Results 1 to 24 of 24

Thread: You guys need to read Night Film so we can talk about it.

  1. #1
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919

    You guys need to read Night Film so we can talk about it.



    Night Film by Marisha Pessl

    I'm not recommending it, exactly, because I haven't finished yet and it could still end up being a disaster. But I'm far enough in to know that either way I'm really going to need someone to talk to when I finish. It's kind of long so I need you guys to start now before I finish.

    I also suspect that it is just up the alley of several Match-Cutters.

    What I know so far: it's a psychological thriller. A young woman in New York is found dead of an apparent suicide. It causes waves because she is the the daughter of a reclusive cult filmmaker who makes work so disturbing that his more recent films are only shown literally underground-- in tunnels, catacombs, etc-- because they are refused any sort of conventional distribution. He's a subject of fascination, adoration and grim rumors. A disgraced journalist begins looking into her death and that's pretty much all I know so far.

    Please read it so we can talk.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  2. #2
    I would pick it up, but I can guarantee I'd be a good 2 weeks behind you the entire time.

    As penance, I'm watching Seven Brides For Seven Brothers for the first time right now. For you.

  3. #3
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Quote Quoting amberlita (view post)
    As penance, I'm watching Seven Brides For Seven Brothers for the first time right now. For you.
    This is so beautiful I want to cry.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  4. #4
    Super Moderator dreamdead's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    5,843
    I'd read reviews that seemed fairly indifferent about the novel from the NYTimes critics, though I'd been interested in it prior to. I'll try to free up time in the summer but am otherwise pretty booked.

    Let us know if it lands the ending. I think I remember that being described as underwhelming...
    The Boat People - 9
    The Power of the Dog - 7.5
    The King of Pigs - 7

  5. #5
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    This sounds up my alley, and I really dug Marisha Pessl's first book, but I have a lot of reading for school this semester.

    I'll try to make it the next fiction book I read.

  6. #6
    I was really interested in reading this, but then I kept noticing a lot of tepid to downright negative appraisals of the book. I still might give it a chance sometime. I think her debut novel had a better reception.

    Night Film still sounds fun, though. I don't really like the fact that it has an official app with additional content, but the execution might be great. Fortunately, Pessl made sure that the text stands on its own.


  7. #7
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    So far it's very ambitious, and ambitious novels often don't succeed terribly well. But just as often they still deserve to be read.

    I had forgotten about this app. I don't know how I feel about that.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  8. #8
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    What the hell with this book. I don't even know how to.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  9. #9
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    Quote Quoting Mara (view post)
    What the hell with this book. I don't even know how to.
    Is this good or bad?

  10. #10
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Quote Quoting ledfloyd (view post)
    Is this good or bad?
    I'M NOT SURE.

    I need to have a good long think. And possibly sleep. And maybe carry the book around with me for a few days, in my hands but away from my body, like a snarling cat.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  11. #11
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Okay. After some time, I think I will put this down with Gone Girl in terms of books where every element doesn't work every time, but the ambition and innovation really make up for the flaws. I was sometimes frustrated, I was sometimes baffled, but I was turning the pages like crazy. I had plans with friends last night which I literally cancelled because I needed to finish the book.

    I've read criticism that it doesn't behave like a normal mystery, and it doesn't. The clues and discoveries are made in a very linear manner. There's also no mystery: Ashley Cordova killed herself. We know that. We just want to know why. The prose is more literary than you'd generally get in a mystery, while the vivid descriptions and leisurely pace are unusual for a thriller, which also doesn't fit as a genre.

    The book is 600 pages long. Around page 400, I was looking distressed, and my roommate asked why. I said, "I don't know if the supernatural exists in this book or not." She said, "You're almost done." I said, "I KNOW."

    Is it flawed? Sure. But I totally still want you guys to read it.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  12. #12
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    I will get to it. I'm on spring break week after next, so perhaps I'll be able to find the time.

    You should read Special Topics in Calamity Physics.

  13. #13
    Quote Quoting Mara (view post)
    ,.... But I totally still want you guys to read it.
    Chapter 44.

  14. #14
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    I picked this up at the library today. Pynchon's Bleeding Edge was taunting me, but this thread made me go with Night Film. I'll start it soon, and I'm on break next week, so it shouldn't take long.

  15. #15
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Cool. I'm interested to see what you guys think.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  16. #16
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    I got through about 50 pages last night. Super intrigued.

  17. #17
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    I can't put this book down.

  18. #18
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    About 2/3 of the way through this now. It's really engrossing, but it does always feel like it's on the verge of going off the rails. Particularly in regards to the occult stuff. I think I'm at the "I don't know if the supernatural exists in this book or not," point. Which I'm not sure is a good thing, because I can't tell if the book is cheating or not if I don't know the rules.

  19. #19
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Quote Quoting ledfloyd (view post)
    It's really engrossing, but it does always feel like it's on the verge of going off the rails.
    This is an excellent summation of how I felt about the book as a whole, actually.
    ...and the milk's in me.

  20. #20
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    Done. I'm not sure she completely stuck the landing, and I have a few quibbles with the big set piece. Overall I enjoyed it though, and I had forgotten what it feels like to read 400+ pages of a book in two days. Haven't done that in awhile.

  21. #21
    I'm in the milk... Mara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    16,919
    Quote Quoting ledfloyd (view post)
    I have a few quibbles with the big set piece.
    I assume you mean the

    [
    ]
    ...and the milk's in me.

  22. #22
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    Quote Quoting Mara (view post)
    I assume you mean the

    [
    ]
    [
    ]

  23. #23
    Was good till chapter 109.

  24. #24
    i am the great went ledfloyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    6,230
    Quote Quoting kuehnepips (view post)
    Was good till chapter 109.
    Refresh my memory?

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
An forum