Joyce, Rachel. The Music Shop: A Novel. New York: Random House 2017. Print.
First Sentences:
There was once a music shop.
From the outside it looked like any shop on any back street. It had no name above the door. No record display in the window. There was just a homemade poster stuck to the glass. FOR THE MUSIC YOU NEED!! EVERYONE WELCOME!! WE ONLY SELL VYNYL! IF CLOSED, "PLEASE TELEPHONE -- though after that it was anyone's guess because, along with more happy exclamation marks, the only legible number was an 8 that could well be a 3; there were two other things that might be triangles.
Description:
Looking for a quiet, unusual love story? Well, here's my recommendation: Rachel\ Joyce.s The Music Shop: A Novel. A lovely, quirky book about likable characters conflicted about the challenges of identity, love, life, and other people.
There's Frank who owns an unnamed music store in 1988 located on a dead-end, rundown street. Frank only sells vinyl records, never cassette tapes or the new-fangled shiny CDs that change the tone and listening experience for his customers. His records are "organized" by Frank's instinct:
The story involves Frank and the woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who occasionally visits the shop, does handyman repairs, charms the staff and neighboring store owners, but otherwise reveals little about herself ... except that she is engaged to be married.
She tells Frank she never listens to music and wants Frank to give her weekly lessons on music appreciation at a local tea shop. He is passionate about sharing his love of music with this mysterious woman whom he secretly loves but keeps his distance other than the lessons out of respect for her engagement.
That's all you get now. It is a roller coaster of unrequited love, musical passion, disappointment, triumph, and general good will from ordinary people trying to make connections and survive in a sinking neighborhood. Frank and Ilse are lovely characters who only reluctantly reveal parts of their past and present to readers and eventually to each other. Have to say I teared up a bit at the ending, but I won't spoil it for you.
And along the way there are tons of interesting facts and stories about music, musicians, composers, and listening tips for great music. Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans, Never Mind the Bollocks, ABC's The Lexicon of Love, Coltraine's A Love Supreme, Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Can't wait to find these songs and listen to them with new ears.
Carhart, Thad. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
There was once a music shop.
From the outside it looked like any shop on any back street. It had no name above the door. No record display in the window. There was just a homemade poster stuck to the glass. FOR THE MUSIC YOU NEED!! EVERYONE WELCOME!! WE ONLY SELL VYNYL! IF CLOSED, "PLEASE TELEPHONE -- though after that it was anyone's guess because, along with more happy exclamation marks, the only legible number was an 8 that could well be a 3; there were two other things that might be triangles.
Description:
Looking for a quiet, unusual love story? Well, here's my recommendation: Rachel\ Joyce.s The Music Shop: A Novel. A lovely, quirky book about likable characters conflicted about the challenges of identity, love, life, and other people.
There's Frank who owns an unnamed music store in 1988 located on a dead-end, rundown street. Frank only sells vinyl records, never cassette tapes or the new-fangled shiny CDs that change the tone and listening experience for his customers. His records are "organized" by Frank's instinct:
He put Bach's Brandenburg Concerto... beside Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys and Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (Same thing, different time)....People would miss out on so many wonderful things if they only stuck with what they knew.Frank also has a unique talent. He can listen to any customer's stories or questions and recommend the exact song, from Aretha to Chopin, needed to address the customer's need or personal problem. But he cannot figure out what the woman in the green coat needs. She was looking in Frank's store window one day and fainted. After being revived, she fled from the shop, but not before confirmed bachelor Frank had been hopelessly smitten.
The story involves Frank and the woman, Ilse Brauchmann, who occasionally visits the shop, does handyman repairs, charms the staff and neighboring store owners, but otherwise reveals little about herself ... except that she is engaged to be married.
She tells Frank she never listens to music and wants Frank to give her weekly lessons on music appreciation at a local tea shop. He is passionate about sharing his love of music with this mysterious woman whom he secretly loves but keeps his distance other than the lessons out of respect for her engagement.
When I listen to the "Moonlight" Sonata, I see [Beethoven] sitting at his piano next to [Julia, his student whom he loves]. It's as if he's playing his own love letter, just waiting for a sign that she understands....The music builds up and down, but it never runs away, it just waits for her....It's like two voices, asking one another if they feel the same without using words.In the background are appearances by various unusual store owners on Unity Street: Father Anthony, seller of religious souvenirs; Maud the tattoo artist; Mr. Novack the baker; and the Williams brothers who run a funeral home, along with neighbors Mrs. Roussos and her tiny dog, and Kit, the awkward teen who works in Frank's shop, All play important roles in Frank's life and his ambition to sell vinyl records.
That's all you get now. It is a roller coaster of unrequited love, musical passion, disappointment, triumph, and general good will from ordinary people trying to make connections and survive in a sinking neighborhood. Frank and Ilse are lovely characters who only reluctantly reveal parts of their past and present to readers and eventually to each other. Have to say I teared up a bit at the ending, but I won't spoil it for you.
And along the way there are tons of interesting facts and stories about music, musicians, composers, and listening tips for great music. Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans, Never Mind the Bollocks, ABC's The Lexicon of Love, Coltraine's A Love Supreme, Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. Can't wait to find these songs and listen to them with new ears.
Music is about silence .... Music comes out of silence and at the end it goes back to it. It's a journey....the silence at the beginning of a piece of music is always different from the silence at the end....Because if you listen, the world changes. It's like falling in love. Only no one gets hurt.
____________________
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Carhart, Thad. The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
Wandering the back streets of Paris, the author discovers a small, dusty piano shop. But there is a mystery about what is contained in the part of the store curtained off from casual customers - a restoration workshop that specializes in rare pianos. (previously reviewed here)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add a comment or book recommendation.