Reviews

pretty and detailed writing but honestly quite boring 😔 maybe if I knew more about the time period, Ravel + his contemporaries, and music in general it would be a more interesting read...?

mickified's review against another edition

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3.0

A sweet, sad, turbid little book about a sweet, sad, turbid little man.

dilan11's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think that this book is quite genius. To convey the essence of a man in a few very brief chapters focusing on minute detail is something I haven't seen done before. I understand Ravel in a way that a 500 page biographical tome couldn't convey. The detailing of his dementia at the end was heartbreaking and terrifying. What a terrible way for a man who so thrived on public approval to end his days.

After a second reading, I increased my stars to 5 because it hit me how beautiful and perfect the writing is. It doesn't matter that I don't much about Ravel, about his style of music, that I don't much care for the dandy style of someone who has 25 pairs of pajamas. Writing this beautiful can be about anything in the world and I would love it.

shimmer's review against another edition

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5.0

It's remarkable that such a compact account of a life, or at least the final ten years of a life with backwards glances woven into it, can feel so complete and not awkwardly compressed. There's such a strong sense of Ravel as character, in particular as a person concerned with surfaces, appearances, and presentation—even holding up concerts on more than one occasion because he'd worn the wrong shoes—and while the style of the novel mirrors that concern it is anything but superficial. There's always a sense of more beneath the surface, and the reluctance of both character and book to fully reveal that "more" becomes revealing in itself (especially in those moments when an authorial voice cuts in to make us rethink what we're reading, something Echenoz does so powerfully in a number of his books). Overall, a perfect interplay between style, subject, and even size, as the physical compactness of the book itself only enhances its sense of entering the intimate moments of the composer.

bplache's review

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lighthearted sad slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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