Music, in a Foreign Language [Paperback]

Andrew Crumey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1997

Winner of Scotland's Saltire Prize for Best First Novel

Set in an imaginary police state in modern Britain, Andrew Crumey's debut novel explores the complex friendship between two men, Charles King and Robert Waters, a physicist and a historian who share a secret history of political and sexual dimensions. An underground magazine they had once co-published brings then under an investigation that pits one against the other. As the novel's narrator unfolds the tale, he reveals pieces of his own life. His autobiography is augmented by the story of the two friends like the melody and counterpoint of a fugue, until both movements inevitably join across time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You can't accuse Andrew Crumey of playing it safe with his first novel. It's sprawling, intricate, moody, crazed, philosophical, and oddly introspective. Despite a wealth of plot lines--among them the confused lineage of Duncan Waters, the love affairs of physicist Charles King, and a story of beautiful strangers on a train--the book also finds time to develop a discussion of Italian surrealist writer Alfredo Galli, who may or may not have created many of the plot lines attributed to the narrator. Ultimately, Music in a Foreign Language becomes a work of metafiction as it attempts to unravel the mystery of what exactly a novel is. A challenging and entertaining read. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Crumey's thought-provoking but somewhat too ambitious debut stages love and betrayal in a subtly rendered British police state peopled by authoritarian bureaucrats and bobbies. Two story lines are unevenly linked by the musings of an introverted authorial figure, an exile from this prison state, writing his first novel (this one) while reflecting on his marriage. One plot focuses on Charles King, a physicist (like Crumey), and his friend, Cambridge historian Robert Waters, who has been chosen to write an official history of this alternate English revolution. Unfortunately, the official vetting turns up an incriminating political pamphlet, "Flood," that Robert and Charles anonymously wrote years ago during a sort of Prague spring. The investigation in turn threatens to expose the routine betrayals of Charles's caddish lovelife (and his current liaison with Jenny, a London secretary) and the secret of Robert's repressed (and illegal) homosexuality, which he sought to hide through marriage. Interleaved with these events, which turn out to be flashbacks, is the contemporary story of Robert's son, Duncan, a constantly redrafted narrative in which Duncan mulls over his father's sudden death and his chance meeting with an Italian tourist while he is reading a book by metaphysician Alfredo Galli. This arch pastiche of Calvino does not quite work, and discursions on history, physics and music hamper the story. Crumey is more successful in skillfully enmeshing ordinary relationships in a subtly constructed totalitarian world.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st Picador USA Pbk. Ed edition (September 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312169469
• ISBN-13: 978-0312169466
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,657,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely not for lightweights, December 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Music, in a Foreign Language (Paperback)

A beautiful piece of craftsmanship, this book will satisfy both brain hemispheres of the intellectual reading public. The technique is amusing and resonates harmonically throughout the book. I found myself playing the game of guessing how the next chapter would begin BEFORE I turned the page. The philosophical premises are thoroughly stimulating and if you have what it takes to stay out there in the ethersphere for the duration, you will be surprised at the conclusion. Crumey is the kind of intellectual provocateur that will keep your synapses humming happily for weeks after you close the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Music in a nested storyline, May 31, 2003

By 

J. Jeude "JJNJ" (NJ (USA)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music, in a Foreign Language (Paperback)

I ran across this book while desperately seeking something to read at my favorite lunchcounter-used book store (Easton, Pennsylvania). Having just finished singing in Latin in a choir, the title caught my attention.

The story kept my attention sharply focused with its plot device of nesting layer upon layer, character upon character, yet ultimately resolving the plot threads. I confess to having used a numbering scheme to note whether the story was a character's line, or the storyline of a character in a book the character was reading, and so on. I'm delighted to see Crumey has continued to write, and will certainly be seeking these out as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master of Language, August 10, 2001

By 

Joseph Formaggio (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music, in a Foreign Language (Paperback)

Andrew Crumey's book, Music in a Foreign Language, is by far one of my favorite books of all time. His manipulation of language and plot draws the reader into his intricate fictional world. The structure of his novel is wonderfully complex; each story nested within the other, forming a non-linear narrative that is a pleasure to read. If you are a fan of intricate, complex works of genius, do not let this work go unread. Crumey's other works are also excellent, but they do not compare with this masterpiece.