Thursday, October 31, 2013

Night Film; Marisha Pessl

Random House - 2013

Night Film, starts with a mysterious death of 24 year old Ashley Cordova. Ashley is the intelligent but troubled daughter of cult horror filmmaker Stanislas Cordova. Ashley starred in her father's last film at the age of eight and performed as a concert pianist at the age of 12. Now dead at 24, her body found at the bottom of an elevator shaft, in an old warehouse in Manhattan. It is ruled a suicide but some have their doubts.

One of these skeptics is disgraced journalist Scott McGrath, who was involved with Stanislas Cordova before, and the outcome was not pretty for him; it cost him his job.  McGrath thinks if he can get to the bottom of Ashley's death, it 'll be an opportunity to get some satisfaction. As McGrath and his team dig deep into Cordova's past, the reader is taken on a dark and sometimes shocking ride. 

Just who is Stanislas Cordova, and why has he been in hiding for over 20 years? Why do his cult fans, who call themselves Cordovites, meet in abandoned buildings? As the reader, these are just a few of the things that I hoped I'd find out after tackling this 600+ page book.

Night Film was a very different read for me.The writing was very good and I loved all of the twists, turns and clues along the way. At times I wasn't sure where the story was going, but I never felt frustrated either. I enjoyed the audio version, read by Jake Weber. At times,  I found myself sitting in a parking lot listening just a bit longer after reaching my destination --- that is unusual for me. However, in my opinion, you will be missing out if you just listen to this one. It is important to have the print edition to see what the author included to add interest to the narrative. She provided things like excerpts from magazine articles, newspaper headlines, police reports, crime scene photos, screen shots and even online message board posts.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and think it did a good job living up to the hype. The characters were well developed, It was fun looking for clues, and I was satisfied with the ending. I am still happy thinking about the I spent time with this book. 

4.5/5 stars

(thank you to NetGalley/Random House for and eGalley)
(Audio Book from my library) 

20 comments:

  1. I'm glad you liked it. I had problems with it, but I know it has sparked a wide range of reactions!

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  2. I've been hearing such good reviews of this one. Glad to hear you also enjoyed it. It's on my list to read!

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  3. Glad you liked this so much. It might be a good one for a read/listen combination... I seem to be doing that a lot lately.

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  4. I think I might try this one. I absolutely loved Pessl's first book!

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  5. This one seems to be getting mixed reviews so I'm not sure if I'll like it but I do want to give it a try.

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  6. I put my name on the wait list at my local library for this book although I wasn't completely sure I wanted to read it. (I haven't yet read the author's debut) But this terrific review of yours has convinced me this is a book not to miss. It sounds unique, clever and absorbing. What really sold me was when you wrote "I'm still happy thinking about the time I spend with this book". :o)

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  7. I keep thinking that this one might not be my thing, but I like when books have extra media they add to the text.

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  8. I really do think I would like it too!

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  9. A great review Diane, I am going to add this one to my reading list. Thank you and have a great weekend :)

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  10. Glad to see you liked this one. I have it in print and hope to get to it soon.

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  11. Reading this right now and enjoying so far!

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  12. I have heard so many great things about this one!

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  13. I'm not sure, in the end, I got why everyone loved Cordova so much; certainly there were a lot of unanswered questions. But then it's the kind of book that isn't about answering all of our questions - like what in the heck just happened at the end?!

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  14. Good review! I have started this one in hard back...difficult to follow in the first part. I'm looking forward to it getting better on your recommendation!

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  15. We read this one for book club too....lots of great discussion and the consensus was, it was a great read.

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  16. I loved the experience of reading this one. All of the media tidbits that the author included really added to the experience for me. I just wish the URLs for some of the web pages had been actual web pages.

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  17. It is great to see that you enjoyed this one so much. I'm half way through it at the moment and think I'll have a similar opinion. I also agree about having the print edition. I started out listening to it and felt I was missing out so I ordered the hardback from the library. I'm now using both in tandem. It is strange, but it works!

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  18. It is great to see that you enjoyed this one so much. I'm half way through it at the moment and think I'll have a similar opinion. I also agree about having the print edition. I started out listening to it and felt I was missing out so I ordered the hardback from the library. I'm now using both in tandem. It is strange, but it works!

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  19. I am glad you enjoyed this one so much, Diane. It's definitely one I want to read, especially now.

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  20. I've been looking to pick this one up soon. Read quite a bit about it and it seems intriguing.

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