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kelsey1970's review against another edition
3.0
This is a sad, lovely, horrifying, but ultimately uplifting story. A young woman returns to Cambodia as an adult, having fled the Khmer Rouge years earlier. She is so damaged by her suffering and loss, but returning allows her to heal as she meets a man who was with her father in prison during his final days. Through him she meets others, including the love of her life and an orphaned little girl who needs them. A slow, sweet heart-wrenching read.
sechavez's review against another edition
5.0
No matter how long you're away from home, it never really leaves you. For Teera, home has been far, far away for almost as long as she can remember. But when a letter from a man who claims he knew her father, lost alongside the rest of her family during the Khmer Rouge, arrives, Teera must return to the home she no longer knows in search of answers. What they will be, though, only the future knows.
Beautiful and poetic, Music of the Ghosts is at once timeless and haunting - this is a book which will stay with you long after you've read it.
Beautiful and poetic, Music of the Ghosts is at once timeless and haunting - this is a book which will stay with you long after you've read it.
cthrnmrtn's review against another edition
Just too slow for me right now. Love the premise and the direction but for another time.
sisforsony's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, and War
juniperd's review against another edition
3.0
3 ½-stars, if we could do that here.
there are many things this novel does very well, yet i couldn't get past feeling that it was overwritten, to the point i was distracted by the writing a few times, instead of being swept along by the story. (and i'm not even sure that's the right way to describe it? and i am sorry if this sounds like a jerk-ish criticism for a book dealing with such important and difficult subject matter.)
but let's focus on the good!!
ratner does have a lyrical quality to her writing which paired well with the musicality threading through this story. and it was an interesting approach to writing about cambodia and the horrors caused by the khmer rouge. there are some truly beautiful moments within the inconceivable evil and devastations. while the storytelling is bleak and difficult at moments, there is also hope in music of ghosts. i also really felt the strength of cambodia as a character in this novel - something i really enjoy as a reader, when an author is able to do this well.
as with her first novel (which i still have not read, though it sits on my shelf, so i should really make it a priority), ratner brings personal experiences of her survival in cambodia, and her life as a refugee to her second novel. i found her afterword very interesting and a wonderful inclusion with the novel.
there are many things this novel does very well, yet i couldn't get past feeling that it was overwritten, to the point i was distracted by the writing a few times, instead of being swept along by the story. (and i'm not even sure that's the right way to describe it? and i am sorry if this sounds like a jerk-ish criticism for a book dealing with such important and difficult subject matter.)
but let's focus on the good!!
ratner does have a lyrical quality to her writing which paired well with the musicality threading through this story. and it was an interesting approach to writing about cambodia and the horrors caused by the khmer rouge. there are some truly beautiful moments within the inconceivable evil and devastations. while the storytelling is bleak and difficult at moments, there is also hope in music of ghosts. i also really felt the strength of cambodia as a character in this novel - something i really enjoy as a reader, when an author is able to do this well.
as with her first novel (which i still have not read, though it sits on my shelf, so i should really make it a priority), ratner brings personal experiences of her survival in cambodia, and her life as a refugee to her second novel. i found her afterword very interesting and a wonderful inclusion with the novel.
"If my first novel, [b:In the Shadow of the Banyan|13057939|In the Shadow of the Banyan|Vaddey Ratner|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346714710s/13057939.jpg|18223133], is a story of survival, Music of Ghosts is a story of survivors ... My motivation in writing is to explore the questions of responsibility, atonement, forgiveness, and justice - in the chambers of the heart, and in the intimate encounters where perpetrator and victim sit face-to-face."bit of an aside: this is the third book i have read in the past couple of weeks that threads music with armed conflicts - and a completely unintentional act on my part. (the other two: [b:The Gustav Sonata|26127593|The Gustav Sonata|Rose Tremain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1465555371s/26127593.jpg|46077511] and [b:Do Not Say We Have Nothing|27876415|Do Not Say We Have Nothing|Madeleine Thien|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459112596s/27876415.jpg|47869112].) it's heartbreaking and confounding that history continues to repeat itself, and these three novels - dealing with different times and different places - are so relevant and necessary today.
kestrellady's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Overall, this was a really lovely book about healing from tragedy and finding home again when so much of your home has been lost and destroyed. The chapters alternate between Teera, who escaped the Khmer Rouge regime as a child and spent most of her life in the U.S., and the Old Musician, who fought for the Khmer Rouge and was eventually swept up in the purges of the regime.
Many of the Old Musicians chapters are flashbacks to the Khmer Rouge regime and the Cambodian Genocide, so please check the content warnings!
Many of the Old Musicians chapters are flashbacks to the Khmer Rouge regime and the Cambodian Genocide, so please check the content warnings!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Torture, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Drug abuse and Terminal illness
darathtey's review against another edition
2.0
The story is beautiful but I find the book too slow with too much side details.
jacks623's review against another edition
Didn't really get started. Try again next month.
a8bhatia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
rachelselene's review against another edition
2.0
i struggled with this book. ratner's skill in creating a visual landscape is wonderful. her prose is thick with lush detail and vivid imagery, and i could easily picture the cambodia of teera and the old musician. that said, this book seriously lacked emotional depth for me. obviously the cambodian genocide and the country's subsequent recovery are extremely heavy and emotional topics, but i never quite felt the impact here. ratner tries to connect events of the genocide with her main characters, but she rattles off facts and statistics so frequently that this book often reads more like a history textbook or philosophical study than a novel. i definitely came away with a deep sense of sorrow and a better idea of just how devastating this period was, but i never really cared about teera or the old musician. i never connected with them in the way that i expect to connect with a book's protagonists and main characters. despite the author's close personal ties to the subject matter, there is a curious emotional detachment here that made music of the ghosts a slow and difficult read.