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A review by juniperd
Music of the Ghosts by Vaddey Ratner
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.