Well written and the audio is wonderfully narrated so that this noir Western that turns out to be something of a slow shaggy dog story never stops beiWell written and the audio is wonderfully narrated so that this noir Western that turns out to be something of a slow shaggy dog story never stops being engaging.
However, the novel is set in the Depression and while some aspects of that period are well depicted, there are just too many anvils from our present time to be forgivable. It’s one of my pet peeves- not everything has to be an analogy for our current political mess, and I HATE when “historical” characters start speaking like they just stepped off of Twitter and onto the page. Thus you’ll hear a few more characters making speeches about white men having all the privilege and a woman’s sole right to choose then you might have thought were common in 1936 (the characters expressing these thoughts are not part of the radical intelligentsia or other activists who might have been expressing the antecedents of these views in the 30s, although even they would hardly use jargon of the 2020s). Similarly recurring commentary on the Supreme Court and Florida (of all things) just seem like a mouthpiece for Frazier’s 21st century liberal orthodoxies.
I like to keep my historical novels historical and I think showing is always preferable to telling when it comes to trying to make a political point. Our pain at the long history of inequity in this country should come from skillful story craft - not from NYT op Ed snippets masquerading as dialogue or interior monologue....more
An engrossing and harrowing read chronicling the early career of a Black violin prodigy, decorated with a "mystery" of a stolen Stradivarius. The mystAn engrossing and harrowing read chronicling the early career of a Black violin prodigy, decorated with a "mystery" of a stolen Stradivarius. The mystery part is rather thin gruel - I imagine most readers suss it out early on- but the story of Ray's life and art, interwoven with the story of his violin, which has been handed down in his family since the days of their enslavement, is truly gripping.
You don't actually need added drama, as it turns out, when your protagonist is one of a tiny handful of Black men forging a career in the very rarified world of classical music. Time after time, the book generates extreme tension in the reader as we watch Ray experience racism both casual and brutal. (The Author's Note confirms that many of the worst episodes are taken directly from his own life). But it's not all grim: The book is equally convincing and involving in depicting Ray's love of music and giving us a glimpse into all the grueling labor that goes into the building of a great musician.
The audiobook is wonderfully narrated and delightfully embellished with snippets of classical music. As I said, the mystery isn't all that, but I still was on the edge of my seat listening to this one....more
This was a bit of a letdown. Parts were really good. The promise of the beginning as the narration floats through an apartment building giving glimpseThis was a bit of a letdown. Parts were really good. The promise of the beginning as the narration floats through an apartment building giving glimpses into varied tenants varied lives sucks you in. But there's a dud at the center of the novel - a couple of very long extended chapters detailing a very cliched relationship, and to my surprise (I kept expecting Gunty to do something new with this hackneyed plot), we are supposed to take those chapters as the tragic heart of the novel.
A lot of interesting threads and possibilities, but not quite realized, in my opinion....more
Sluggishly slow and it didn’t help that I got tired of our narrator long before she got tired of herself. If the point is the tragedy freezes us in tiSluggishly slow and it didn’t help that I got tired of our narrator long before she got tired of herself. If the point is the tragedy freezes us in time, the book plays that out with excruciating reality. I don’t want to spoil, but the ending also left me with a very bad taste in my mouth....more
I am not sure how this YA novel got on my reading list, but there it was, and so I got the audiobook. YA, with its overdramatized simplifications, is I am not sure how this YA novel got on my reading list, but there it was, and so I got the audiobook. YA, with its overdramatized simplifications, is not usually my thing, and this book was no exception. I felt that the twist was telegraphed, and the suspension of disbelief required to believe in the paper thin characters was not quite worth the effort. I particularly didn't like the offhand way that the non-White characters were dealt with. While showing up the main family's racism was supposedly one of the points of the novel, the Indian-American love interest is given cultural context with only a few tiny facts - that his mother cooks "curry" and was "Buddhist" (not impossible, but Buddhists are a tiny tiny minority in India so seems more like an error) before converting to Methodism. It irked....more
Cute, but very slight and by the 2nd book the charm of broad characters and fortuitous coincidences starts to wane. It reminded me of Eloise for grownCute, but very slight and by the 2nd book the charm of broad characters and fortuitous coincidences starts to wane. It reminded me of Eloise for grown-ups, without Eloise’s sly humor. ...more
I appreciate Donoghue’s skill and imagination in recreating the world of 7th Century monks but this is a grim read with little joy, with scenes of intI appreciate Donoghue’s skill and imagination in recreating the world of 7th Century monks but this is a grim read with little joy, with scenes of intense deprivation and abuse. Because I am not a monk trained in obedience, I found Artt the prior’s selfish dominance almost unbearable and longed for someone to club him over the head with a rock. I think a more nuanced personality for Artt might have made this a more interesting read. As it was, I breathed a sigh of relief when the book - and my experience of the characters’ suffering - was over....more
I worshipped Marra’s other books, but this one just felt logy and overwritten. While I appreciated the deep dive into America‘s World War II hypocrisiI worshipped Marra’s other books, but this one just felt logy and overwritten. While I appreciated the deep dive into America‘s World War II hypocrisies (segregation/internment), and while certain moments packed emotional punch, both the Calabrian and the Hollywood settings were cliché ridden. In a first for Marra in my experience, a lot of the prose was just clunky. I kept wincing at overdone writerly curlicues, forced similes and leaden humor.
I appreciate how much Marra had going on here, but I can’t say I really enjoyed reading the book...more
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