Rating: 
Summary: It's not all about Beethoven
Review: I bought this book last Saturday in Ottawa bookstore. I have not been able to put it down,or to stop reading it!! Beethoven has been my favorite composer all my life. I'm also deaf,and I love music with great passion. My family and I have suffered through great tragic times and years,yet reading this book,and the sublime,amazing dramatic history of Beethoven,his illnesses,his family,about a composer I am aware of,the very underrated composer,Ferdinand Hiller,and what became of Hiller's family,the incredible mystery of Beethoven's hair-this is a brilliant book!! Today,we have doctors,psychiatrists,in Beethoven's time-nothing. He suffered,horribly. And even so,Beethoven inspired us to go on living,through his immortal music. Bravo,Beethoven!!! Bravo,Russell Martin!!! Bravo,Hiller!! To finally realize the 200 year question of What Killed Beethoven? And Have that finally solved-Lead poisoning-deafness,stomach trouble,mood swings,it explains so much about this towering titan of music. We need Beethoven today more than ever.
Rating: 
Summary: An Epic Drama and A sublime book about Beethoven!!
Review: I bought this book last Saturday in Ottawa bookstore. I have not been able to put it down,or to stop reading it!! Beethoven has been my favorite composer all my life. I'm also deaf,and I love music with great passion. My family and I have suffered through great tragic times and years,yet reading this book,and the sublime,amazing dramatic history of Beethoven,his illnesses,his family,about a composer I am aware of,the very underrated composer,Ferdinand Hiller,and what became of Hiller's family,the incredible mystery of Beethoven's hair-this is a brilliant book!! Today,we have doctors,psychiatrists,in Beethoven's time-nothing. He suffered,horribly. And even so,Beethoven inspired us to go on living,through his immortal music. Bravo,Beethoven!!! Bravo,Russell Martin!!! Bravo,Hiller!! To finally realize the 200 year question of What Killed Beethoven? And Have that finally solved-Lead poisoning-deafness,stomach trouble,mood swings,it explains so much about this towering titan of music. We need Beethoven today more than ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Overinflated
Review: I definitely agree with the reviewer below that this would have made an excellent magazine article, but it has been inflated to book length. The author attempts to blow air into a rather limp balloon. Every character, every moment, is given dramatic treatment, whether warranted by intrinsic interest or not. The results are thin stuff compared to the excessive pages of buildup. One feels a bit cheated. And the irony is that if this were a magazine article, one would appreciate the material far more. This is a project in the wrong size format.
Rating: 
Summary: uneven overall, but great in parts
Review: I found the book's structure a bit disjointing. I didn't like the way the chapters broke up the storyline between the lock of hair's journey and Beethoven's life. I'd already read a fair amount about Beethoven's irascible personality and chronically bad health, so I didn't find much that was new or interesting. The part of the book I enjoyed the most was the amazing story of the Danish people who were so valiant in their effort to save Jews from the Gestapo. No matter how much you read about these events, they always make a big impact. I don't think any nation was as heroic in the face of the Nazis as the Danes. While the story of the hair was interesting, I just didn't think the book as a whole held together very well. An interesting idea, but a bit disappointing overall from my perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting read
Review: I liked the book. Yes, it is a bit lengthy and drawn out - but the author does a good job of presenting the material and making it interesting. I would have liked more information about Beethoven himself and less about the hair's travels, though. I couldn't keep track of all the characters and times and places - that kind of stuff puts me to sleep. I think a good sequel to this book would be about how scientists clone Beethoven using the DNA found in his hair strands.
Rating:
Summary: It's not all about Beethoven
Review: I thought it was an excellent read. No, it's not all about Beethoven. It's about a lock of his hair, cut from his head the day after his death. It's about a journey through time. It's about being the custodian of a relic. It's one story about the Holocaust. It's a story about compassion. But most of all, it's a story about Passion -- about the love of art and connoisseurship. And yes, it is about Beethoven, too. Very interesting little pieces of trivia throughout the book on his life, illnesses, and eccentricities. I think the DNA testing at the end of the book revealed much about this great, great composer. If you're impatient to get to those details, you might start with the last chapter, but do go to the beginning and enjoy the rest of the story. Definitely has take-away value.
Rating:
Summary: A Book for Beethoven Lover's
Review: I thought this book was brilliantly put together. Martin traces the path of a lock of Beethoven's hair as well as giving a biography on the composer. A great fan of Beethoven's work, but not of biographies I approached this book with some trepidation. However, Martin captivated me and made it near impossible to put down. I recommend any lover of Beethoven read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A gordian story about the most complex artist of the ages
Review: I'm amazed to discover that this may turn out to be my favorite book ever. It sat around here for a couple of years before I read it; the title turned me off. What could possibly be interesting about the hair of the man who created some of the most powerful, affecting and effective music ever written?However, the tale of what happened to a lock of Beethoven's hair, severed from his head the day after his death by a 15-year-old boy, is a story of honor, love, courage, hope, friendship, man's inhumanity to man, and man's triumph over the worst kinds of adversity. It's also a picture of how 20th century technology can penetrate secrets of the ages. Martin interweaves several diverse narratives with a biography of Beethoven's health rather than one of his entire life because it's his health that is the issue here. The question involves what we can learn about the terrible physical suffering Beethoven endured from DNA testing of his hair. This question is posed against the background of what happened to the sample from the time of Beethoven's death until it reached the laboratory. The first is familiar; the second is amazing. Martin treats his material with a sure hand, weaving the stories in and out as he takes us back and forth between the centuries and the characters. I found that I was holding my breath while reading about how the Danes helped the Jews as the Nazis breathed down their collective throats. This is an amazing and unusual story, told with intelligence and finesse. It's not a book to be skimmed; if you do, it will look disjointed and you'll become confused. It's a book to be reveled in and thoughtfully digested. If you crave perfection, play a CD of Beethoven's last quartets while you read.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: If you can get past the extraneous words that bog down every other sentence, then you'll find an interesting tale in this book. It tells a story about the unlikely journey of a lock of the German composer's hair. It also provides a broadly painted view of the composer's life and death. The book is part biography and part detective's tale and is best read while listening to one of Ludwig van's symphonies.
Rating:
Summary: A beguiling mystery; a celebration of artistic achievement!
Review: In 1827, 17 year old music student Ferdinand Hiller visited Beethoven, accompanied by his piano instructor. The day after the master's death, young Hiller was permitted to take a lock of Beethoven's hair as a memento of the great man. Hiller went on achieve fame as a virtuoso pianist and music director in Cologne, Germany. At his death, he bequeathed Beethoven's hair to one of his sons. What happened from there is a beguiling mystery. How did it manage to turn up in the estate of a Danish doctor who had helped Jews escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark to Sweden? In my opinion, Russell Martin has done a masterful job of interweaving the story of this locket of Beethoven's hair with biographies of those we know who had come in contact with it, accompanied by relevant facts concerning musical history, politics, medicine and forensic science. This is a book that will inform you and stir your imagination. More importantly, it will enable you to enjoy the fellowship of people from all walks of life who love music in general and Beethoven's masterpieces in particular.
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