Take a photo of a barcode or cover
mendy3 's review for:
The Violin Conspiracy
by Brendan Slocumb
I wonder what it is like to be a talented musician who writes on the side as a fun hobby and is a better writer than many who dedicate their time to it full time? I picked this book up spur of the moment because I saw it on a readers choice list and I am so glad I did. Despite not being interested at all in classical music, Slocumb had me deeply invested in Ray's journey. Suddenly I was ready to fight his mama and his high school band teacher for ignoring his passion and talent, I cared about his ability to build a crescendo or make it appear his bow never left the strings. I was rooting for him to kick some random Serbian's ass in the most prestigious violin competition in the world. This is all to say nothing of the mystery which is at the heart of the book: How did Ray's family really acquire his multi million dollar Stradivarius violin, and who stole it?
Race and racism is a central theme to this novel, many incidents are based on the author's real life. It is impossible to understand Ray without understanding the racism he faced. It's impossible to know the history of the violin without knowing the racial history of the U.S. With that said, I would point out that this is a book that feels like it is written for a white audience, he spells things out for those who don't know, or understand, or care about the Black experience. Slocumb fits a lifetime of racist experiences into Ray's story to show how hard it is to be Black in a White institution. He wants to prove to the reader that racism isn't over. This is an argument that wouldn't really have to be made to a nonwhite reader.
Race and racism is a central theme to this novel, many incidents are based on the author's real life. It is impossible to understand Ray without understanding the racism he faced. It's impossible to know the history of the violin without knowing the racial history of the U.S. With that said, I would point out that this is a book that feels like it is written for a white audience, he spells things out for those who don't know, or understand, or care about the Black experience. Slocumb fits a lifetime of racist experiences into Ray's story to show how hard it is to be Black in a White institution. He wants to prove to the reader that racism isn't over. This is an argument that wouldn't really have to be made to a nonwhite reader.