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4th out of 97 books
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16 voters
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The Soloist
by
Mark Salzman
As a child, Renne showed promise of becoming one of the world's greatest cellists. Now, years later, his life suddenly is altered by two events: he becomes a juror in a murder trial for the brutal killing of a Buddhist monk, and he takes on as a pupil a Korean boy whose brilliant musicianship reminds him of his own past.
Paperback, Vintage Contemporaries, 284 pages
Published
February 1995
by Vintage
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Writing Assignment for the Review of the The Soloist
Life always changes with any of the decisions we made. The main character Renne’s life has been changed three times by his own decisions: asked for changing the instrument; started having the lesson for a Korean boy Kyung-hee Kim as a student; and be involved in a murder trail by one of his students. By these three stories told me that people should be responsible to what they did or response for their decisions; the second one was...more
Life always changes with any of the decisions we made. The main character Renne’s life has been changed three times by his own decisions: asked for changing the instrument; started having the lesson for a Korean boy Kyung-hee Kim as a student; and be involved in a murder trail by one of his students. By these three stories told me that people should be responsible to what they did or response for their decisions; the second one was...more
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There was a lot of promise at the beginning, and then it just petered out. I was uninspired by most of the characters, including the main character/narrator. The narrator is a musician, and a musician recommended this book as one of her favorites, so maybe I missed something. I still thought it was mildly entertaining and managed to finish it in only a couple of days.
The main character is a cellist --once a child prodigy --who abruptly ends his concert career after burning out. The story revolves around him "finding himself" as an adult. He is called to be a juror for a murder trial and Salzman uses the trial and deliberations as the vehicle to reveal the cellist's own mental turmoil. I gave it two stars (as opposed to one) because I thought the use of the trial in the plot was unique. But -- I found the characters to be predictable, flat, and u...more
Great book! A child prodigy cellist loses his ability to perform due to a too perfect ear after he turns 18. He thinks of himself as a failure although he teaches both in college and cellist students. Not only do we learn of his odd upbringing with tutors as well as famous cellists for teachers but also the result being a difficulty relating to others. He is asked to teach another child prodigy, age 9, at about the same time as he is chosen for jury duty for a murder trial in which a psychot...more
April Fools - You read the wrong book!
I thought I was checking out The Soloist (by Steve Lopez) which is the book in common for Chico this year. However, there are two books with this title. Salzman's book is fiction; however the subtitle for Lopez's book also apply: failed dreams, unlikely friendship and the redemptive power of music can all be found in this book. Both books also take place in L.A.
An enjoyable read; but a bit too contrived to feel really satisfying. I kept having a...more
I thought I was checking out The Soloist (by Steve Lopez) which is the book in common for Chico this year. However, there are two books with this title. Salzman's book is fiction; however the subtitle for Lopez's book also apply: failed dreams, unlikely friendship and the redemptive power of music can all be found in this book. Both books also take place in L.A.
An enjoyable read; but a bit too contrived to feel really satisfying. I kept having a...more
This book seems simple on one level, but it is not. I thought that there was a lot of mirroring going on, by which I mean that characters reflected one another, they were versions of one another. The man on trial seemed very similar in quiet ways to the main character. The young student reflected the child, the old teacher reflected the adult. I was impatient with the inadequacies of the main character and then wondered if I was doing a bit of reflecting on the impatience I sometimes feel wi...more
Salzman's style isn't suited for fiction. Sorry. His memoir was, luckily, the first of his books that I touched, and it was by far the best. This little guy has a slow, delicate plot which goes nowhere satisfying. It almost reads like he'd planned to weave the two parts of the story together but then got lost on Facebook and then was like, "O crap, my deadline was yesterday!" and just slapped an "end" on there. Book fail.
So why three stars? Because his prose is so...more
So why three stars? Because his prose is so...more
A very disappointing effort from Salzman. The plot is enticing: Reinhardt, a child prodigy cellist, loses his gift and spends years trying to get it back so he can live the life of a concert musician. After a decade of futile practice, he is asked to tutor another child prodigy; sullen, withdrawn nine-year old wunderkind Kyung-Hee. And if Salzman had just stayed with that, I think he would have written a fine book. There is the possibility of youth vs. age, the teacher craving the talent the stu...more
Michael
rated it
Recommends it for:
musicians, music-lovers, ex-Buddhists
Recommended to Michael by:
Scott
Warning: Do not even think about reading this if you are not heavily into classical music/musicians, and the process of of the classical concert
A friend lent me his copy for the book's paradoxical trial of a young man convicted of killing his Zen master. Sunheimer, a cellist since youth, is one of the jury members. The chapters in the jury room are a rehash of "Twelve Angry", as it could be told by Henry Fonda's character's inner monologue. Even a few of the less savory cha...more
A friend lent me his copy for the book's paradoxical trial of a young man convicted of killing his Zen master. Sunheimer, a cellist since youth, is one of the jury members. The chapters in the jury room are a rehash of "Twelve Angry", as it could be told by Henry Fonda's character's inner monologue. Even a few of the less savory cha...more
It's not surprising that some of the other reviewers don't like this story's melancholy, brooding narrator. However, the point is that he's wrestling with some big issues, trying to make sense of the unexpected direction his life has taken. I'm a kindred spirit and identified with him very closely.
Salzman seems to have strong feelings about how kids should be educated. It was a subtheme in his memoir Lost in Place, and is more obvious here. We can only speculate whether Renne might h...more
Salzman seems to have strong feelings about how kids should be educated. It was a subtheme in his memoir Lost in Place, and is more obvious here. We can only speculate whether Renne might h...more
A novel about a washed-up child prodigy cellist who is struggling to come to terms with his inability to recapture his ability to perform. In agreeing to teach a withdrawn 9-year-old prodigy and in taking a courageous stand as a member of a juty in a bizarre murder trial, he comes to terms with his limitations as a human being as well as with what he has to offer, and ultimately rediscovers a new kind of joy in music. It should have had great appeal for me, but was only a mediocre book that suff...more
This book wasn't so much about a homeless man who happened to play good music, it was more about dealing with mental illness. Even a musical genius can flip out and not recover. And sadly, there is nothing you can do to "save" them. They don't want to be saved. But I am grateful to the reporter who discovered him and helped him preserve his music.
This was a very interesting book - seeing the world on the streets, but realizing many people who end up in shelters are ac...more
This was a very interesting book - seeing the world on the streets, but realizing many people who end up in shelters are ac...more
Ham-handed and trite. I laughed out loud more than once at the author's naive flailing attempts at sounding profound, about both music and philosophy (I was really sorry to learn that he is a scholar in both fields), and at his crappy choppy structural solutions. Not one decent segue in the whole novel. If I wanted to be cruel I would provide examples, but I'd just prefer not crack this one again even to ridicule it. It's possible that this will be the first book I ever sell back to the Broc...more
I read the wrong book for bookclub. Mark Salzman is NOT Steve Lopez! This book was okay. About a Jewish boy that was a violin prodigy, traveling to concert halls all over the world, living an adult life as a young child. He loses his rythmic hearing (if that's even a phrase) in his late teens. He's rather tragic -- extremely self serving and elitist as he serves as a juror in a murder trial. Not a lovable (even likeable) character -- even feeling sorry for his childhood.
Shirley Freeman
added it
Re-read this one for a bookgroup. I enjoyed it again. It's the story of a former child prodigy (cello player) who lost his gift. More than a decade later he finally 'finds himself' again when he sits on a jury for a murder trial and also begins teaching a young child prodigy. It's a good story which raises some interesting questions about extreme behaviors, both secular and religious, and about personalities a few standard deviations away from the 'norm.'
Salzman is a gifted writer and I found this book a pleasure to read. I picked it up because I was interested in his development of the cellist's musical story, and although I found the jury case an interesting way to augment and develop, I also found it the least compelling aspect of the entire book--- it felt forced, too artificial, etc., based on my own experiences, while also, in many senses, accurate (e.g. how individuals go about making decisions, the influences on an individual juror which...more
I really liked this book. I was drawn to it originally at the thrift store because it had a musical title and a picture of a cello on the cover. The description sounded good, so I picked it up. It turned out to be a quiet book that was immensely touching. It has three strands that are all woven together to form the full picture of a man coming to grips with his past and present and weaving them together to face his future. It is written in first person and vignettes of Renne's past as a chi...more
I listened to this on the treadmill. I really liked this book and even looked forward to exercising so I could find out what happened. (I know, it's shocking . . . the exercising part.) I got the title from a list of books in the Parade magazine that incoming college freshmen were being required to read. I thought that I should probably be as literate a 19 year old.
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There are a lot of bad reviews of this book. And a lot of good reviews that sound oddly like bad reviews. I liked it. I enjoyed every step of the way, except, maybe for the parts at the beginning that I found a little slow. Please do not go into this book picturing Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr as the main characters. I found them much more likeable when I managed to stop doing that, despite their faces gracing the cover.
This novel deals more with the epidemic of homelessness in America ...more
This novel deals more with the epidemic of homelessness in America ...more
Even though I’m a classical musician I could not relate to the main character in this book because the author was so restricted to just describing music by Bach. I also did not like how Salzman seems to discredit contemporary classical and popular music. Apart from that I enjoyed how the murder trial storyline connected to Reinhart’s personal struggles and moral dilemmas. Overall the story was mildly engaging for me and I would not recommend it to someone who wants an introduction to the worl...more
I just re-read this book. Thought it was the premise for the movie with Robert Downey Jr & Jamie Foxx.
It was not but the book is good in the way of Carol Shields. The character is cutoff and not a little depressing. Unlike the "Stone Diaries", it does, I think, end well. Renne rejoins humanity through his teaching of a gifted young Korean cellist.
It was not but the book is good in the way of Carol Shields. The character is cutoff and not a little depressing. Unlike the "Stone Diaries", it does, I think, end well. Renne rejoins humanity through his teaching of a gifted young Korean cellist.
This novel is unique, yet nothing much happens. Throughout the whole novel, the reader comes across the protagonist's problem with pitching his cello, the court case and teaching a prodigious child. Out of these three, I found the the jury case a tad bit random, while Salzman should have expanded on his idea of the the korean boy.
Very good story, very straightforward writing. I kept wanting a little more: a little more style? a little greater depth of character that would be heartfelt rather than just stated. Everything was laid out and stated clearly: a little too clear and in line without much exploration or indirection.
But still very good.
But still very good.
This is a novel (not the true story that has been made into a movie starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr).
It is an incandescent work about personal growth. Renne is a former musical chold prodigy now teaching music at a university - too young to be a retired concert soloist, too old to still be a virgin.
It is an incandescent work about personal growth. Renne is a former musical chold prodigy now teaching music at a university - too young to be a retired concert soloist, too old to still be a virgin.
A tortured cellist, who lost his gift as a teenager, lives an insular life; mainly waiting for his gift to return. Suddenly, his life begins to changes in a startling way as he takes on a new student, sits on a jury for a murder trial and begins his first steps toward romance. Redemptive and insightful.
This book was a bit offensive in its references to Zen Buddhism as a cult (you can really say the same for any religion if that's the case) and it turned me off to much of the book. An effort has to be made to relate with the protagonist, and the blatant moral-of-the-story ending was a bit trite.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In the beginning, it seemed merely interesting but as the story unfolded, the quiet characterization drew me in deeper and deeper. I actually liked the story, the book and all the interesting characters. The ending was beautiful and thought-provoking.
Three or possibly four stars for being highly enjoyable. Except for the last section, it was paced and plotted very nicely, balancing Renne's adult life and childhood/adolescence reminiscences. Love and rich experience of music is a big part of the story; music is characterized and made multi-sensory just as much as characters are. In fact, along with Hofstadter and some occasional, surprising KQED broadcasts, this book increased my appreciation for Bach.
But this is really a charac...more
But this is really a charac...more
I wish I could remember this more...I have to look at it again. I really like Mark Salzman's writing. Very straightforward prose style that captures a lot psychologically.
I also always enjoy books about music and what it does for you psychologically.
I also always enjoy books about music and what it does for you psychologically.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enjoyable, Musical and One of a kind | 1 | 8 | Apr 21, 2009 07:28pm |
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Mark Salzman is an award-winning novelist and nonfiction author who has written on a variety of subjects, from a graceful novel about a Carmelite nun’s ecstatic visions and crisis of faith to a compelling memoir about growing up a misfit in a Connecticut suburb – clearly displaying a range that transcends genre. As a boy, all Salzman ever wanted was to be a Kung Fu master, but it was his proficien...more
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