The Conversion

by Joseph Olshan

Book Overview

Russell Todaro, a young American translator, moves to Paris to take stock of his life and goals only to further lose himself in the surprising twists fate has in store for him. One night, two men waving guns and knives break and enter their Paris hotel room, terrorizing Russell and his much older companion, a famous American poet named Edward Cannon. The intruders, not finding what they seemingly expected, leave without further incident but the baffling,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312373910
• ISBN13: 9780312373917
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Wonderful Reading Experience

In his novel, "The Conversion," Joseph Olshan takes the reader on a journey that includes meeting characters who are real enough to step off the page, as well as one that takes us through the beauty of Italy and it's old, historic villas using them as a setting for mystery and passion. The multifaceted conflict of Russell Todaro, the novel's narrator and main character, reveals a young man who is conflicted in his proclivity to fall in love with married or unavailable men and, at the same time, confesses his ambition to also be a successful writer. He travels with an older and established American writer and while staying in Paris, wakes up in the morning to find his friend dead after a break-in the previous evening which resulted in the friend going back to bed laughing about what had happened. After driving through the beautiful French and Italian countryside with an established Italian female writer who has invited him to stay at her villa, he goes into a period of mourning where he does nothing but sleep. Ah, but when he wakes up, Olshan taunts us with his ability to make a character come to life and we become just as confused as Todaro because he doesn't know what drives him to do what he does, thus leaving the reader with the same questions as the seemingly aimless narrator. But the character of Marina Vezzoli, his hostess in the Tuscan villa brings him to life and forces him to find answers that only he can provide. In his quest to follow Marina's advice, Todaro commits an act which could be considered sacrilege, only for us to discover later that the act wasn't as final as we thought. If you have never read any of Olshan's books, start here and you will want to continue on your journey with the characters in his other novels. His style is impeccable and his creation of a visible countryside and complex characters boasts of his ability as a contemporary literary figure who should be taken seriously. You won't be disapponted in this journey.

One of the best books I've read recently

Joseph Olshan (author of the wonderful "Nightswimmer") has given his readers another terrific novel to savor. "The Conversion" is, without a doubt, a page-turner, a suspenseful narrative full of beautifully delineated, complex characters who leap off the page in their vividness. (This is especially true of Russell Todaro, the young gay man whose uneasy journey hooks the reader from the very first paragraph.) The prose itself is graceful and evocative--I often found myself rereading passages simply for their elegance. What a rare treat it is to read a literary novel that is as compelling as it is well-written!

A comfortable read

Saturday, April 25, 2008. I read The Conversion cover to cover today. While I read it entirely in one sitting, I didn't do that because it was so suspenseful that I couldn't put it down. Instead I found Olshan's latest to be a very comfortable read. It is hard for me to describe, but somehow reading The Conversion was like reading one of my travel journals from 10 years ago. Familiar, but with enough time and distance had passed so that details of the events seemed new. Because the characters and story seemed familiar, this was an easy and very comfortable book to read. Though many of the story's elements are anything but comfortable--the hotel invasion at gun/knife point and the entire topic of sero-converting--the characters handle these situations like people I know would handle them. I found myself bringing my life into the reading of this book as much as this book brought new topics and details to my life. While there were dramatic situations in The Conversion, the overall feeling of the book is one of a subtle, yet nagging, mystery that winds through all the character's lives. It always amazes me when a book can make me feel this involved and this comfortable with new characters that instantly feel familiar.

Lush and Evocative

Olshan's latest takes place mostly in a historical Tuscan villa whose rich history contrasts the drama that is played out within its walls. The book arrives with a rollicking narrative whose twists and turns keep you guessing until the very end. Along the way, we are treated to gorgeous and very acute cultural descriptions of France Italy, such that only a person who speaks the language could give us. This is also one of those novels where the writer's alchemy keeps adding layers to the characters so that by the end, we come to know them very intimately and see all their virtues and contradictions. Along with lots of lapidary prose comes some very sexy moments.

Translating Europe

Olshan, Joseph. "The Conversion", St. Martin's 2008. Translating Europe Amos Lassen New from St. Martin's in Joseph Olshan's "The Conversion" which is set in Italy and is a novel with twists and turns the entire length. Russell Todaro is a young and gifted translator who has moved to Paris to evaluate his life and goals. Even though he is adept at language, he becomes lost in translating European culture, politics and morality. He soon finds himself amid surprising twists and turns. The novel begins in Paris with the death of a famous American poet, Edward Cannon, who leaves behind a memoir that has seen ten years of labor. Then we move to a villa, Villa Guidi, in Tuscany where Russell soon realizes that he is being used and manipulated by the people in his life. In New York publishers were trying to obtain the unfinished manuscript. The villa has a fascinating past. During World War II, a Jewish family hid in a floor below and they eventually converted to Catholicism. Like the Jewish family, Russell was forced to undergo a conversion of his own so that he can find both meaning and redemption in his own life. This is a book that moves the reader as it recounts a story of love and life and loss and both the perils and pleasures of intimacy. The plot gives a beautiful story and the book is finely written. There are transcendent moments of perfect love set against a backdrop of betrayal and death. The beauty of the language and the treasure of a story come together to give us a novel that will be with us for a very long time.