Identify Books Supposing The Soloist
| Original Title: | The Soloist |
| ISBN: | 0679759263 (ISBN13: 9780679759263) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Mark Salzman
Paperback | Pages: 284 pages Rating: 3.66 | 2553 Users | 284 Reviews
Mention Out Of Books The Soloist
| Title | : | The Soloist |
| Author | : | Mark Salzman |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Vintage Contemporaries |
| Pages | : | Pages: 284 pages |
| Published | : | February 1995 by Vintage (first published January 1st 1994) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Music. Contemporary. Literature |
Narrative To Books The Soloist
I've been in a musical mood lately. From a piano shop in Paris to a life of Beethoven (which is slow-going and a bit frustrating so far but still...Beethoven!) to Mark Salzman's novel about a child prodigy cellist and what happens to him when he loses the desire to play.Well, that is not exactly right. When we meet Reinhart Sundheimer he has not 'concertized' for many years, but he still practices daily, trying to recapture the magic of earlier years. But he lost the desire to play, the love for playing long before the story begins.
Then comes jury duty; and a gifted student. How will these two influences affect our
narrator's life?
The courtroom drama was interesting, and certainly brought up many topics that could be discussed (hopefully calmly) in a discussion group. But while I was fascinated by the trial, I was enchanted by the story of Kyung-hee. I learned new music along with him, (thanks to YouTube) and came away with a greater appreciation for both Bach and the cello.
My mother was a music major in college, and played string bass in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra back in the late 70's. She plays cello for fun now, and although she complains that it is not really her instrument, she enjoys her practicing. I am going to take her this book. I think she will
understand Salzman and his love for music, although she might get a bit lost during that trial. I know I did a time or two.
Rating Out Of Books The Soloist
Ratings: 3.66 From 2553 Users | 284 ReviewsDiscuss Out Of Books The Soloist
A very disappointing effort from Salzman. The plot is enticing: Reinhardt, a child prodigy cellist, loses his gift and spends years trying to get it back so he can live the life of a concert musician. After a decade of futile practice, he is asked to tutor another child prodigy; sullen, withdrawn nine-year old wunderkind Kyung-Hee. And if Salzman had just stayed with that, I think he would have written a fine book. There is the possibility of youth vs. age, the teacher craving the talent theWarning: Do not even think about reading this if you are not heavily into classical music/musicians, and the process of of the classical concertA friend lent me his copy for the book's paradoxical trial of a young man convicted of killing his Zen master. Sunheimer, a cellist since youth, is one of the jury members. The chapters in the jury room are a rehash of "Twelve Angry", as it could be told by Henry Fonda's character's inner monologue. Even a few of the less savory characters are cliches
This novel is almost entirely inner monologue, the narrating detailing his current experiences providing lessons for a young talented cellist, his experience serving on a murder-trial jury, and to a slightly lesser extent, describing his experiences as a child-prodigy cellist and how, instead of improving to virtuoso status, he lost his gift and fell into relative obscurity. Big picture moral is that perfection is the enemy of the good, but inter-twined throughout are little lessons and
This book was very interesting and loveable at the same time. It's hard not to read the whole book in one sitting. This non-fiction story will keep you wanting more and more. Steve Lopez the author as well as the protagonist in the story does a great job of portraying the connection between Nathaniel and himself, describing the severity of homelessness in Los Angeles, and re creating an inspirational story that actually happened. As I started to read the book I could see right away that
Renne Sundheimer is a 34 year old cello musician. Renne begins his life as a child prodigy and travels with world with his mother to perform. When Renne turns 18, his life takes a sudden turn, when his perfect pitch hearing goes away. Renne believes his life to be over. However when he is picked to be on a jury for a murder trial and he accepts a young musician to teach, his life takes another remarkable turn. I enjoyed this book's straight forward style and the character development. The ending
Great book! A child prodigy cellist loses his ability to perform due to a too perfect ear after he turns 18. He thinks of himself as a failure although he teaches both in college and cellist students. Not only do we learn of his odd upbringing with tutors as well as famous cellists for teachers but also the result being a difficulty relating to others. He is asked to teach another child prodigy, age 9, at about the same time as he is chosen for jury duty for a murder trial in which a psychotic
I was well on my way to giving this book five stars. Alas! The ending was not as satisfactory to me as I had hoped it would be. I'm not sure what I was looking for - perhaps a more explosive epiphany like a grand final movement in an impressive symphony? I wasn't let down by any means, I was simply hoping for, well, more. My ability to identify and understand this character is what brought me such joy in reading this novel. I'm pleased I tried it out.
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