Rating: 
Summary: Touching
Review: Could have given it five stars - the characters are convincing and the story is poetically poignant.Upon reading it ,I was thinking,"Why can't the time be turned back?Why must one supposedly happy family be torn apart by the revelation of Moody's true gender and those 'finge-like' neighbours and reporters?" And ... " Why must Colman grow up? He's grown up,mind ya!"In fact,this is a very good book and I would say it's probably the luckiest thing could have happened to an adopted child to have such ... lovely,commited and gentle parents.The funeral manager and the female doctor and Moody's buddy and the others who appear only sporadically and some only once - even the materialistic reporter,they fit together as will-not-be goodworldly jigsaw puzzle of Trumpet.Jackie Kay's incredible descriptions of 1)Moody 's playing the trumpet in this dizzying colorful and noisily twisted illusion 2)Colman got jostling about in the train 3)Dreams of the protagonists ,are some literary feat,not based on language ,but on some personal artistic nurturing of the author -All worthy of rapturous applause.Stripped off one star because it's all too good,too good for the cynical critic to believe such simple kindness to be true.
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting reading.
Review: I shan't elaborate more since the other reviewers have summed up the book so well. Suffice to say I was gripped from page one until the last. There is one particular chapter called "Music" that is akin to a long magical poem, a cry from deep within, a description of the trumpet player lost in his music. Beautiful.
A truly wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfying Conclusion Makes it Worthwhile
Review: I'm surprised to have given this book 4 stars. I started out struggling to finish keep up the reading for much of it. I'd done a little research on the author, and it seemed this work was going to end up being some gender-issue, multicultural, diversity advocacy. Which it is. But the author, for me, managed to transcend these themes in the overall plot. The ending is what saved the book.The main character Joss Moody is a famous jazz musician. He married and adopted a child and lived a long successful life. But he had a secret - Joss was really a woman. The world is shocked upon Joss' death, to find out this secret. Joss' wife Millie and their adopted son Colman must deal with the public's morbid fascination. Millie experiences resentment and fear; she feels there was nothing wrong with her marriage, her spouse. But the adopted son Colman, now in his 30s, feels rage and shame when he discovers, along with the public, that his father was really a woman. He seeks "revenge" by collaborating with a tabloid author on a tell-all book. Millie is enraged by her son's duplicity. In the end, all appears to be well, but it's a long painful path. I had a few questions about the plot, things that didn't seem to make sense, as I do with most books. And, as with most books, by the end these "inconsistencies" become reasonable "suspensions of disbelief." For instance, in addition to "revenge", Colman's main motivation in working on the tell-all book is money. He needs it. But Joss was wealthy. Joss loved his son, so where is the inheritence? Eventually I figured maybe Joss left it all to his wife, or knew his son was terrible with money and so didn't want to leave him any, or that Joss' assets were jointly held with his wife, etc. And how could Millie stay on with Joss after she found out he was a man? Unconditional love I figured, which is a big theme of the story. So after a long, hard slog, the conclusion really saved the book for me. Kay manages to pull off the "love is all that matters" theme in a believable way. All the pain and suffering that Millie and Colman experience upon Joss' death, these issues sort themselves out by the end, and the author does this in a convincing and satisfying way.
Rating: 
Summary: Great concept, solid writing, poor delivery
Review: It seems to have taken me forever to finish this book. I couldn't seem to figure out why it dragged. The writing was clear, crisp, at times even on the verge of excellence, so why the struggle with finishing the 278 pages of the novel? Because the story reads like multiple books, all unfinished. No sooner than I'd start to get engaged in the story, it would shift focus, employing new characters and new devices - first person, third person, dream sequence - to expose the story of its main (or at least most talked about) character, Joss Moody. Kay would have better served this reader by choosing a voice and telling the story through it. Although the writer's literary tool box is full of helpful gadgets to aide in the telling of stories, it need not be necessary to use them all when writing your book. Kay succeeds in creating a jagged rendering of Joss Moody's story - that of a famous trumpet player upon whose death is discovered to have been a woman. Joss lived his life as a man, married, adopted a son, excelled at his passion, and died. Coleman, Joss's son, is devastated by the discovery of his father's secret and becomes pry to Sophie, a writer who is looking forward to a substantial financial windfall from the publication of Moody's story. Dispersed throughout the book are various renderings and reflections on the life and experiences with Joss Moody - the man. Kay jumps from each version or perspective using everything but grace, leaving a series of untold stories, each of which could form the basis of its own novel. Great concept, solid writing, poor delivery.
Rating:
Summary: Pure poetry
Review: It was not a surprise to me to read, after finishing the book, that the author is a poet. This book moved with beautiful flow, so easy to read, and engaging. As another reviewer mentioned, the book is based, loosely, on the story of Billy Tipton. "Suits Me" is interesting, but it is an incredibly slow and arduous read and, in return, does not provide much insight into Billy Tipton and his journey. However, "Trumpet" does provide insight and the reader can't help but understand all the of the characters, their struggles and their joys. This is an amazing story and beautifully written.
Rating:
Summary: A short review
Review: Let me just say that this novel brought me close to tears by the time I finished it. It was one of the top 3 novels I read in 2003, and one of my favorite novels of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Moving
Review: Ms. Kay did an excellent job with this novel. I could feel the pain Millie felt. I could feel the anger Coleman felt. I could feel the warmness of Joss' spirit. I could not put this book down. I cannot count the number of nights I fell asleep with the light on from reading the prior night. Jackie Kay is an emotion striking writer. Excellent first novel Ms. Jackie Kay.
Rating:
Summary: Don't have the right words to describe this good book!!
Review: Once in a lifetime there comes a book/s that make/s u think..they make u feel something...pose so many questions only to show that still waters run deep and Trumpet by Jackie Kay is one such book... I picked this book with great trepidation knowing whether or not I would like it. But as the case goes and I am glad that all my apprehensions were gone with the wind once I began this tiny jewel. Trumpet begins on death. Joss moody the famous trumpet player has passed on leaving a legacy of great music and a terrible secret: He was a woman. This is the crux of the book: Was this deception right or wrong? Narrated through the voices of his wife Minnie Moody ( who knew it all from the very beginning and accepted him as the way he was), their adopted son Joss Moody - who is angry at his father, the band members, his friends, and of course the media hungry journalist Sophie Stones who wishes to write a book on his life. What struck me most about this book was: Here is a woman born in the thities..wishes to become a trumpet player in the 50's - when most women were not allowed to enter men professions', here was a woman to break and bend all rules.... Absolutely amazing!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Terrific book, mesmerizing. I could not put it down. Beautifully written, exciting story.
Well done, Ms Kaye!
Rating:
Summary: This Love
Review: This is a brilliantly written book about love and family. I loved how the author used 'solos' telling the story from many points of view, how she really made you feel for her characters. A great first novel from Jackie Kay.
|
