The Rehearsal [Kindle Edition]

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.

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.

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.