Rehearsal A Novel Reagan Arthur Books Eleanor Catton 2015316074322 Books

Though this first novel is structurally challenging, the author keeps the tension high in her juxtapositioning of scenes that do not permit the reader to ascertain whether they are witnessing reality or performances - replicas. Ostensibly, the primary concern is to resolve the alleged seduction of a senior student at an all-girls school, Abbey Grange, by a band teacher; but then there is the possibility that the teen-ager has precipitated the situation through purposeful usage of her nubile charms. Eschewing the conventional path of detailing a police investigation, the author dramatizes the event through the vehicle of a play produced by college-aged students at an adjacent drama institute. The subjectivity and arbitrariness of artistic interpretation and persuasiveness are now injected into the entire scenario in addition to the near impossibility of gauging whether scenes and dialog stand outside the play or are a part of it. Given its innovative approach, this novel does require sharp attention.

At the drama school, the students are literally forced to "peel" away social veneers and defenses and to embrace authenticity, including a willingness to reveal one's most intimate moments. The school has departments of Acting, Improvisation, Movement, Voice, etc. The instructors are almost harsh in their demands, looking for ways to humiliate. Yet exercises in role playing underscore that actors play parts, which are seldom coincident with searches for truth. One student realizes that "Theater isn't real life, and it isn't a perfect copy of real life. It's just a point of access." This is the sort of training and mindset that are the basis of the drama students' construction of a play to elucidate what happened at the girls' school.

On the other hand, the teen-age girls at the school seek to become worldly, game playing and posturing being part of the process. They may have budding sexual prowess, but are apprehensive of how to advance to womanhood, which explains their cliquishness and conformity and their ready cruelty in labeling those a bit different as sexually deficient or deviant. Victoria, the girl who took up with Mr. Saladin, is both condemned for going outside the group and feared because she has gained knowledge and experience that they all desire. Even her younger sister Isolde wonders "How did you know that he would receive you, gather you up and press hard against you and even give out a little strangled moan like a cry, like a cry in the back of his throat?".

A very interesting character/actor is an independent teacher who rents space and gives saxophone lessons to some of the girls. Her attitude towards parents and the girls is seen in her caustic comment to a mother:

"If I am to teach your daughter, you darling hopeless and inadequate mother, she must be moody and bewildered and awkward and dissatisfied and wrong. When she realizes her body is a secret, a dark and yawning secret of which she becomes more and more ashamed, come back to me. ... I cannot teach children."

And the snare drum in the theater goes "kiss-kiss-kiss." She acts as more of a therapist and instigator than teacher, as she practically intimidates the girls into revealing their thoughts and actions and suggests actions to take. Most of these interactions seem to be a part of the play as various moods are created through the use of lighting, music, etc. The explanations presented by the various girls change from scene to scene. For example, has Isolde been sexually awakened by the mature Julia, a senior student, or were her first experiences with Stanley, a hesitant, stumbling student from the institute?

The author definitely suggests that the complexity and sophistication of the female personality surpasses that of men; there is a mysteriousness that is reinforced by the uncertainties of this novel. Stanley at one point concludes that girls have a "witchy capacity." They "constantly and consciously [distinguish] between themselves and the performance of themselves." This strangeness, according to one of the instructors, causes "many of us [men] to fear women." But the author is perhaps most interested in the emotions and intensity of young girls attracted to each other. Men are largely secondary in this story: there, but not crucial.

More broadly, the point is well made that life in many ways is a play, or more pointedly an ongoing rehearsal; we all play roles, though not necessarily happily. In other words, reality is the sum of performances. Is there room for truth in such a world? If so, it lies largely undiscovered in this novel.

One verity is that this novel is a remarkable effort from a young author. It is no small feat to weave a story of this complexity and perceptiveness, although the disjointedness is a bit of a distraction. It is a highly provocative, sensuous, and insightful coming-of-age book. There really is no plot to speak of. It is difficult to speak of characters when they are characterizations of actors. However, the enigmatic sax teacher is central to the book and Julia is a commanding and smart, cynical presence. Of course, props are important in a theater. In the author's eyes a saxophone can become "more alive than you are."; they can be caressed or positioned as an object or weapon.


Tags : The Rehearsal: A Novel (Reagan Arthur Books) [Eleanor Catton] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. All the world's a stage--and nowhere is that more true than at an all-girls high school, particularly one where a scandal has just erupted. A teacher has had an affair with his underage student,Eleanor Catton,The Rehearsal: A Novel (Reagan Arthur Books),Back Bay Books,0316074322,General,Adolescence,High school students,Music teachers,Sex scandals,Teacher-student relationships,Teenage girls,Theater,Coming of Age,FICTION General,FICTION Urban,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Coming of Age,FictionComing of Age,General Adult,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),NEW ZEALAND NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,United States,Urban

The Rehearsal A Novel Reagan Arthur Books Eleanor Catton 2015316074322 Books Reviews

This gem of a novel first unfolds as the reader sorts out what is action and what is acted . . . and then folds in upon its many parts. The machinery of this mechanism emits many startling and pleasing clicks.
After thoroughly enjoying The Luminaries I tried this one. Was disappointed. Found it disjointed, hard to follow and confusing. It was a struggle to finish it and I was no clearer at the end!
This is an astounding piece of writing. What at first appears incoherent, coalesces into a very clever interlacing of stories. I presume the author's closeness to the ages of the protagonists gives her insight, but I was impressed with her understanding of the feelings and motivations of the characters. I think a second reading necessary to catch everything that is offered, but despite its complexity, I found this a thoroughly enjoyable read.
This book was fantastic. The topic of a student-teacher relationship can easily be a trite one, but Catton managed to present a different angle. The main subject of the book, the student of the illicit relationship, is not in anyway the main character, which is slightly different. By presenting the story this way, it is more comparable to real life scenarios for the majority of people. Further, the drama school as a sort of mirror or challenger to the relationship is not-expected.
Although this novel baffled me at times, that was part of the fun of reading it. I really didn't want to put it down. At times it was so clever it seemed crazy, but was always utterly provoking and challenging. I have actually read this book twice, it was so good.
Beautifully written at times, but then pretentiously abstract at others. I found myself wondering, "Is this really happening in the characters' lives? Is it imagined? Is it all playing out on an unseen stage in an alternate reality? Or am I being manipulated into believing there could be an answer to any of these questions?" To add to the confusion, the story jumped back and forth between a chronological narrative of the characters at the all-girls school and the very non-chronological narrative at the drama college, which, even more confusingly intersect at times! Although uniquely and expertly written, the dark storyline and twisted main character/puppetmaster of "The Rehearsal" left me disturbed and wishing I hadn't lost the many hours to reading it.
Tranquil, contemplative, mysterious, slightly vague point of view, weaving in and out of threads slightly connected by one saxophone teacher, some threads woven on the outskirts, some intertwined with the core. Beautiful, approachable prose that never gets in the way, transparent to events, not at all self aware or tricky.

I'm only one third through, and savoring it, saving it for just the right moments; one the porch at the lake cabin in the rain, under a blanket by a fire, this book must be parsed out carefully.
Though this first novel is structurally challenging, the author keeps the tension high in her juxtapositioning of scenes that do not permit the reader to ascertain whether they are witnessing reality or performances - replicas. Ostensibly, the primary concern is to resolve the alleged seduction of a senior student at an all-girls school, Abbey Grange, by a band teacher; but then there is the possibility that the teen-ager has precipitated the situation through purposeful usage of her nubile charms. Eschewing the conventional path of detailing a police investigation, the author dramatizes the event through the vehicle of a play produced by college-aged students at an adjacent drama institute. The subjectivity and arbitrariness of artistic interpretation and persuasiveness are now injected into the entire scenario in addition to the near impossibility of gauging whether scenes and dialog stand outside the play or are a part of it. Given its innovative approach, this novel does require sharp attention.

At the drama school, the students are literally forced to "peel" away social veneers and defenses and to embrace authenticity, including a willingness to reveal one's most intimate moments. The school has departments of Acting, Improvisation, Movement, Voice, etc. The instructors are almost harsh in their demands, looking for ways to humiliate. Yet exercises in role playing underscore that actors play parts, which are seldom coincident with searches for truth. One student realizes that "Theater isn't real life, and it isn't a perfect copy of real life. It's just a point of access." This is the sort of training and mindset that are the basis of the drama students' construction of a play to elucidate what happened at the girls' school.

On the other hand, the teen-age girls at the school seek to become worldly, game playing and posturing being part of the process. They may have budding sexual prowess, but are apprehensive of how to advance to womanhood, which explains their cliquishness and conformity and their ready cruelty in labeling those a bit different as sexually deficient or deviant. Victoria, the girl who took up with Mr. Saladin, is both condemned for going outside the group and feared because she has gained knowledge and experience that they all desire. Even her younger sister Isolde wonders "How did you know that he would receive you, gather you up and press hard against you and even give out a little strangled moan like a cry, like a cry in the back of his throat?".

A very interesting character/actor is an independent teacher who rents space and gives saxophone lessons to some of the girls. Her attitude towards parents and the girls is seen in her caustic comment to a mother

"If I am to teach your daughter, you darling hopeless and inadequate mother, she must be moody and bewildered and awkward and dissatisfied and wrong. When she realizes her body is a secret, a dark and yawning secret of which she becomes more and more ashamed, come back to me. ... I cannot teach children."

And the snare drum in the theater goes "kiss-kiss-kiss." She acts as more of a therapist and instigator than teacher, as she practically intimidates the girls into revealing their thoughts and actions and suggests actions to take. Most of these interactions seem to be a part of the play as various moods are created through the use of lighting, music, etc. The explanations presented by the various girls change from scene to scene. For example, has Isolde been sexually awakened by the mature Julia, a senior student, or were her first experiences with Stanley, a hesitant, stumbling student from the institute?

The author definitely suggests that the complexity and sophistication of the female personality surpasses that of men; there is a mysteriousness that is reinforced by the uncertainties of this novel. Stanley at one point concludes that girls have a "witchy capacity." They "constantly and consciously [distinguish] between themselves and the performance of themselves." This strangeness, according to one of the instructors, causes "many of us [men] to fear women." But the author is perhaps most interested in the emotions and intensity of young girls attracted to each other. Men are largely secondary in this story there, but not crucial.

More broadly, the point is well made that life in many ways is a play, or more pointedly an ongoing rehearsal; we all play roles, though not necessarily happily. In other words, reality is the sum of performances. Is there room for truth in such a world? If so, it lies largely undiscovered in this novel.

One verity is that this novel is a remarkable effort from a young author. It is no small feat to weave a story of this complexity and perceptiveness, although the disjointedness is a bit of a distraction. It is a highly provocative, sensuous, and insightful coming-of-age book. There really is no plot to speak of. It is difficult to speak of characters when they are characterizations of actors. However, the enigmatic sax teacher is central to the book and Julia is a commanding and smart, cynical presence. Of course, props are important in a theater. In the author's eyes a saxophone can become "more alive than you are."; they can be caressed or positioned as an object or weapon.