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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Jeremy Denk is a great writer. It was very interesting to read about the training it takes from a young age to become a concert pianist, but I think the best parts of this book were his writings about specific pieces and musical concepts. He made me think about classical music in ways I never had before, looking at why composers wrote the music the way they did, and what is the meaning behind it.
liked that this was both a lesson in music and the life of a brilliant person. I always find it interesting to see how people live their lives and this was no disappointment.
I'd never heard of Jeremy Denk and I don't listen to much classical music, but ended up picking this up because I'm interested in the piano. Glad I did -- and especially that I did so as an audiobook. The memoir aspects are fine, it's interesting to hear about the life of an abnormal overachiever in a high-pressure world, and he's a charming narrator of his own story. But the thing that really made this were his descriptions of music. (In the audio book, the specific pieces play along in the background as he describes specific aspects, which is very satisfying.) This goes from pretty simple stuff, like the tension that builds up until certain harmonies are resolved, to concepts that were pretty far over my head and I lost the thread on. I found myself listening to more classical music, at least in the short-term, and enjoying it more, too. And of course the title of the book is cute.
Reading this book was like analyzing a composition in Music Theory III, Fall semester of sophomore year in pursuit of a music degree. (Yes. It's that specific. And an intentional metaphor.) You have a little bit of know-how, a little bit of the familiar. The comfort of a long-loved subject matter.
And a whole lot of frustration wrapped around a concept you still haven't quite figured out in its entirety. Is it a love story? Is it a memoir? Are you looking at the right notes? Reading the right nuance? Is this the right terminology for that decorative note? Did I fuck up the chord progression?
But then, by the time you get to the end... (and in this case, I mean the final paragraph of the acknowledgements), you realize you actually got through the whole thing. You didn't miss the point. All of your ideas were the right ones. And even though it took you way longer to process than you expected such a project to take, you managed to find the beauty and the message in between all of the notes and notes on the manuscript.
It took me ages to finish this book. Sans the "Prelude," which is why I bought the book in the first place, the first 60 pages took me longer to get through than the rest of the book. Once there, much of it felt like too much of one thing and not enough of another. He glossed over some of the most interesting "memoir" elements of his life, and spent endless time breaking down musical concepts. Even being a musician/music teacher myself, I honestly got bored. But not bored enough to put it down. By then I was invested.
It was hovering around a 3/3.5 for most of the book. But his burst of appreciation and emotion in the acknowledgements, and the final paragraph of it bringing an actual tear to me, bumped it up to a 4.
That being said, while there may be a chance you'll find yourself more interested in classical music after reading this book, if you have minimal knowledge of musical study in general, I suspect many of its elements may feel very alienating.
Still, despite all of it, much like making your way through a grand masterpiece...
I kind of liked it.
4 stars.
And a whole lot of frustration wrapped around a concept you still haven't quite figured out in its entirety. Is it a love story? Is it a memoir? Are you looking at the right notes? Reading the right nuance? Is this the right terminology for that decorative note? Did I fuck up the chord progression?
But then, by the time you get to the end... (and in this case, I mean the final paragraph of the acknowledgements), you realize you actually got through the whole thing. You didn't miss the point. All of your ideas were the right ones. And even though it took you way longer to process than you expected such a project to take, you managed to find the beauty and the message in between all of the notes and notes on the manuscript.
It took me ages to finish this book. Sans the "Prelude," which is why I bought the book in the first place, the first 60 pages took me longer to get through than the rest of the book. Once there, much of it felt like too much of one thing and not enough of another. He glossed over some of the most interesting "memoir" elements of his life, and spent endless time breaking down musical concepts. Even being a musician/music teacher myself, I honestly got bored. But not bored enough to put it down. By then I was invested.
It was hovering around a 3/3.5 for most of the book. But his burst of appreciation and emotion in the acknowledgements, and the final paragraph of it bringing an actual tear to me, bumped it up to a 4.
That being said, while there may be a chance you'll find yourself more interested in classical music after reading this book, if you have minimal knowledge of musical study in general, I suspect many of its elements may feel very alienating.
Still, despite all of it, much like making your way through a grand masterpiece...
I kind of liked it.
4 stars.
At once a pretentious, self-depreciating, and reflective memoir. I’d probably classify it as a coming-of-age or self-discovery memoir. I frequently wondered if someone with no musical background would be able to follow the stories in this book, and I don’t know… But I think it would help the reader to have some musical experience or at least a deep interest in music in order to fully appreciate this memoir.
I really like the way Denk artfully draws parallels between making music and how he finds his way through life, without saying it directly. This would be a good memoir to study as an example of how the subject is used as a metaphor. The audio book had excerpts of music here and there to support what Denk was explaining, but nothing longer than a few seconds.
What I didn’t love is all of the abrupt changes of time and place, without a clear purpose. I’m not referring to the loose timeline he draws from, but the random references to different times and places when the mentioned detail seems like a red herring rather than a relevant detail. And toward the end, Denk’s narrative perspective shifts abruptly from first person to second without letting the reader in on who he is addressing and why it warrants the shift. He gives enough detail to piece together it’s his lover or partner, but it adds nothing meaningful to his narrative, and for me it was so jarring I lost interest in what he was saying.
Overall, I considered giving this book a 3 for how much I enjoyed it, but I didn’t because I do really appreciate what Denk is trying to do with this book and I feel it’s an important memoir in a lot of ways. I have not read anything else like it, and there’s plenty of substance to use in a deep study of the memoir genre.
I really like the way Denk artfully draws parallels between making music and how he finds his way through life, without saying it directly. This would be a good memoir to study as an example of how the subject is used as a metaphor. The audio book had excerpts of music here and there to support what Denk was explaining, but nothing longer than a few seconds.
What I didn’t love is all of the abrupt changes of time and place, without a clear purpose. I’m not referring to the loose timeline he draws from, but the random references to different times and places when the mentioned detail seems like a red herring rather than a relevant detail. And toward the end, Denk’s narrative perspective shifts abruptly from first person to second without letting the reader in on who he is addressing and why it warrants the shift. He gives enough detail to piece together it’s his lover or partner, but it adds nothing meaningful to his narrative, and for me it was so jarring I lost interest in what he was saying.
Overall, I considered giving this book a 3 for how much I enjoyed it, but I didn’t because I do really appreciate what Denk is trying to do with this book and I feel it’s an important memoir in a lot of ways. I have not read anything else like it, and there’s plenty of substance to use in a deep study of the memoir genre.
Really interesting....literally describing both specific music lessons and lessons in music....half biography half music textbook. I enjoyed it a lot but I think if you're not a musician you'd skip half of it because it'd be too technical to follow willingly.
A deeply personal memoir and insightful meditation on classical music. Anyone interested in classical music -- especially aspiring pianists who think they could make a career in this elite field -- should read it. His comments on specific pieces are often excellent.
For all its insight, though, to me there was a distinct bitterness that crept into the text midway through the book which undercut much of my appreciation of his writing. This bitterness was not adequately explained by the events narrated, and I suspect come from personal events Mr Denk chose not to relate. (Why else all the scorn for the "midwest" -- meaning Indiana and Illinois -- after studying at Oberlin in far off Ohio?)
For all its insight, though, to me there was a distinct bitterness that crept into the text midway through the book which undercut much of my appreciation of his writing. This bitterness was not adequately explained by the events narrated, and I suspect come from personal events Mr Denk chose not to relate. (Why else all the scorn for the "midwest" -- meaning Indiana and Illinois -- after studying at Oberlin in far off Ohio?)
"Remember," Sebók said, "the music is not the notes. It is between the notes." Yes, yes, yes, I thought. A lesson for life, and also, by the way, one more time for the record, and with all my heart: Screw you, Walter. (p. 258)
4.5 stars! This book MUST be read as an audiobook. The way piano excerpts are spliced into the audiobook really added to my experience reading.
Definitely recommend for musicians, though at times this made me wish I paid more attention to music theory when I had the opportunity...
Definitely recommend for musicians, though at times this made me wish I paid more attention to music theory when I had the opportunity...
This is a book about piano lessons. Denk introduces a lot of people, places and things that happens between those lessons, but they’re often introduced without any purpose and sometimes quickly forgotten. (At one point, in a section about his junior year of college, Denk introduced 2-3 new people on each page!) We get to know his teachers best.
Denk talked a lot about how he changed his piano playing based on the instructions of his teachers, and I often had a hard time conceptualizing the subtleties in the piano playing. Maybe my trouble is that I’ve never played piano, not even for one lesson.
I’ve personally enjoyed books by laypeople better—pianists who were hobbyists, not professionals.
Denk talked a lot about how he changed his piano playing based on the instructions of his teachers, and I often had a hard time conceptualizing the subtleties in the piano playing. Maybe my trouble is that I’ve never played piano, not even for one lesson.
I’ve personally enjoyed books by laypeople better—pianists who were hobbyists, not professionals.