A high-school sex scandal jolts a group of teenage girls into a new awareness of their own potency and power. The sudden and total publicity seems to turn every act into a performance and every platform into a stage. But when the local drama school decides to turn the scandal into a show, the real world and the world of the theater are forced to meet, and soon the boundaries between private and public begin to dissolve. "The Rehearsal" is an exhilarating and provocative novel about the unsimple mess of human desire, at once a tender evocation of its young protagonists and a shrewd expose of emotional compromise.
The Rehearsal
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Review
'A wonderful debut by a truly exciting new writer' - Kate Atkinson -- Review
'An extremely accomplished debut novel' - Bookseller
-- Review
'Haunting and compelling and just plain fabulously well-written' - Laurie Graham -- Review
'This could well be hailed as the most original, thought-provoking work of fiction published this year' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly
-- Review
'This is a daring book, full of velvety pleasures ... Eleanor Catton is crazily talented and insightful' - Emily Perkins -- Review
`A mature, witty investigation into teenage sexuality, cruelty and performance' - Dazed & Confused
-- Review
`Alarmingly good: a super-confident and exhilarating novel that marks Catton as a rare and exciting new talent' - Metro -- Review
`As debuts go, this one is astral - as well as teasing, intelligent and knowing' - Scotsman -- Review
`It represents a starburst of talent, the arrival of an author wholly different from anyone else writing today' - Sunday Times -- Review
`Startlingly original' - Time Out
-- Review
'An extremely accomplished debut novel' - Bookseller
-- Review
'Haunting and compelling and just plain fabulously well-written' - Laurie Graham -- Review
'This could well be hailed as the most original, thought-provoking work of fiction published this year' - Waterstone's Books Quarterly
-- Review
'This is a daring book, full of velvety pleasures ... Eleanor Catton is crazily talented and insightful' - Emily Perkins -- Review
`A mature, witty investigation into teenage sexuality, cruelty and performance' - Dazed & Confused
-- Review
`Alarmingly good: a super-confident and exhilarating novel that marks Catton as a rare and exciting new talent' - Metro -- Review
`As debuts go, this one is astral - as well as teasing, intelligent and knowing' - Scotsman -- Review
`It represents a starburst of talent, the arrival of an author wholly different from anyone else writing today' - Sunday Times -- Review
`Startlingly original' - Time Out
-- Review
Review
'A wonderful debut by a truly exciting new writer' - Kate Atkinson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Eileen Shaw
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
I understand those reviewers who feel bewildered by this book because it is a very modernist, experimental experience. One is not expected to take the majority of the dialogue as what was actually said. It is more an indication of feelings and ideas inherent to the particular character. At times it reads (with the lighting information especially) like a playscript, and at others it uses archetypes (Head of Acting, Head of Movement, etc.) to move the text around within its proscribed parameters. Not an easy read between the lines, or even on the page. The action coalesces between Isolde, whose older sister Victoria has been the subject of a scandal - an accusation of abuse has been made against a teacher. The saxophone teacher introduces two of her pupils, one of whom, Julia, has been accused of lesbianism. Isolde is a friend of both Julia and Stanley, who is at the nearby Institute of the Dramatic Arts.
The verbal pyrotechnics often work against this novel in making it difficult to identify with some characters - the saxophone teacher, for instance, who is a bit of a monster and whose antipathy towards her pupil's mothers seems virulent, not to mention her acute sexual frustration. Or is that meant to be Julia's point of view? It is conflated. The experimental agenda interferes in any clear-cut verdict. But that, in a way is the point. The depths of feeling must be plumbed in order to produce the entertainment. The hushed awe of the audience is endemic to this novel.
Hardly an unadulterated pleasure to read, therefore, but with moments of brilliant insight. Stanley's reaction to the Theatre of Cruelty demonstration, for instance, as well as Bridget's (another saxophonist) moments with Mr Saladin in the video shop. But the novel has a heartless quality too - Bridget suffers from this, chosen almost inevitably to be the "one who dies", fulfilling Stanley's father's prediction. Some interesting games are played, some sensualities teased out and tormented a little, as this turns into an amusingly provoking read. It's not as clever as it thinks it is, however, as the ending fails to draw the artful premises to any kind of a conclusion. It looks like a failure of nerve to me, which is a pity and I wish it had been held until the literal curtain call.
The verbal pyrotechnics often work against this novel in making it difficult to identify with some characters - the saxophone teacher, for instance, who is a bit of a monster and whose antipathy towards her pupil's mothers seems virulent, not to mention her acute sexual frustration. Or is that meant to be Julia's point of view? It is conflated. The experimental agenda interferes in any clear-cut verdict. But that, in a way is the point. The depths of feeling must be plumbed in order to produce the entertainment. The hushed awe of the audience is endemic to this novel.
Hardly an unadulterated pleasure to read, therefore, but with moments of brilliant insight. Stanley's reaction to the Theatre of Cruelty demonstration, for instance, as well as Bridget's (another saxophonist) moments with Mr Saladin in the video shop. But the novel has a heartless quality too - Bridget suffers from this, chosen almost inevitably to be the "one who dies", fulfilling Stanley's father's prediction. Some interesting games are played, some sensualities teased out and tormented a little, as this turns into an amusingly provoking read. It's not as clever as it thinks it is, however, as the ending fails to draw the artful premises to any kind of a conclusion. It looks like a failure of nerve to me, which is a pity and I wish it had been held until the literal curtain call.
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
'All the world's a stage': brilliantly quirky exploration of adolescence in a media age
6 July 2009
By Gabrielle O
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
An extraordinarily clever first novel that manages to blend black comedy, romantic drama and critical musings on the nature of performance and reality. Does this sound like an odd blend? It is, but it works!
Deeply unusual and quirky, The Rehearsal centres around a high school sex scandal that becomes the fodder for a drama school play. Private lives tangle with public performance, and the scandal and its effects play out in the whole community. What's real and what's performance? It's sometimes hard to tell, but the sharply witty dialogue and the oddly compelling (but not always appealing!) characters keep you intrigued and guessing how the two will collide.
I have to say that, had I not read this book, I would be sceptical about the whole premise. It sounds a bit too 'clever clever'. And yet - The Rehearsal makes for a great read; it's gripping, funny, smart and moving at the same time.
Catton's novel is filled with drama tutors who are acutely aware of their own performances; insecure adolescents grappling with their sexuality and social lives at the same time; and teachers who manipulate their students, like puppets, for murky (and sometimes suspect!) motives. The most alarmingly odd and compelling character, a saxophone teacher whose commentary pervades the book, pronounces that young adulthood is merely a "rehearsal for everything that comes after".
Sharply drawn characters, a compelling plot and atmospheric dialogue makes this an excellent read. The Rehearsal is definitely unusual and fairly literary (as you might expect, as it's published by Granta) but it's also a funny, poignant and highly relevant contemporary look at what it means to grow up in the media-dominated 21st century.
Deeply unusual and quirky, The Rehearsal centres around a high school sex scandal that becomes the fodder for a drama school play. Private lives tangle with public performance, and the scandal and its effects play out in the whole community. What's real and what's performance? It's sometimes hard to tell, but the sharply witty dialogue and the oddly compelling (but not always appealing!) characters keep you intrigued and guessing how the two will collide.
I have to say that, had I not read this book, I would be sceptical about the whole premise. It sounds a bit too 'clever clever'. And yet - The Rehearsal makes for a great read; it's gripping, funny, smart and moving at the same time.
Catton's novel is filled with drama tutors who are acutely aware of their own performances; insecure adolescents grappling with their sexuality and social lives at the same time; and teachers who manipulate their students, like puppets, for murky (and sometimes suspect!) motives. The most alarmingly odd and compelling character, a saxophone teacher whose commentary pervades the book, pronounces that young adulthood is merely a "rehearsal for everything that comes after".
Sharply drawn characters, a compelling plot and atmospheric dialogue makes this an excellent read. The Rehearsal is definitely unusual and fairly literary (as you might expect, as it's published by Granta) but it's also a funny, poignant and highly relevant contemporary look at what it means to grow up in the media-dominated 21st century.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Tamara L
Format:Hardcover
This is an intelligent book from a talented young writer, well crafted, precocious and original. it took me a while to get what was going on in terms of what was 'real' and what was being rehearsed. I could imagine studying or teaching this book and it being quite rewarding as there is so much to unravel, but ultimately I prefer a book with heart and emotion than something that so self-consciously aims to be dazzling and stylistically clever. I've been working my way through the long list for the 2010 Orange prize. This is streets ahead of most of the other entries I've read and yet somehow I hope it doesn't win. She is clearly a writer to watch out for and I would certainly read next book. I might even come to eat my words.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Themes of Illusion and Reality
Eleanor Catton's first novel is a self-consciously postmodernist story, dealing with a group of young (and not so young) people involved in the arts in an unnamed city in an... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kate Hopkins
4.0 out of 5 stars
Complex and entertaining
The sort of novel that sets the pulse racing and the pages turning late into the night. Compelling and brave.
Published 6 months ago by R. Munro
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could a better book follow The Rehearsal?
I bought this book two years ago following a "if you like Notes on a Scandal you will love . . ." clever piece of promotion and for those two years it sat on my bookshelf neglected... Read more
Published 10 months ago by imla
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was captivated by the way this story was told.
What makes this story facinating is the way it is told. The basis - a sex scandal in a girls' school - is not particularly new. But this exploration is. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Jayne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary
One thinks of Françoise Sagan's "Bonjour tristesse". How can an author who is so young have such experience and insight?
Published 19 months ago by William Tobin
1.0 out of 5 stars
worst book ever
This has got to be the worst book I have ever read. I have never given up on a book but I very nearly did with this one, if it wanst that I had to read it for a book club I think... Read more
Published on 8 May 2011 by Mrs. R. Varley
1.0 out of 5 stars
Gave up
I read a lot of books and this started ok but became very repetitive. The characters showed little compassion. The story moved slowly and did not evolve. Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2011 by carol7
1.0 out of 5 stars
Drivel
Struggled to read this book. The story should have been engaging but neither the writing style nor the characters kept me reading.
Published on 27 Nov 2010 by Janner
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not as clever as it thinks it is
When a high school teacher is outed as having gotten a little too close to one of his sixth-form students, the scandal ripples throughout the school and beyond. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2010 by Karura
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insane But Genius
I loved this book.
Structured like a deck of cards shuffled and re-shuffled again, the plot switches back and forth between two main narrative threads: the first... Read more
Structured like a deck of cards shuffled and re-shuffled again, the plot switches back and forth between two main narrative threads: the first... Read more
Published on 20 July 2010 by O. Mansell
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