Body and Soul

Rating:
Summary: Body & Soul uses Charles Dickens' motifs to describe music.
Review: This novel is about music. It stirs the reader and teaches the reader, but it teaches less about life than we usually expect of a novel. In one passage the character comments about Charles Ives' 2nd symphony that the work seems constructed of fragments of other people's work the way most composers construct a work using their own notes. That seems to be a clue to what Conroy is doing with his novel, using what the Kirkus Review called cliches, but what I would point out seem to be direct references to the novels of Charles Dickens, to construct a novel of development. Well, why not? Music is music and fiction is fiction and anyone who can write so intensely about music as to make us understand and enjoy it as Conroy does is entitled to keep us reading with any plot that will meet the requirements that fiction imposes. Personally, I really enjoyed seeing the old familiar Pip and Estella, Miss Havisham and Magwitch, Joe, Steerforth, and Jaggers, all transported and u! pdated to NYC.

Rating:
Summary: I envy those who are about to read this book.
Review: This read this book years ago, when it first came out, and just reread it for the second time. It's as fresh and true as the first time. The story of Claude, his troubled mother, how he found his way to the piano and thus, the rest of his life has stayed with me as few have. I know nothing about playing the piano, but the way the author describes how a person like Claude hears sounds, the patterns they make and how they influence his music was fascinating. I ran out and bought an Art Tatum tape, thinking I would understand and better appreciate jazz after reading this book, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Any way, another reviewer has described some flaws in the book as far what a real concert musician would or wouldn't have done. I suppose that's the trouble with reading books that have to do with something you have some expertise in---little details get in the way of your enjoyment of it. More's the pity, because this book is a wondrous experience. It will pull you in from the first page and not let you go til you are finished.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insight
Review: This wonderful book provides little known insight into the mind of a musician. I found that it had a generally interesting story, although it seemed a little melodramatic at times, especially toward the end. Frank Conroy knows a lot about the musical world, and ties all of the 'trivia' into relevant parts of the story. This book says a lot about the inner psychology of music, or any of the arts. One negative though: Conroy is WAY too hard on Schönberg!

Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Ever
Review: Well maybe not, but it's up there I read it twice and couldn't put it down either time. Very moving. Everyone I gave it to loved it. It is a story about how a great artist comes about. No wonder Frank is the top dog at Iowa.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! I didn't want this book to end!
Review: Wow! I didn't want this book to end. I'm only hoping that Pat Conroy will get busy writing more! I've been reading all of the Oprah books, and I have been disappointed more than once. This book should be at the top of her list!

Rating:
Summary: ADORE IT!
Review: Yes, yes, I'm only half way through, but I couldn't resist. This book is simply exquisite. I'm sure many do not like the at times musically complex sections, but they too add much dimension and beauty once understood. I don't think I've read anything quite so compelling in a while. Highly recommended.