Body and Soul

Rating:
Summary: Bland Hero and Irritating Dialogue
Review: The main character, Claude Rawlings, for all his talents and struggles, is so bland,insipid, and poorly developed that it is difficult to cheer for him, much less identify with him. The rest of the characters, with the exception of Weisfeld, are nothing but caricatures: the brainy and eccentric British physics prodigy who talks like Jeeves the butler; the persecuted, communist nut-case of a mother; the idiotic, stereotypical music geniuses that act as Claude's "mentors". The dialogue is similarly moronic. It mainly consists of Claude Rawlings uttering monosyllables, then asking scripted questions that allow Conroy to let his "geniuses" babble on like ivory tower pedants.... "Gee, I didn't know that we could never go faster than the speed of light.".. "Yes, well, Claude, you see... hang on, let me dog-ear my Kafka, you see, Einstein knew.... blah, blah, blah." Similarly amusing is how Conroy manages to fit just about every ethnicity, sexuality, gender, trendy-PC-topic into his characters. Thus, Cluade is the son of the aforementioned Communist nut-case who is shacking up in a very taboo fashion with a black janitor, and a flamboyant, mixed-race intellectual jazz musician. What does it have to do with the plot? Nothing, but if you can't develop real characters, you just make them interesting through WHAT they are. No dice, Frank. Read it only if you really like music, which I do, hence the extra star.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it, loved it, loved it...
Review: The perfect read. Visable characters, progressive storyline, and most of all, a great and believable ending. It's one of those books that you're a little upset with because it ends! I actually put off reading the ending for awhile. I miss Claude!

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: This book is what I'd call a 'quiet' book - no knock down drag out drama... it's the story of the life of a musician - from early childhood through adulthood. For some reason found the book really really appealing. Have read it three or four times - will read it again. Have read some of Conroy's other books and haven't cared for them - this one, however, is in my permanent collection. Read the other reviews - have a feeling this one either grabs you or leaves you bored.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insight
Review: This is a lovely, lovely coming-of-age book, beautifully written. A gifted young boy, poorer than poor, is graced with mentors who help him learn to play the piano. Not your usual rags-to-riches, though: more an affirmation of life and the unexpected gifts of being human.

Rating:
Summary: Body & Soul
Review: This is a lovely, lovely coming-of-age book, beautifully written. A gifted young boy, poorer than poor, is graced with mentors who help him learn to play the piano. Not your usual rags-to-riches, though: more an affirmation of life and the unexpected gifts of being human.

Rating:
Summary: Story?
Review: This is a terrific book with a lousy story. Having only a cursory knowledge of music myself (but a great love for it), I came away far the wiser about how a true musician hears music and it affected the way I listen to music. But as for the story... Ostensibly, it's about a boy born dirt poor into a house with no father and a nuts mother. What obstacles he must overcome! But for all practical purposes, he might as well be rich. Almost immediately, he is given a gorgeous grand piano, a place to play it anytime he wants, a trust fund to pay for lessons, a wise old father figure who guides him, and a string of the finest teachers New York City has to offer. Later, he stumbles into a full scholarship at a fabulous private high school, then a full scholarship to a fabulous college, then marries into a five million dollar inheritance. He happens to be present when the pianist collapses before a competition so in steps our hero to fill the shoes... You get the picture. I kept waiting for something bad to happen, some character flaw to show, anything, give me a story! In the end, there were some soap opera moments, but hardly worth the wait. Read the first half for the music, but as soon as you get bored, lay it to rest because there won't be a payoff.

Rating:
Summary: Story?
Review: This is a terrific book with a lousy story. Having only a cursory knowledge of music myself (but a great love for it), I came away far the wiser about how a true musician hears music and it affected the way I listen to music. But as for the story... Ostensibly, it's about a boy born dirt poor into a house with no father and a nuts mother. What obstacles he must overcome! But for all practical purposes, he might as well be rich. Almost immediately, he is given a gorgeous grand piano, a place to play it anytime he wants, a trust fund to pay for lessons, a wise old father figure who guides him, and a string of the finest teachers New York City has to offer. Later, he stumbles into a full scholarship at a fabulous private high school, then a full scholarship to a fabulous college, then marries into a five million dollar inheritance. He happens to be present when the pianist collapses before a competition so in steps our hero to fill the shoes... You get the picture. I kept waiting for something bad to happen, some character flaw to show, anything, give me a story! In the end, there were some soap opera moments, but hardly worth the wait. Read the first half for the music, but as soon as you get bored, lay it to rest because there won't be a payoff.

Rating:
Summary: Ignores science of child development
Review: This is a well-written book that held my attention through the final pages. The theme relates to the creation of a master pianist and for the most part accurately discusses real life issues. The story, however, ignores well-settled science demonstrating the importance of the first six years of a person's life. As an infant the protagonist, a future pianist, is closeted in a tiny apartment with nothing to do but watch passers-by through a tiny slit. When his mother returns from her job as a taxi driver she quickly gets drunk and passes out. There is not one example where the mother nurtures the child's mind. Modern research says that babies raised with little stimulation have limited intelligence. But the understimulated child in this story defies science because at ten his genius becomes apparent. He is soon a musical, social and academic prodigy. To become a maestro a person must first have three things: ability, desire, and interest. None are innate. We didn't need music when we evolved so why would our brain have an inborn ability or desire to spend hours a day mastering it? Research shows that musician's brains are structurally different and this difference can only be gained from exposure to music before the sixth birthday. Now the question becomes, how could the child in the story, who rarely saw the light of day, obtain these three crucial traits, ability, desire and interst? When the musician is well into his prodigal career we discover that he could read at five. After only a couple moments reflection it becomes obvious that no child can learn to read on his own just as you or I could never learn hieroglyphics on our own. Someone had to have spend a lot of time telling the child what words say. Since our prodigy had no father and no relatives, that someone had to have been his mother and now the possibility arises that she also spent hours and hours exposing him to music. It turns out that when he was born she was a vaudeville singer. In fact he was born in a theater and she apparently performed right up to the point of his birth. A fetus begins learning sounds at seven months and recognizes his mother's voice at birth. There is every reason to believe that a musician's mind begins the crucial early development even in the womb. His mother appears to have continued to sing after he was born. Mozart's mother was a musician and being poor, her infant, Wolfgang, was always with her. Like Mozart, did our prodigy get his musical ability from the proximity in infancy to his musician mother? How about interest and desire? Research shows that an infant becomes interested in things he sees his parents do. Perhaps this is why he was so interested in music. His mother put on weight, apparently making it harder and harder to get singing jobs. Did the prodigy watch her shame, disappointment and agony as her career slipped away? Might this be where he got the burning desire that propelled him to practice for five hours a day for every day of his adolescence? Through it all, the mother is shown as nothing but a dead weight. I disagree and I deplore it when writers take liberties with the laws of nature.

Rating:
Summary: Perfection is the only way to describe this book
Review: This is the best book I have ever read . This ranks up with the best of Dickens and Twain , an absolute classic . I in fact have read this book at least a half dozen times and I never tire of it . I only wish Frank would write a sequel to this masterpiece soon . I am myself a professional jazz musician and a lover of great music in general much like Frank , maybe that is why I identify so much with this wonderful book . The character Claude Rawlings is so alive , so real and so vulnerable it's like being with a friend through the whole novel . His mother Emma Rawlings was wonderful and very fun with her attitude . Frank absolutely nailed the character of Mr. Weisfeld , in fact I know someone very much like him in real life . It's an honor to read such a rich story . Only Frank can write this story because he is an acommplished musician and great artist with incredible depth and sensitivity . Each time I read Body and Soul I always wish Frank had written a thousand pages . Again this is the best book I have ever read by far .

Rating:
Summary: just my very best book!!!
Review: this is the most wonderful book I've ever read!!! I recommend it to all people who are interessted or involved in music!!!