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nderiley's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully written collection of stories with enough varying topics to keep you engaged.
gondorgirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
ebroadbent22's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
anotherauthor's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
This collection of short stories, United by themes of war and music, has some hits and some misses. I find Makkai’s writing is best when developing characters, and short stories often aren’t long enough to take advantage of that skill. Still, an overall enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide and War
erin84263's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.5
reddybeast's review
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
karenleagermain's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a fan of short stories, both as a reader and as a writer. I love them for their ability to capture a whole story world in a economical amount of words. Mostly, I love that the entire story can usually be read in a single sitting, allowing me to fully embrace the entire experience without interruption. Thank You to Viking Penguin Group for an advanced copy of Rebecca Makkai's short story collection, Music for Wartime, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT - The stories in Rebecca Makkai's new collection , Music for Wartime, span a wide range of topics and eras. One of my favorites in the collection is The November Story, which follows a producer on a reality show as she tries to find balance between the sketchy ethics of her job and her crumbing home life. Another favorite was The Miracle Years of Little Fork, in which a dustbowl era town is left with a dead elephant and a pregnant girl after a circus breezes through their town. Everything We Know About The Bomber is a commentary on how our society processes news stories in this time of rapid information and speculation.
The collection ends with my favorite story, The Museum of the Dearly Departed, where a gas leak has killed all of the inhabitants of an apartment building, except for an elderly couple, who had been on vacation and also happen to be holocaust survivors. The irony is not lost on them. The narrator of the story has been contacted because her fiancé was found in one of the apartments. The narrator learns that the apartment belonged to her fiancé's wife, whom she had thought he had divorced. As she goes through the apartment, she begins to unravel the lies of his life, learning about this other woman through the possessions left in the apartment.
LIKE- Makkai is a gifted writer. Her stories are emotional rollercoasters, filled with unexpected twists and reveals. I appreciate that there is so much variety among her stories, both thematically and in tone. This collection shows a huge range and there was not a single story that I disliked or found to be lacking.
DISLIKE- I wish it had been longer...that's the complaint that I'm officially lodging.
RECOMMEND- Absolutely! Makkai is a "new-to-me" author discovery and I'm very excited to read her other works. Music for Wartime is a must for short story lovers. It's a beautiful, affecting and thought provoking collection.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT - The stories in Rebecca Makkai's new collection , Music for Wartime, span a wide range of topics and eras. One of my favorites in the collection is The November Story, which follows a producer on a reality show as she tries to find balance between the sketchy ethics of her job and her crumbing home life. Another favorite was The Miracle Years of Little Fork, in which a dustbowl era town is left with a dead elephant and a pregnant girl after a circus breezes through their town. Everything We Know About The Bomber is a commentary on how our society processes news stories in this time of rapid information and speculation.
The collection ends with my favorite story, The Museum of the Dearly Departed, where a gas leak has killed all of the inhabitants of an apartment building, except for an elderly couple, who had been on vacation and also happen to be holocaust survivors. The irony is not lost on them. The narrator of the story has been contacted because her fiancé was found in one of the apartments. The narrator learns that the apartment belonged to her fiancé's wife, whom she had thought he had divorced. As she goes through the apartment, she begins to unravel the lies of his life, learning about this other woman through the possessions left in the apartment.
LIKE- Makkai is a gifted writer. Her stories are emotional rollercoasters, filled with unexpected twists and reveals. I appreciate that there is so much variety among her stories, both thematically and in tone. This collection shows a huge range and there was not a single story that I disliked or found to be lacking.
DISLIKE- I wish it had been longer...that's the complaint that I'm officially lodging.
RECOMMEND- Absolutely! Makkai is a "new-to-me" author discovery and I'm very excited to read her other works. Music for Wartime is a must for short story lovers. It's a beautiful, affecting and thought provoking collection.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
glowbird's review against another edition
4.0
What a great find. Picked this off the library shelf at random. The stories are crisp and vivid. Emotional without being overwrought. Will definitely read more by this author.
peelspls's review against another edition
5.0
I'm lucky to have found this anthology. As my reader updates show, almost every work was moving, profound and gripping. There's fascinating explorations of WW2 here as well: for example a Nazi soldier picking out an opera singer he had a crush on to save her from a camp. Or that the author struggles with the historical consequences of her own lineage, and through that forecasts what creativity must come forth. This cherished collection of the author's Hungarian history, the snapshots of academia, music, poetry, art and war come together to form a commentary of life as it stands now. This book made me live through a few hundred different lives, and in that, it has been one of the best I've read this year.
laurapk's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, I'm in love with Makkai's prose. Reading her prose is like becoming an archeologist. You have these beautiful metaphors buried in these intriguing stories; as you dig into the story this impressive building emerges and finally towers over you at the end.
"Music for Wartime" is a collection of short stories and while I didn't love all of them, several left a mark. Most stories mention survivors of WWII. Hungarian and Jewish emigrants are featured often, and several stories have the distinct taste of camouflaged memoirs from Makkai's surviving family members. But there are also stories that don't seem to align with the theme on first read, such as the story referring to the ravages of the AIDS epidemic "Good Saint Athony Come Around" (I wonder if this story was the precursor for her later novel "The Great Believers" - where Makkai drew parallels between the AIDS epidemic and WWII).
There were stories where I felt Makkai didn't manage to delve deep enough into the material she had, such as the Romanian emigrant stories featured in "The Worst You Ever Feel". My problem with that story is the POV. I think the young American-born, medium, Romanian boy failed to deliver the needed weight to the story (and because I'm born and raised in Romania I felt like the story was hence diluted).
But there were some gorgeous stories that deliver a good, concise punch, such as "The November Story" and "The Museum of Dearly Departed".
In classical Makkai mastery, she left the most important story last. I wondered what was the point of the collection of stories. Then I reached "The Museum of Dearly Departed", which starts with the tragic death of all inhabitants of an apartment building caused by a gas leak. A young artist decides to collect objects of the departed and include them in an art project for school. Melanie, the surviving fiance of a cheating man killed in the gas leak incident, is confused about the point of his project.
“You look into it from the outside, and you have a few relics, and you try to put a narrative around them, decipher them, but really you’re never going to know. Are you satisfied with that? Standing on the outside looking in?” (...) “I’m sorry. I mean, maybe that’s the role of the artist.”
Jed’s voice was as kind as any nurse’s, any teacher’s: “I think it’s the role of the survivor.”
It was the point of his whole project, and she’d missed it completely. And I had missed it completely as well, up until that point.
This was the role of the survivor as well: the passing of judgement, the issuing of pardons.
"Music for Wartime" is a collection of short stories and while I didn't love all of them, several left a mark. Most stories mention survivors of WWII. Hungarian and Jewish emigrants are featured often, and several stories have the distinct taste of camouflaged memoirs from Makkai's surviving family members. But there are also stories that don't seem to align with the theme on first read, such as the story referring to the ravages of the AIDS epidemic "Good Saint Athony Come Around" (I wonder if this story was the precursor for her later novel "The Great Believers" - where Makkai drew parallels between the AIDS epidemic and WWII).
There were stories where I felt Makkai didn't manage to delve deep enough into the material she had, such as the Romanian emigrant stories featured in "The Worst You Ever Feel". My problem with that story is the POV. I think the young American-born, medium, Romanian boy failed to deliver the needed weight to the story (and because I'm born and raised in Romania I felt like the story was hence diluted).
But there were some gorgeous stories that deliver a good, concise punch, such as "The November Story" and "The Museum of Dearly Departed".
In classical Makkai mastery, she left the most important story last. I wondered what was the point of the collection of stories. Then I reached "The Museum of Dearly Departed", which starts with the tragic death of all inhabitants of an apartment building caused by a gas leak. A young artist decides to collect objects of the departed and include them in an art project for school. Melanie, the surviving fiance of a cheating man killed in the gas leak incident, is confused about the point of his project.
“You look into it from the outside, and you have a few relics, and you try to put a narrative around them, decipher them, but really you’re never going to know. Are you satisfied with that? Standing on the outside looking in?” (...) “I’m sorry. I mean, maybe that’s the role of the artist.”
Jed’s voice was as kind as any nurse’s, any teacher’s: “I think it’s the role of the survivor.”
It was the point of his whole project, and she’d missed it completely. And I had missed it completely as well, up until that point.
This was the role of the survivor as well: the passing of judgement, the issuing of pardons.