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3.5 stars
I somehow found myself wavering between completely loving this book and being utterly bored by this book throughout my experience of reading it, which is quite the accomplishment in and of itself.
I somehow found myself wavering between completely loving this book and being utterly bored by this book throughout my experience of reading it, which is quite the accomplishment in and of itself.
This is about the 4 musicians forming a string quartet: Jana, Brit, babies and Henry. The book focuses on their relationships through time. It also talks a surprising amount about motherhood. Not only how to balance it with career, but also what it means to want kids and to have kids. Overall, it was ok, the music stuff went over my head a bit, but I appreciated it. Not what I expected from the blur though.
Recommended by Annie on From the Front Porch. January 2018 monthly recap episode 156.
Audiobook available immediately from RBDigital!
This book manages to be both incredibly life-affirming and feel somehow melancholy at the same time. Absolutely beautiful writing, passages and phrases that take your breath away. Fighting for and figuring out what it means to be human to be happy to be fulfilled to live a life, to live a good life. To work together to make beautiful art and to love one another and be intimate in a way usually reserved for romantic love. One of my favorite books so far this year - a meditation.
Of Daniel and Brit on a first meal out together:
“They ate slowly, leisurely, as if they were old lovers on a date, enjoying the novelty of it again.”
The chaste nights of Janna and Henry sleeping together like siblings - very intimate but not sexual. Coming to an end when they fought in the late night/early morning hours in a way that only lovers should fight. Lovers who can undo those harsh words through the vulnerability and violence of sex. And since they didn’t have that, the fight was somehow more damaging, more unforgivable. Though of course they remained intimate for decades longer - just differently.
Constant comparison to other members of the quartet. Henry was the only one with family, and now he was beginning a new family. An embarrassing abundance of family.
They know each other so well, think of each other like extensions of their own selves, know the physical mannerisms of each so clearly, know what each other thinks without words.
This would be even more poignant if I understood music. It’s such a way of communication for them. Subtle and all encompassing. “Which isn’t to say they didn’t speak, they did, of course. But it was no longer the meat of what they did. At some point it simply became irrelevant. Extra.”
"When you wanted to talk to people about the past, it was never exactly the way you imagined it, Brit thought. She wanted to say something about the ocean-sized expanse of hours and years between them, how they'd once been fragile people who threw themselves at each other, and now they were real people, more of the body than those twenty-somethings always on the verge of a breakdown... This, she thought. This is what she meant to say: this picture, the way three words - take a bath - could bring reeling back an entire story, one that neither of them could really tell anymore, but one of the moments that they'd each grown around for years, that they carried inside their bodies, in their cells and molecules, what they were made of. The story spanned the distance between their past and their future, and suddenly, briefly, they were two versions of themselves. And if they were two versions of themselves, they were also all the versions in between them, and their entire shared life unfolded before them."
“It would take a while to recognize it. That what she loved most was the way he’d let her in - moreso than what she found, once she was there.”
“Having children was an adapt or die situation. That’s why people did it together. It was less lonely if you whittle away a part of yourself with the person who knew you pre-whittled.”
“But I’m nostalgic for that way of thinking, not for the actual life. It’s okay to long for a different life. It doesn’t mean you actually want it.”
“You could purchase all the fixtures of an adult life. But Daniel wondered when you ever stopped feeling a little bit like an impostor. Like a man watching yourself drive your new car around the city.”
“But Daniel couldn’t even see that he got from the quartet whatever other people got from their partners. Consistency. Obligation. Nonverbal understanding and misunderstanding. A deformed ugly pretty kind of love. Knowledge that what was there wouldn’t change, for better or worse.”
“It’s sort of terrible though, isn’t it?
What?
When you get everything you wanted.
Daniel didn’t say anything. But this, he thought, was the difference between him and Henry. His younger self would’ve been angered by Henry’s sentiment. How it spoke to Henry’s lucky life and how Henry had never known Daniel’s constant striving. Daniel didn’t think it was terrible to get everything you wanted. He thought it was terrible not to know what to want.”
Well I don’t want to be (or date) any of these four characters, I feel intensely protective of and loyal to them. I have nothing but fondness for them and a desire for them to be safe and fulfilled. I care about them. I feel like I know their personalities, their stories and feel all the proper emotions when they act in ways in keeping with their personality and life stories. I care how their stories go. Which shows the power of her writing - building characters this compelling and realistic.
Those wedding vows at the end - breathtaking. Beautiful. Would use them 10/10. And the final coda - a description of their first time playing together as a quartet before all of this - was a beautiful way to end.
Audiobook available immediately from RBDigital!
This book manages to be both incredibly life-affirming and feel somehow melancholy at the same time. Absolutely beautiful writing, passages and phrases that take your breath away. Fighting for and figuring out what it means to be human to be happy to be fulfilled to live a life, to live a good life. To work together to make beautiful art and to love one another and be intimate in a way usually reserved for romantic love. One of my favorite books so far this year - a meditation.
Of Daniel and Brit on a first meal out together:
“They ate slowly, leisurely, as if they were old lovers on a date, enjoying the novelty of it again.”
The chaste nights of Janna and Henry sleeping together like siblings - very intimate but not sexual. Coming to an end when they fought in the late night/early morning hours in a way that only lovers should fight. Lovers who can undo those harsh words through the vulnerability and violence of sex. And since they didn’t have that, the fight was somehow more damaging, more unforgivable. Though of course they remained intimate for decades longer - just differently.
Constant comparison to other members of the quartet. Henry was the only one with family, and now he was beginning a new family. An embarrassing abundance of family.
They know each other so well, think of each other like extensions of their own selves, know the physical mannerisms of each so clearly, know what each other thinks without words.
This would be even more poignant if I understood music. It’s such a way of communication for them. Subtle and all encompassing. “Which isn’t to say they didn’t speak, they did, of course. But it was no longer the meat of what they did. At some point it simply became irrelevant. Extra.”
"When you wanted to talk to people about the past, it was never exactly the way you imagined it, Brit thought. She wanted to say something about the ocean-sized expanse of hours and years between them, how they'd once been fragile people who threw themselves at each other, and now they were real people, more of the body than those twenty-somethings always on the verge of a breakdown... This, she thought. This is what she meant to say: this picture, the way three words - take a bath - could bring reeling back an entire story, one that neither of them could really tell anymore, but one of the moments that they'd each grown around for years, that they carried inside their bodies, in their cells and molecules, what they were made of. The story spanned the distance between their past and their future, and suddenly, briefly, they were two versions of themselves. And if they were two versions of themselves, they were also all the versions in between them, and their entire shared life unfolded before them."
“It would take a while to recognize it. That what she loved most was the way he’d let her in - moreso than what she found, once she was there.”
“Having children was an adapt or die situation. That’s why people did it together. It was less lonely if you whittle away a part of yourself with the person who knew you pre-whittled.”
“But I’m nostalgic for that way of thinking, not for the actual life. It’s okay to long for a different life. It doesn’t mean you actually want it.”
“You could purchase all the fixtures of an adult life. But Daniel wondered when you ever stopped feeling a little bit like an impostor. Like a man watching yourself drive your new car around the city.”
“But Daniel couldn’t even see that he got from the quartet whatever other people got from their partners. Consistency. Obligation. Nonverbal understanding and misunderstanding. A deformed ugly pretty kind of love. Knowledge that what was there wouldn’t change, for better or worse.”
“It’s sort of terrible though, isn’t it?
What?
When you get everything you wanted.
Daniel didn’t say anything. But this, he thought, was the difference between him and Henry. His younger self would’ve been angered by Henry’s sentiment. How it spoke to Henry’s lucky life and how Henry had never known Daniel’s constant striving. Daniel didn’t think it was terrible to get everything you wanted. He thought it was terrible not to know what to want.”
Well I don’t want to be (or date) any of these four characters, I feel intensely protective of and loyal to them. I have nothing but fondness for them and a desire for them to be safe and fulfilled. I care about them. I feel like I know their personalities, their stories and feel all the proper emotions when they act in ways in keeping with their personality and life stories. I care how their stories go. Which shows the power of her writing - building characters this compelling and realistic.
Those wedding vows at the end - breathtaking. Beautiful. Would use them 10/10. And the final coda - a description of their first time playing together as a quartet before all of this - was a beautiful way to end.
I just finished THE ENSEMBLE and I really enjoyed it. It’s about a quartet of musicians that begin playing together when they’re barely out of college. It follows each of them through their lives and performances and various decisions they make along the way. It was immersive and deep; I loved the author’s writing style. It was intriguing for me to learn a little bit about classical music and what goes into a group of people that play together, as I know absolutely nothing about orchestra.
The story did start to lose steam for me towards the last ¼ of the book. There were so many directions the author could have taken the story, but it felt kind of like she gave up and it slowly fizzled. Either way, if you enjoy a deep character study that really gives you the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters, this book does just that!
The story did start to lose steam for me towards the last ¼ of the book. There were so many directions the author could have taken the story, but it felt kind of like she gave up and it slowly fizzled. Either way, if you enjoy a deep character study that really gives you the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the characters, this book does just that!
I definitely want to come back to this at some point (especially since I own a copy), but I think I was just trying to read too many books at once when I wasn't sure what book (hypothetical or actual) I really wanted to read. Just one of those moods.
I’m torn in my rating of this book. I love music and being a part of these musicians lives was interesting. I really enjoy looking back at the characters now that I have finished the book, thinking about their flaws and their talent. But, I truly believe I am plot driven and the amount of character description is this book was a bit much for me. Solid, good read, so that means 3 stars from me.
Beautiful prose....very little story or plot. I struggled getting through this book (took almost a month for me to finish), and I kind of wish I had followed my gut and quit around page 50. I felt so bored majority of this book and felt like even though time was passing in the story, nothing was actually happening. At least nothing interested.
I don't think I would have picked this book up had it not ended up on the Modern Mrs. Darcy Summer Reading Guide this year.
A beautiful story about growing up and transformative friendships, but also about the sometimes harsh realities of life. It's kind of slow moving but more in a steady, thoughtful pace. So much happens in this book but no event seems to be more weighted than another in a strange and wonderful way. I've never quite read a book like this.
A beautiful story about growing up and transformative friendships, but also about the sometimes harsh realities of life. It's kind of slow moving but more in a steady, thoughtful pace. So much happens in this book but no event seems to be more weighted than another in a strange and wonderful way. I've never quite read a book like this.
I loved this exploration of the dynamics of a string quartet. The characters are mostly well fleshed out and the writing so fresh and accurate. I also enjoyed learning more about being a musician and the exploration of creativity at such a high level. The middle of the book sagged a bit under their unrelenting sadness and there are two places in the book I genuinely believed something big had happened but then when the next part of the book started, what had happened hadn't. I found that mystifying. Still, great read!