Dead People Music Sarah Laing 9781459672222 Books
Download As PDF : Dead People Music Sarah Laing 9781459672222 Books
The first novel from one of New Zealand's prize - winning, emerging writers. Classical is karaoke - just playing covers of dead people's music - or so Wellingtonian Rebecca concluded at her London conservatorium. She's sabotaged her scholarship there, but wants to keep playing the cello, like her grandmother, Klara. Now unmoored from her classical training, she's in New York City, where Klara grew up. As Rebecca investigates her Jewish - refugee heritage, she starts to compose her own songs, but has to contend with diabetes and other burning issues is she with the right man, or should she swap stability for lust? And how much longer can she live with a neurotic, junk - scavenging flatmate, on the verge of murdering another zebra fish?
Dead People Music Sarah Laing 9781459672222 Books
This is a charming novel-particularly of interest to people of a certain age...(40 s) who will enjoy the cultural references and details of our lead character's life growing up. It reminded me of the angst of living with one's burgeoning sexuality and figuring out relationships as well. A great read for someone who loves to travel and enjoys good food!Product details
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Tags : Dead People's Music [Sarah Laing] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The first novel from one of New Zealand's prize - winning, emerging writers. Classical is karaoke - just playing covers of dead people's music - or so Wellingtonian Rebecca concluded at her London conservatorium. She's sabotaged her scholarship there,Sarah Laing,Dead People's Music,ReadHowYouWant,1459672224,FICTION General
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Dead People Music Sarah Laing 9781459672222 Books Reviews
by Sarah Laing
Here's the blurb from the back of the book -
Classical is karaoke - just playing covers of dead people's music - or so Wellingtonian Rebecca concluded at her London conservatorium. She's sabotaged her scholarship there, but wants to keep playing the cello, like her grandmother, Klara. Now unmoored from her classical training, she's in New York City, where Klara grew up. As Rebecca investigates her Jewish-refugee heritage, she starts to compose her own songs, but has to contend with diabetes and other burning issues is she with the right man, or should she swap stability for lust? And how much longer can she live with a neurotic, junk-scavenging flatmate, on the verge of murdering another zebra fish?
I expected the book to be either 'literature' ie deep and meaningful or 'chit lit' but instead found it a charming mix of both. This has all the bubble & romance of chit lit and the pace but also includes delightful back stories and strange twists. The search for identity is a common theme in New Zealand novels, being a country primarily of immigrants and it has a fresh delivery on this book. Things are not even resolved in a straight forward manner and I enjoyed jumping back and forth between the generations and dipping into the significant times in Rebecca's life.
I highly recommend this book as a smart, fun and delightfully intriguing read. I also have to confess I went to meet Sarah, who is a friend of a friend, to get some tips for my own writing. I read Dead People's Music after meeting her and found it captivating, just the kind of book I would have expected her to write!
[....]
This book took me by surprise. I'm not sure what I was expecting but it certainly delivered a great read. The story is well structured and is told in three voices young Rebecca in Wellington, New Zealand, Rebecca a bit older in New York and Rebecca's grandmother Karla in New York and New Zealand from the 1930's onwards.
Rebecca is a gifted cellist who wants to become a concert performer. She struggles with diabetes and the usual teenage angst as she trains and sits exams to study in London. London is too much of a challenge and she returns home discouraged, but still believing in her talent which she believes is inherited from her grandmother. Her voice is clear and believable.
We meet Klara as a young child, a German Jew sent away just as the war began. With her sister they grow up in New York with an Aunt and other refugees from Europe. She learns the cello and is very gifted. A brilliant career as a soloist is hers for the taking except she meets and marries a New Zealander. Off she goes to the antipodes. We get a very good idea of what life in Wellington must have been like in the 50's and 60's.
Rebecca eventually goes to New York in the 90's to write and perform a modern composition based on her grandmother's life.
Laing has put together an interesting and engaging story and we are drawn into Rebecca's life and her family and friends. There is a lot of detail about classical music (dead people's music) and what it takes to be a dedicated musician. Both Wellington and New York are well drawn and easy to imagine. This novel is well worth reading.
This is a charming novel-particularly of interest to people of a certain age...(40 s) who will enjoy the cultural references and details of our lead character's life growing up. It reminded me of the angst of living with one's burgeoning sexuality and figuring out relationships as well. A great read for someone who loves to travel and enjoys good food!
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