= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
Archive for October 10th, 2008
Friday, October 10th, 2008Music and Silence - Book Review
He remembers now how his dreams for Frederiksborg preoccupied him. He remembers how, in a single night, he understood that the architecture must strive for order and unity, and proceed in a gradual way, like a piece of music, across the linked islands, towards a climactic structure, and how, at dawn, he woke his Dutch architect, Hans Steenwinckel, and showed him a flurry of drawings. “Hans,” he said, “we must respect what the land is telling us. The logical axis, the logical progression of the buildings, is towards the north, and so this is where the climax must arrive. This is the place that the King must occupy. Beyond it, there must be nothing else; only the light on the water, the diminuendo and then silence…” -From Music and Silence, page 259-
King Christian IV was the King of both Denmark and Norway from 1588 until his death in 1648. Known as a reformer, King Christian IV implemented a series of domestic reforms, built new fortresses, and initiated a policy of overseas trade during his nearly 60 years as Monarch. The year 1629 ushered in a period of financial distress, and domestic unhappiness when the King discovered his second wife - Kirsten Munk - was sustaining an extramarital affair with a German officer. King Christian IV ultimately expelled Kirsten from Copenhagen to live out her days in Jutland - the western, continental part of Denmark which separates the North Sea from the Kattegat and Baltic Sea.
It is this part of King Christian IV’s reign (1629 - 1630) which serves as the backdrop to Rose Tremain’s Whitbread/Costa Award winning novel Music and Silence. This lush story is told from multiple points of view. The manipulative and seductive Kirsten Munk is introduced through her journal entries.
Well, for my thirtieth birthday I have been given a new Looking glass which I thought I would adore. I thought I would dote upon this new Glass of mine. But there is an error in it, an undoubted fault in its silvering, so that the wicked object makes me look fat. I have sent for a hammer. -From Music and Silence, page 7-
Her self-centered musings create a character who is perhaps one of the most intriguing villains in literature…one who is blackly humorous, yet ultimately sad.
The reader also meets Peter Claire - an English lutenist who arrives in Denmark to become part of the royal orchestra - only to become smitten with Kirsten’s female companion Emilia. Throughout the narrative, Tremain intersperses the life of the King in his youth (and his friendship with Bror Brorson which haunts him), with his dreams, turmoils and fears of adulthood.
In Tremain’s competent hands, this historical novel becomes a symphony of romantic twists and turns, and a saga which encompasses all the excesses and political intrigue of royal life in seventeenth century Europe. Tremain explores such complex themes as order vs. chaos, love vs. hate, dreams vs. reality, and betrayal vs. loyalty - all through the metaphor of music and silence. The novel’s thematic elements are connected beautifully to setting, as when King Christian journeys to Norway to spearhead the development of a silver mine during the harsh winter months. He gazes at a waterfall - the Isfoss - which has frozen solid, and imagines the tiny crystals of ice forming in the roaring water.
They acquire thickness, length and weight. The water is transparent clay, moulding them, layer upon layer, and as the layers accumulate, the roar of the river has become muffled. The human ear has to strain to hear it. And then, in the space of a single night, it falls silent. -From Music and Silence, page 107-
It is the beauty of these kinds of images which transform Tremain’s novel from an historical piece of fiction into an extraordinary work of literature. Music and Silence is exceptionally wrought - a delicious tale which I highly recommend.
Friday Finds - October 10, 2008
October 10, 2008
Finding new books to add to my bulging wish list and TBR mountain has become somewhat of an obsession, and Jenn’s weekly Friday Finds helps legitimize this addiction (don’t you just love other readers who enable you to go forth, continually adding to your reading piles guilt-free??). By clicking in the book title, you will be taken to Amazon to read more about the books. My Friday Finds this week are:
Songs of Blue and Gold, by Deborah Lawrenson as featured on Karen’s blog Cornflower. She surmises that this book will be one of the best she’s read this year and writes: ‘Completely absorbing, beautifully written, psychologically perceptive - that’s the broad brushwork of it; the detail is equally fine.‘ If you get a chance, you should pop over and read the rest of Karen’s review - it is exquisitely written. I’ve put this one right at the top of my wish list.
My Amalfi Coast, by Amanda Tabberer as featured on Karen’s blog BookBath. I’m not a big coffee table book collector, but this one caught my attention because I have always wanted to travel to the Amalfi Coast…and someday I intend to do just that. Karen writes: ‘The bulk of the book however is spent detailing the towns along the Amalfi Coast and what they have to offer the traveller and tourist as well as the locals. The book is filled with gorgeous photos which only enhance the feeling of wanting to book a plane ticket to Italy pronto!‘
The Story of A Marriage, by Andrew Sean Greer as featured on Michelle’s blog One More Chapter. Michelle actually did not like this book too well, but she piqued my curiosity about it and gave links to other reviews…which I read. Dovegreyreader writes that it is: ‘One of those books you know you will still recall with clarity and emotional accuracy years down the line.‘ While Lizzy (at Lizzy’s Literary Life) noted: ‘The precision and beauty of the language held me mesmerised.‘ And Kirsty at Other Stories writes: ‘It says here on the back of the book that the story is “heartbreakingly beautiful”, which is one of those phrases that gets bandied about like no one’s business, applied to everything from kittens to music to food (probably). However, I actually think that this time they’ve got it bang on.‘ Even those who disliked the story itself, found the writing beautiful. I love reading controversial books…and I’m interested to read this one someday.
Well, there you go - my finds for this week. What did you discover? Go to Should Be Reading and see what other readers are drooling over!