A Lifes Music
Contents:
The philosopher Alexander Zinoviev, a refugee in Munich, coined the phrase homo sovieticus to define the character of the subjects of the USSR. The gist of this character lay in its willingness to accept whatever happened, and yet go on surviving. The description of this mass of homo sovieticus waiting with infinite patience, without animation or complaint, is memorable, brilliantly done. Then the narrator hears music from an upper room.
He ascends and finds an old man playing a piano. He has already seen this old man, lying on a newspaper among the fag-ends, "a human being touching in his resignation, and quite insufferable for the same reason The old man was once called Alexei Berg, and in May he was young, a pianist about to give his first concert, happy in an airy evening of early summer, "the smell of foliage dusted with sun-drenched foliage".
The last years have not been easy for his family. They are prominent people, privileged members of the nomenklatura.
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But they have been unfortunate in their friends, one of them Marshal Tukhachevsky, executed in Now that "little violin with its cracked varnish becomes a terrible piece of incriminating evidence". On the contrary, this is a highly charged and emotional story. A thin layer of "objective" reporting by the narrator only obscures for a short time the underlying intensity and the author's deep concerns for his country and its people. This is a treasure of a book, to be read more than once. This review refers to the original French version. Others have commented on the excellent translation into English.
View all 5 comments. Although only pages long we somehow, as readers, endure the full force that the war has on Berg and the leitmotifs along the way are masterly. At the Conservatoire it seems as if the people he passes have all become short-sighted, they squint to avoid catching his eye.
Their faces remind of him of those masks he once saw in a history book, terrifying masks with long noses, with which the inhabitants of cities invaded by the plague used to rig themselves out. He spoke in rhythm with his footsteps, eager to replenish himself with what he had been before Far away from the others, his head washed by the current of the stream, lay a soldier. The one he had been looking for.
Lawrence Sail enjoys a journey through Andreï Makine's A Life's Music, a Russian history redolent with echoes of Voltaire. Start by marking “Music of a Life” as Want to Read: May 24, Alexeï Berg, a classical pianist, is set to perform his first solo concert in Moscow. Andreï Makine was born in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union on 10 September and grew up in city of Penza, a provincial town.
How many authors can write like that? I am in awe and readers will be too by the climax of the book. I leave you with one last quote, one of my favourite passages. From time to time, pausing amid empty white fields, amid all this land bruised by the war, he would sniff the air, believing he could detect something like a fleeting breath of warmth.
He sensed that all the life that was left to him was concentrated in this faintly springlike breeze, in this airy, misty sunlight, in the scent of the waters awakening beneath the ice. Feb 14, Siv30 rated it really liked it Shelves: Jun 18, L. Many people hear a song all their life, like a life source, without even knowing the source. And there are those who play very rarely yet all their life is about it. A story told by the second to the first kind. Truth, love, tragedy, melancholy and that shining hope that drives life forward all for an epic are in this novella.
It sure has the essence of europe and soviet blended together. Takes you along on a journey, making it feel as if you are right at the moment in which the story takes place. Read it almost in one go, being transported to another world. Dealing with many difficult aspects of life, love and war, without actively discussing them, through a story of only pages, something only the best writers are capable of. The writer has chosen to omit a lot of facts about history or background of the main character, which makes the novel much stronger. Nov 30, Jill rated it it was amazing.
Years ago, the celebrated Russian logician Alexander Zinoviev coined the sarcastic phrase Homo Sovieticus to explore how a new species with a specific mindset evolved as a result of the Communist system. The sparse portrait of a man caught up in a forgotten life is described thus: This exquisite elegy of loss — a multi-note symphony to the indestructibility of the human spirit—reaches a crescendo that is beautifully realized and will not soon be forgotten.
BOOK REVIEW: A Life's Music
A short novel this, almost a novella. If I enjoy a novel I normally get through it quickly but I actually surprised myself in just how quickly I finished this one. Having said that the story was high quality enough to keep me reading. In particular this novel has a similar structure to "The Life of an Unknown A short novel this, almost a novella.
In particular this novel has a similar structure to "The Life of an Unknown Man", although this book actually predates " Unknown Man" so it would be more accurate to say that novel resembles this one. We are introduced at the outset to a character who effectively performs the role of a narrator. He has a chance encounter with an elderly man who has lived through WWII and the Stalinist period, who relates his life story in flashback. I can't really describe the plot without including spoilers, so I'll confine my comments to saying that the author keeps a decent level of tension going, keeping the reader interested in the outcome.
Jul 21, Mojgan rated it really liked it. No spoilers in this comment: This is a tiny pages but very good book It was hard for me to get engaged with the story for the first 20 pages or so. It felt that the author was aimlessly describing different characters without any intention of following up on any of them! But after about page 20, the story finds purpose For me the author's style of writing was as much interesting as the actual story! His metaphors are fresh and catching! His style, typical of most Russian and French autho No spoilers in this comment: His style, typical of most Russian and French authors, appealed to me He tells the story, without bothering or getting too hung up with "proper" sentence structure and just goes with it.
I wont tell you what the story is about, read and re-read it if you can This book was just ok.
A Life's Music
The story could have been interesting, but it was much too short to really get very involved in the story. I kept finding myself wanting further descriptions and explanations where there were none which left the reader to simply guess at what exactly was happening in the story. The text was originally written in French and translated into English so perhaps some of the portions that didn't make complete sense were actually "lost in translation.
A whole life very typical of its time and country condensed into such a short piece of work. Some unforgettable images reminiscent of classic Russian literature: The trawling among corpses for an identity - horrifying and very moving. The love story did not seem terribly convincing, or perhaps this is a man who is emotionally stunted and unable to admi A whole life very typical of its time and country condensed into such a short piece of work.
The love story did not seem terribly convincing, or perhaps this is a man who is emotionally stunted and unable to admit his emotions even to himself. Russian wartime literature historicized - its amazing what the filter of time can do to a genre. But this book isn't just unique and stunning because of the fact the writer is not of the same generation as Pasternak and Babel yet muses on the material with as much authority of experience.
He also brings recollection and a magical element of imagination to this very tragic story. O gara din Siberia unde, asteptand de ore in sir trenul catre Moscova, zeci de oameni dorm pe jos, rezemandu-se de calorifere si infundandu-se in paltoane, un restaurant dezafectat plin cu materiale depozitate, dulapuri, steaguri si un pian.
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In frigul si intunericul noptii, se aud cateva acorduri.. Langa scaun, o valiza cu colturi metalice, nichelate. O lanterna asezata in stanga claviaturii, ii lumineaza main O gara din Siberia unde, asteptand de ore in sir trenul catre Moscova, zeci de oameni dorm pe jos, rezemandu-se de calorifere si infundandu-se in paltoane, un restaurant dezafectat plin cu materiale depozitate, dulapuri, steaguri si un pian.
O lanterna asezata in stanga claviaturii, ii lumineaza mainile. Degetele lui nu au nimic din degetele de muzician. Falange groase si aspre, deformate, pline de riduri arse de soare.
Andreï Makine: A Life's Music
Degetele se misca peste clape fara sa apese, fac pauze, se insufletesc, isi accelereaza goana tacuta, se pierd intr-o fuga febrila, aud zgomotul unghiilor atingand fildesul clapelor. Deodata, in toiul acestui vacarm tacut, o mana, pierzandu-si controlul, se abate pe clape, izbucneste o jerba de note. Vad ca barbatul, probabil amuzat de stangacia lui, isi intrerupe gamele mute si incepe sa scoata mici chicoteli, un ras infundat de batran mucalit. You cross the platform stepping over those travellers sleeping crisscross on the platform, climb the wooden staircase, open the door silently as not to disturb the person and peep in.
The place is dimly lit, all you can see is the silhouette of an old person against an old wooden piano. The light reflected off the snow is flashing on the old face. You move closure to the person producing this beautiful music.
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- Review: A Life's Music by Andreï Makine | Books | The Guardian.
His fingers are thick and does not resemble to that of a musician. His movements are clumsy. He is so immersed in music and two streams of tears are rolling down his cheek. You don't want to disturb him ,and retract back to the door. But in the dark, you stumble upon something and the noise interrupts the flow. You are so embarrassed and apologetic, so is the old man. He too is waiting for the train. Young Alexei Berg is walking down the road of the mill, proudly looking at the poster of a young man in his twenties. The poster is announcing his piano concert in the same premises in a week.
The poster is transparent, as it is wet by last nights rain, and he can see through, the previous poster.