Customer Reviews

The Cello Player

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I certainly can sympathize with the previous reviewer, since Krueger's novel would not satisfy a reader looking for a straightforward narrative. I cannot agree, however, that the novel is worthless--quite the contrary. The difficulties of the prose style--as it follows the intricacies of mind and emotion of a not particularly appealing character--are undeniable, but not excessive as compared with other modern novelists. (Krueger reminds me of Thomas Bernhard, another writer who deprives the reader of the friendly support of normal punctuation and syntax, as well as dismissing expectations about continuity and plot development.) This is a psychological exploration, not a plot-driven narrative. I don't mean to suggest it is a great modern novel--far from it--but it is worth the trouble to learn to follow the author's turning and twisting as he leads the reader through the gradual revelation of inner truths of the composer's life. [On the other hand, for a wonderful novel that has music at its center, try Richard Powers' The Time of Our Singing -- rich characters, a complex and rewarding plot.]

For me it didn't work as a novel, yet was often very entertaining and clever. It's such a short read, it's worth the effort.

Like the other reviews said, there's no plot. Which might not be bad. Sometimes the author describes things in a way that is really, really funny, which makes up for the lack of plot and is why I gave it two stars instead of one.

My biggest complaint about the book, in addition to the unsatisfying plot or lack thereof, is the long discussions about music.

I have a bachelor's degree in music and have dabbled in it for the last 30 years since college. So I'm no scholar of music but not totally ignorant either. Much of the book contains conversations and musings over the relationship of music to other things such as Marxism. I could not comprehend a single one of these meanderings. I would go back and read the paragraph or two a couple of times to no avail. Most of the time I couldn't even tell what the discussion was about except that it pertained to music in some incomprehensible way.

Also, we are told that the appearance of Judit at the hero's door completely disrupts his life, but I'm not even sure that it does based on the way he describes the rest of his life. He is just a drifter from one vague feeling to the next. We keep waiting for Judit's incredible disruption to have some real effect, but the only thing that seems to change his life is her disappearance from it.

I truly wanted to love this book and thought I would because I love stories with music in the plot. However, this book had no plot. I couldn't remember from one page to the next what happened on the last page. It seemed to be a lot of rambling with run-on sentences that could take up a whole page and paragraphs that went on and on page after page!

For the first time in several years, I slammed a book shut without finishing it. I don't know if I'll ever try to read it again. It just made no sense to me. I kept going back to the synopsis on the dust jacket and I didn't find anything in the book even remotely like the synopsis.

I made it to page 43...chapter 8. Chapter 7 was one page long...a single sentence. That was all I could take of the book. Perhaps there was something later in the book, but I didn't have any motivation to read one more page. There was just nothing to hold my attention. It was a great sleeping aid.

I hate to say this, but this book was a waste of good paper.