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I think I liked this book. It's hard to say. I felt like I didn't ever really get to know the characters. Like I wasn't observing them head-on, but askance, like when you subtley observe a stranger on a subway car without them noticing. Maybe that was Gabel's intent, but it left me feeling a little less than satisfied. Still, it was a lovely tribute to the mystical bond that can form when a group of people make art together.
Listened to this over the course of many weeks and checkouts from the library. What a thing to be so intricately tied to 3 other people. My own quartet has much less drama, but I loved this look into the lives of professional musicians.
4.5 stars. This novel follows the four members of the Van Ness Quartet over a period of decades, as they move from their 20s, through a career of performing together, to their 40s, with spouses, children, health complications, regrets, and changing desires for the group and their own lives. At first I felt like I didn’t get to know the characters as well as I’d hoped, since we get little pieces of each person throughout, as opposed to a deeper dive into their stories one at a time. But somehow I think the jumping around works well. Like the quartet itself, the novel hinges on their interaction as a group; the individual insights we get from and about each member function (and are framed) in the context of the whole. And I think the fact that I’m still thinking about these people a few days after finishing their story says something. Besides the character and relationship study elements, which are absolutely my jam, I connected on a deep level with the classical music world that Gabel describes. I was trained in piano performance from age 6 through the university level (with a brief few years of violin during middle and high school), and I remember a lot of the accompanying aspirations and stress very well. It was fun to delve back into that realm for a little while. If you enjoy extremely introspective, character-driven books, and especially if you have musical interest or experience, I recommend The Ensemble. Bonus points if you look up the pieces mentioned at the beginning of each section and listen to them while you read!
This book is carefully constructed so that the structure mirrors the subject matter. It takes on the subject of a string quartet and how they make music together, and how the act of working at music together, creating, results in a complicated quasi-family over the years, not from choosing each other really but just from being present in one another's lives. The book weaves among the four perspectives as each might take a prominent role in different sections of the music. The structure is tight, but the author lets their lives be messy, neither good nor bad, just rich and complicated and also boring and ordinary. I love the way they showed their hours of daily practice as transforming their bodies over time as they age - the chronic pain, the changes in their postures, the bruises where their instruments wear against their body. It's not an easy happy book but the artistry of it is compelling.
I don't think this book is objectively bad, it just wasn't for me... I forced myself to pick it up every time and I looked at the page number often as I read (wishing it to end). I also basically skimmed the last 30 pages and felt like I didn't miss much.
The music references are really neat and I thought it was pretty understandable, as I had only been in a middle school band, but some people I talked to thought the jargon was too complex and they had to look some stuff up! Hmm... Well I think if you are at all interested in classical music, or even if you have the slightest background playing with other musicians, you would appreciate this book even more. It brought back memories of playing in a quartet, although with much less intensity and fifteen less years of experience. :p
Each of the characters had uniquely complex histories and the concept is interesting that despite their differences, they still have such an intimate bond. I did feel like I really knew the characters and how their personalities and families contributed to their behaviors, but I was disappointed to see a lack of cultural diversity. While their race is unmentioned (and people may view this as "better" because it becomes more "universally relatable"), I would have liked to see the extra layer of how someone's culture further adds to the pressures and how it affected their journey to become a musician. Especially with the author being a woman of color, I wish there would have been a bit of a mention. I also thought that all of the characters having such difficult upbringings seemed quite forced... Really? NONE of them have ANY supportive members in their family?
This is definitely a slow book, it's like a daytime show where you're just following their lives throughout the years. I think it is cool and has an audience, it's just not me at this moment :) It has some merit. I liked the short conversation on balancing family and career, especially the societal pressures put on mothers. I liked the close view of the intimate bond between people who create art together and also the long-term injuries of musicians. I liked Henry and Jana's completely platonic, but very close, friendship - I hate when books always put people together because a straight boy and a straight girl could NEVER just be friends. I pretty much hated every other relationship in this book because it all seemed like they had just settled. (Maybe that makes it more realistic? That's sad.) (Also, even in super romance-y books, I think people are settling. Actually, I think that of most people in the real world as well so...)
I enjoyed parts - just like I would enjoy a few episodes of a super long TV show. So I'll give it an "it was okay" 2 star rating.
The music references are really neat and I thought it was pretty understandable, as I had only been in a middle school band, but some people I talked to thought the jargon was too complex and they had to look some stuff up! Hmm... Well I think if you are at all interested in classical music, or even if you have the slightest background playing with other musicians, you would appreciate this book even more. It brought back memories of playing in a quartet, although with much less intensity and fifteen less years of experience. :p
Each of the characters had uniquely complex histories and the concept is interesting that despite their differences, they still have such an intimate bond. I did feel like I really knew the characters and how their personalities and families contributed to their behaviors, but I was disappointed to see a lack of cultural diversity. While their race is unmentioned (and people may view this as "better" because it becomes more "universally relatable"), I would have liked to see the extra layer of how someone's culture further adds to the pressures and how it affected their journey to become a musician. Especially with the author being a woman of color, I wish there would have been a bit of a mention. I also thought that all of the characters having such difficult upbringings seemed quite forced... Really? NONE of them have ANY supportive members in their family?
This is definitely a slow book, it's like a daytime show where you're just following their lives throughout the years. I think it is cool and has an audience, it's just not me at this moment :) It has some merit. I liked the short conversation on balancing family and career, especially the societal pressures put on mothers. I liked the close view of the intimate bond between people who create art together and also the long-term injuries of musicians. I liked Henry and Jana's completely platonic, but very close, friendship - I hate when books always put people together because a straight boy and a straight girl could NEVER just be friends. I pretty much hated every other relationship in this book because it all seemed like they had just settled. (Maybe that makes it more realistic? That's sad.) (Also, even in super romance-y books, I think people are settling. Actually, I think that of most people in the real world as well so...)
I enjoyed parts - just like I would enjoy a few episodes of a super long TV show. So I'll give it an "it was okay" 2 star rating.
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5⭐️ Stellar writing with such complex and rich characters and relationships. Blown away that this is a debut novel. Loved being immersed in this world of classical music.
This novel has really stuck with me, which is saying something because it wasn’t all that heavy on plot. The characters were just so real in their slow meanderings. I have classical musicians in the family, and I could see many of the stories they’ve told me over the years reflected in this novel. I always love when a novel creates a full universe that seems to grow after I’ve read the final page. That’s how this book has stayed with me.
I recommend listening to the Spotify playlist Aja Gabel created of all of the pieces the quartet plays throughout the books. Truly wonderful.
I recommend listening to the Spotify playlist Aja Gabel created of all of the pieces the quartet plays throughout the books. Truly wonderful.
A thoroughly enjoyable debut! Loved the attention to detail not just about the music but the toll playing takes on the body. And Gabel moves among the 4 (with a 5th toward the end) perspectives very well. I do feel the first half was stronger than the second (in that I almost felt the book could have finished at the end of part 2) but the rest was satisfying regardless.
3.5 stars from me for this one. The writing was incredibly beautiful at times, and the idea of a "chosen family" was described so eloquently throughout the book. I loved the focus on music, too. I generally like stories where you grow old with the characters, but I found for this one I wanted a little more to happen. Even though I guess the point wasn't necessarily shocking plot points, but rather the relationships between the quartet members that grew over the years.