Review of Ophelia
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Debra Lee 1
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Review of Ophelia
[Following is a volunteer review of "Ophelia" by Norman Bacal.]
We meet Gerhard Nielson in the dramatic opening prologue. It is the night of September 29th 1943 and the Nazis have just imposed martial law on Denmark. Against a background of dense mist and tides “whispering secrets” we are given a child’s eye view of a tense and hair-raising rescue mission taking Jewish refugees to safety across the raging sea to Sweden. Gerhard glimpses a moment of possible liberation from the small fishing village for him too when the young son of the escaping family shows him handfuls of diamonds.
Part 1, Chapter 1 of Ophelia takes the reader forward 60 years in time to October 2003 and reveals a cast of characters whose histories are tied up with those dramatic events at Elsinore over half a century before.
Gerhard has become Geri, a successful businessman, living in New York. His son, Thalem (Tal), refers to his parents as “Mother” and “Father”, just as Geri did when he was a child. There is a sense of history replaying and the atmosphere is tense. Geri “paced and “fumed”. His body language is angry and confrontational. He “crossed his arms” and he and his business partner stood face to face.
We travel with Tal as he moves forward with his life.
The book is well crafted, with relationships and timelines that make sense. We mostly see this world through the eyes of Tal, who seems to be lost and unsure of his place in the world. As his journey through life progresses he is supported by other characters as he tries to discover who he is.
As a reader, I found it hard to care about and empathise with Tal. His lack of interest in other people may have been learnt from his parents and his experience of their relationship but, for me, it created a character that was too introspective and shallow to want to know more about. I was particularly frustrated not to learn more about Ophelia, who seemed to operate only as a narrative device to support Tal. The female roles felt unexplored, only there as mirrors to their partners. I also felt that the reliance on dialogue to move the story forward and inform the reader did not allow for the creation of real depth and layers to the story.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 . It is a well-designed book with lively language and a potentially interesting cast of characters. As a reader, I found it hard to be interested in the protagonist and disappointed not to learn more about the other characters. I have a preference for narratives that look out into the world rather than stories that are more interested in the experiences of one person. I was expecting the breadth and drama of Shakespeare and was disappointed to get something much more insular and limited.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a well-edited story exploring the life of a damaged young man trying to find his way in the world and learning how he can become a man. The language is uncomplicated and the story is clearly signposted, often through dialogue. Norman Bacal writes informatively of the world of big business, a world he clearly knows well.
******
Ophelia
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
We meet Gerhard Nielson in the dramatic opening prologue. It is the night of September 29th 1943 and the Nazis have just imposed martial law on Denmark. Against a background of dense mist and tides “whispering secrets” we are given a child’s eye view of a tense and hair-raising rescue mission taking Jewish refugees to safety across the raging sea to Sweden. Gerhard glimpses a moment of possible liberation from the small fishing village for him too when the young son of the escaping family shows him handfuls of diamonds.
Part 1, Chapter 1 of Ophelia takes the reader forward 60 years in time to October 2003 and reveals a cast of characters whose histories are tied up with those dramatic events at Elsinore over half a century before.
Gerhard has become Geri, a successful businessman, living in New York. His son, Thalem (Tal), refers to his parents as “Mother” and “Father”, just as Geri did when he was a child. There is a sense of history replaying and the atmosphere is tense. Geri “paced and “fumed”. His body language is angry and confrontational. He “crossed his arms” and he and his business partner stood face to face.
We travel with Tal as he moves forward with his life.
The book is well crafted, with relationships and timelines that make sense. We mostly see this world through the eyes of Tal, who seems to be lost and unsure of his place in the world. As his journey through life progresses he is supported by other characters as he tries to discover who he is.
As a reader, I found it hard to care about and empathise with Tal. His lack of interest in other people may have been learnt from his parents and his experience of their relationship but, for me, it created a character that was too introspective and shallow to want to know more about. I was particularly frustrated not to learn more about Ophelia, who seemed to operate only as a narrative device to support Tal. The female roles felt unexplored, only there as mirrors to their partners. I also felt that the reliance on dialogue to move the story forward and inform the reader did not allow for the creation of real depth and layers to the story.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 . It is a well-designed book with lively language and a potentially interesting cast of characters. As a reader, I found it hard to be interested in the protagonist and disappointed not to learn more about the other characters. I have a preference for narratives that look out into the world rather than stories that are more interested in the experiences of one person. I was expecting the breadth and drama of Shakespeare and was disappointed to get something much more insular and limited.
I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a well-edited story exploring the life of a damaged young man trying to find his way in the world and learning how he can become a man. The language is uncomplicated and the story is clearly signposted, often through dialogue. Norman Bacal writes informatively of the world of big business, a world he clearly knows well.
******
Ophelia
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Hattie Vavaseur by M. Rebecca Wildsmith
