What do you think?
Rate this book
The Clarion
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE AN APPLE BOOKS BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR SEPTEMBER 2023 “We all lined up for our whipping by the shouting beauty and tender traumas of life. All of us so sensitive, and now this beautiful girl, with soft brown hair that was shot with gold in the sun. Another one of us starting to stumble.” Peter plays the trumpet and works in a kitchen, partying; Stasi tries to climb the corporate ladder and lands in therapy. These sensitive siblings struggle to find their place in the world, seeking intimacy and belonging – or trying to escape it. A promising audition, a lost promotion, intriguing strangers, a silent lover, and a grieving neighbour—in rich, sensual scenes and moody brilliance, The Clarion explores rituals of connection and belonging, themes of intimacy and performance, and how far we wander to find, or lose, our sense of self. Alternating between five days in Peter's life and several months of Stasi's, Dunic's debut novel captures the vague if hopeful melancholy of any generation that believes it was never "called" to something great.
208 pages, Paperback
Published September 5, 2023
13 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
October 20, 2023
This was a really interesting book. There was so much to it that I’m still processing it. But for now, here are some brief thoughts.
The chapters alternate between Peter—a trumpeter, kitchen staff, and loner—and his sister Stasi—corporate ladder climber, adulterer, a “fixer”. Both are just trying to find their place in the world, and they couldn’t be more different. Peter wasn’t comfortable with people. He found them quite interesting at times, but he preferred to observe them from afar. On the other hand, there’s Stasi. She’s a participant in life, but feels she’s been treated badly, and seeks therapy from Isabelle to find the answers within herself. This summarises her feelings at the time:
I can relate to Peter, though. Simple, uncomplicated Peter. The siblings’ mother had recently passed away. She’d lived as an agoraphobic for years. By now, Peter accepted her death, but Stasi was still struggling. She’d been taking care of others all her life, including her mother, whom she cared for for years until her death. Stasi was like that. She was a saviour—always trying to fix things for people. She took a moment to recall her conversation with Peter about their mother’s passing:
4.5 “Memories-can-make-it-seem-like-siblings-were-raised-in-different-families” stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The chapters alternate between Peter—a trumpeter, kitchen staff, and loner—and his sister Stasi—corporate ladder climber, adulterer, a “fixer”. Both are just trying to find their place in the world, and they couldn’t be more different. Peter wasn’t comfortable with people. He found them quite interesting at times, but he preferred to observe them from afar. On the other hand, there’s Stasi. She’s a participant in life, but feels she’s been treated badly, and seeks therapy from Isabelle to find the answers within herself. This summarises her feelings at the time:
Ultimately I knew I had been asking Isabelle for what she could not do: offer me insight not about myself but about life, the immense and heartbreaking noise of it, trying to turn that noise into something closer to song. I wasn’t religious. And philosophers—they were all men from hundreds of years ago. I wanted a woman to tell me what all this was, a woman in her forties or older, lusty and angry and newly unafraid. Out of the great hollow chest of complacency, a wild and panicked heart was trying to beat free, escape, end up where it didn’t belong—vulnerable and damaged and yet certain that suffering had worth.Stasi is a dichotomy. She has a heightened sense of fairness, yet she feels no guilt about cheating on her husband, as she’s been doing for years. She loves her husband, and especially her daughter, very dearly, yet she feels disconnected from them both.🤦♀️🙄
I can relate to Peter, though. Simple, uncomplicated Peter. The siblings’ mother had recently passed away. She’d lived as an agoraphobic for years. By now, Peter accepted her death, but Stasi was still struggling. She’d been taking care of others all her life, including her mother, whom she cared for for years until her death. Stasi was like that. She was a saviour—always trying to fix things for people. She took a moment to recall her conversation with Peter about their mother’s passing:
“She didn’t have any kind of life.” “Yeah, but—I mean—I don’t think she was actually unhappy.” He was trying to get me to hear it. “I don’t think she wanted a kind of life like other people do. I think she was happy where she was—safe. At home.” I understood what he was trying to say. “So her death—so her life and death—is less sad, then?” “I don’t know,” he said. “Sad is another judgement I guess. I just mean—I don’t think she was unhappy. I never thought of her like that. Some people have normal lives and they are unhappy anyway. I don’t think she was.” “Yeah, I don’t know. I always thought the whole thing was fucking depressing.” “Because you had to deal with it. You were grown up at ten.” The acknowledgement, coming from him, caught me dead centre. Like blame and forgiveness arriving at once—heavy and breathless. It was heavier than ten sessions in therapy. “Sometimes I don’t remember a childhood at all.”And so it goes—as it goes in many families, including my own…
4.5 “Memories-can-make-it-seem-like-siblings-were-raised-in-different-families” stars.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
October 9, 2023
Seeking Connection
Review of the Invisible Publishing Kindle eBook edition, released simultaneously with the Invisible Publishing paperback (September 5, 2023).
The Clarion is an existentialist angst novel about siblings, Peter and Anastasia (called Stasi). Peter is single, a kitchen worker and sometime musician (on trumpet) and Anastasia is married with one daughter, having an affair, and works in a clothing fashion company where she has been turned down for a VP position which her entire career had been leading her to. The novel toggles between two timelines. Peter goes to a music audition on Monday and waits to hear the result by the end of the week. Stasi hears about her lost promotion one month and goes to therapy until deciding she doesn't need it a month later. The siblings cross timelines with phone calls and meetings at different points.
Neither Peter or Stasi are overly engaged in life. Peter seems to be drifting through it, not being very passionate about music and quite comfortable in restaurant work. Stasi, although very commanding in many ways, seems to shrug off the job loss and is not overly enthused about her family or her lover. There are issues in their upbringing which are the cause for their present day outlook.
Even though angsty existential novels are not really my thing, there are really wonderful descriptive and observational moments in this novel which made it quite a pleasure to read. Peter's story dominates as it is the opener and closer. Though we may not personally identify with the characters' situations, their seeking for connection and purpose is still universal. Although such a quiet novel may not seem to be a fire-breather, I was quite happy to discover it through its Giller Prize longlisting.
I read The Clarion through its being Longlisted for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday October 11, 2023.
Soundtrack
The originals of the songs with which Peter auditions at the restaurant are:
1. Crimson and Clover (1968) by Tommy James and the Shondells.
2. I Got the Blues (1971) by The Rolling Stones.
3. White Christmas (1942) by Bing Crosby.
Other Reviews
Fully Alive, Alone by Sarah Marie, The Miramichi Reader, July 31, 2023.
The Clarion by Nina Dunic, CBC Books, August 23, 2023.
A Novel of Small, Graceful Moments of Epiphany by Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star, September 6, 2023.
Trivia and Links
Although The Clarion is her first novel, Nina Dunic’s website has links to several of her earlier published short stories, many of which can be read online.
Review of the Invisible Publishing Kindle eBook edition, released simultaneously with the Invisible Publishing paperback (September 5, 2023).
Trumpets were used in war, bugles too. I remembered the clarion, the highest register, a piercing call, nothing above it. A single high note. And the clarion call - bringing all together into one, a uniting, a mass belonging, all of us the same.
...
It was cold outside and the green metal of the dumpsters had been decaying for years; behind it a small lot with rough looking cars, lined by a chain-link fence on its slow way down. The backs of restaurants are some of the realest places on earth - just a door or two from your beautiful meal.
...
"Do you know where the saying 'clarion call' comes from?" he asked.
"Yes, it's a trumpet, right?"
"Yeah - the idea of a call that would bring people together, from afar. Unite them in something, a purpose. I don't feel as if we have that anymore."
...
As I left, I heard a soft sound from my phone on the coffee table. I closed the door and pulled the bolt through the lock. I liked leaving my phone sometimes - unnerving at first, but fleeting, then a kind of clean emptiness.
...
If you want to think about how well you know someone, answer that question then - what do they want? and if you have an interesting answer, one that is true, you probably know that person very well.
The Clarion is an existentialist angst novel about siblings, Peter and Anastasia (called Stasi). Peter is single, a kitchen worker and sometime musician (on trumpet) and Anastasia is married with one daughter, having an affair, and works in a clothing fashion company where she has been turned down for a VP position which her entire career had been leading her to. The novel toggles between two timelines. Peter goes to a music audition on Monday and waits to hear the result by the end of the week. Stasi hears about her lost promotion one month and goes to therapy until deciding she doesn't need it a month later. The siblings cross timelines with phone calls and meetings at different points.
Neither Peter or Stasi are overly engaged in life. Peter seems to be drifting through it, not being very passionate about music and quite comfortable in restaurant work. Stasi, although very commanding in many ways, seems to shrug off the job loss and is not overly enthused about her family or her lover. There are issues in their upbringing which are the cause for their present day outlook.
Even though angsty existential novels are not really my thing, there are really wonderful descriptive and observational moments in this novel which made it quite a pleasure to read. Peter's story dominates as it is the opener and closer. Though we may not personally identify with the characters' situations, their seeking for connection and purpose is still universal. Although such a quiet novel may not seem to be a fire-breather, I was quite happy to discover it through its Giller Prize longlisting.
I read The Clarion through its being Longlisted for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday October 11, 2023.
Soundtrack
The originals of the songs with which Peter auditions at the restaurant are:
1. Crimson and Clover (1968) by Tommy James and the Shondells.
2. I Got the Blues (1971) by The Rolling Stones.
3. White Christmas (1942) by Bing Crosby.
Other Reviews
Fully Alive, Alone by Sarah Marie, The Miramichi Reader, July 31, 2023.
The Clarion by Nina Dunic, CBC Books, August 23, 2023.
A Novel of Small, Graceful Moments of Epiphany by Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star, September 6, 2023.
Trivia and Links
Although The Clarion is her first novel, Nina Dunic’s website has links to several of her earlier published short stories, many of which can be read online.
September 10, 2023
Puzzling. Not sure I got it.
December 17, 2023
It's massively unfair of me to rate this short novel as I didn't finish it, but that's never stopped me before, has it. This is gracefully written - dignified, restrained sentences, introspective characters who tell all and learn nothing. There's a thin, shallow plot, all talking, all telling, with no depth or substance. Lots of yearning with no learning. I gave up about halfway as I just didn't care what happened to these siblings. 2 1/2 stars.
July 7, 2025
The writing is this book just had me in a chokehold omg. I really loved the story arc and how the theme of belonging and loneliness was explored.
December 4, 2023
There is a scene where Peter hears back about the audition and whether or not he got the gig. You kinda know where the phone call is headed to and what’s the answer at that point, but i really didn’t want to skim through it and jump ahead. It was almost two pages, but i wanted to read every single sentence in that conversation and could feel the pressure and stress as if it was me auditioning for the job. That was the scene that made me fall in love with the book. That was the point that made me realize the writing was on another level.
May 20, 2024
A quiet book about our two characters moving through life in small moments, but it really resonated with me
September 24, 2023
Beautiful and emotionally sensual in prose. Review to come.
"I never had that. I never had anywhere to go--or people to go with. I wondered what that felt like, one body moving as a great mass of others, whether you felt brave, or less alone. Whether it felt important. I didn't have that in my life, and it was unclear what exactly that meant because I was not lonely for one person. I was alright when I was alone in that way. No-it was something tall and wide. I couldn't quite make it out. But it was almost as if I was lonely for this idea-not religion, not war, not with that damage. But called to something and everybody shows up. An immaculate connection. The idea comforted me from far away, a home I never knew myself."
"I wasn't even angry yet. Acquiring the cigarette and then smoking four in a row was honestly all I wanted to feel, both edgy and soothed - I might as well feel instead of think right now, exhaust my sensitivity that way. The familiar bitterness of smoking was a sharp-edged thing to do to my body. I also decided to get a chicken shawarma on my way home, not the falafel, and I would eat that in the car too; I was supposed to be a vegetarian."
"I didn't dislike people, I just felt alone. But I wanted something better for myself - wasn't that the point - wanting something?"
"Humans were busy little creatures, obsessed with choice."
"I mean, we're the same people. Only we had different parents, different timing, different experiences growing up."
"Break things open, burn them, turn over stones, split trees, watch the storm come in and bring everything down on your head and ears and eyes tightly shut. Know this life that way."
"A single note. And the clarion call - bringing all together into one, a uniting, a mass belonging, all of us the same. [...] We didn't have anything like that anymore. What did it feel like? To get called to something big. Not alone but with so many others. To be, and feel, the same. We didn't really have anything big; we were all fractured off, little tribes of families or friends or half-friends, mostly online, mostly alone. We were singular and apart."
"If you think about how well you know someone, answer that question about them - what do they want? - and if you have an interesting answer, one that is true. you probably know that person very well."
"I did not always like who I was but I was not going to hide. I was going to live - use up this life, spend it until broke - fully alive, bruised and aching, heart beating and breaking. Fully alive, alone."
"You didn't have to do anything. I knew, hearing it, that it would come back to me again. It seemed to say more than it said. You didn't have to do anything. I didn't have to try to save her from the grief; I didn't have to save anyone. You didn't have to do anything."
"I never had that. I never had anywhere to go--or people to go with. I wondered what that felt like, one body moving as a great mass of others, whether you felt brave, or less alone. Whether it felt important. I didn't have that in my life, and it was unclear what exactly that meant because I was not lonely for one person. I was alright when I was alone in that way. No-it was something tall and wide. I couldn't quite make it out. But it was almost as if I was lonely for this idea-not religion, not war, not with that damage. But called to something and everybody shows up. An immaculate connection. The idea comforted me from far away, a home I never knew myself."
"I wasn't even angry yet. Acquiring the cigarette and then smoking four in a row was honestly all I wanted to feel, both edgy and soothed - I might as well feel instead of think right now, exhaust my sensitivity that way. The familiar bitterness of smoking was a sharp-edged thing to do to my body. I also decided to get a chicken shawarma on my way home, not the falafel, and I would eat that in the car too; I was supposed to be a vegetarian."
"I didn't dislike people, I just felt alone. But I wanted something better for myself - wasn't that the point - wanting something?"
"Humans were busy little creatures, obsessed with choice."
"I mean, we're the same people. Only we had different parents, different timing, different experiences growing up."
"Break things open, burn them, turn over stones, split trees, watch the storm come in and bring everything down on your head and ears and eyes tightly shut. Know this life that way."
"A single note. And the clarion call - bringing all together into one, a uniting, a mass belonging, all of us the same. [...] We didn't have anything like that anymore. What did it feel like? To get called to something big. Not alone but with so many others. To be, and feel, the same. We didn't really have anything big; we were all fractured off, little tribes of families or friends or half-friends, mostly online, mostly alone. We were singular and apart."
"If you think about how well you know someone, answer that question about them - what do they want? - and if you have an interesting answer, one that is true. you probably know that person very well."
"I did not always like who I was but I was not going to hide. I was going to live - use up this life, spend it until broke - fully alive, bruised and aching, heart beating and breaking. Fully alive, alone."
"You didn't have to do anything. I knew, hearing it, that it would come back to me again. It seemed to say more than it said. You didn't have to do anything. I didn't have to try to save her from the grief; I didn't have to save anyone. You didn't have to do anything."
January 16, 2024
I have mixed feelings about how to rate this book. The chapters alternate between siblings, Peter and Stasi, who are both portrayed as highly sensitive. I loved Peter and all the chapters from his point of view. He's a sensitive loner who self medicates with drugs and alcohol. His anxiety holds him back, but I really enjoyed his perspective and cared about what happened to him. Stasi, on the other hand, annoyed the crap out of me. Unlike her brother, she's high functioning and is busy climbing the corporate ladder, cheating on her husband, and resenting her young daughter because she has the same name as someone who got the promotion Stasi felt she deserved. Even Stasi's name irritated me. Her full name is Anastasia and instead of going by Stacy like every other AnasTAYsia I've ever heard of, she goes by StAHsi, short for AnsaTAHsia. It's been a while since I so disliked a fictional character!
November 23, 2023
Book club read - both the main characters felt unlikeable and uninteresting and I struggled to understand the overall point of the story and how this tied back to their background (e.g Moms death)
February 16, 2024
Heartfelt but never sentimental: an exceptionally well-written little book.
Look forward to reading other efforts from Nina Dunic.
Look forward to reading other efforts from Nina Dunic.
December 29, 2023
I absolutely loved Nina Dunic’s writing. This is a story that drops you into the lives of two siblings for a few days, a few pivotal moments in who they are and how their lives are going. I liked the monotonous every day conversations and thought monologues, but I can understand how other reviewers might have wanted for more.
April 2, 2024
I was ready to give up on this one after the first couple of chapters. But after I recovered from a cold, I was sucked back into it. Not my usual choice, but was reading it for the Giller long list book club. Will be interesting to hear the new author interviewed.
Wonderful nuanced descriptions of trumpet playing.
Wonderful nuanced descriptions of trumpet playing.
October 2, 2024
It calls you and holds you oh so well.
September 21, 2023
When the Scotiabank Giller Prize Longlist was announced in September, I was delighted to learn that a few books on my shelf were part of it, The Clarion by Nina Dunic being one of them. Coming in at a scant 203 pages, this is a short novel published by a very small press; two great reasons to read it. I rarely find long page counts necessary, and the spare prose in this book is the perfect example of why less is more.
Plot Summary
Peter and Anastasia (Stasi) are siblings, but lead very different lives within the same metropolitan city. Peter does prep in a restaurant kitchen, making a scant but satisfying living. He also plays the trumpet, and we meet him the morning of an audition as he is working through his nerves. Stasi is a determined mother and wife, dedicated to her career in a start-up fashion company that has finally found success. She is passed over for a promotion by an external hire, and finds herself mired in bitterness and despair over this setback. Peter has his vices; drinking and doing drugs in clubs when he can barely afford food, while Stasi continues a long-term affair, hiding a burner phone in the liner of her purse which she uses to communicate with her lover. At times their lives couldn’t be more opposite; Peter is barely scraping by while Stasi speeds away in her luxury vehicle, Peter has very few friends and no family outside of his sister, while Stasi luxuriates in being alone whenever possible, which isn’t often. Both are seeking something, but neither is sure what they are after. Other than the results of the audition and a brief interlude of therapy, there is very little action in the plot. Instead, Dunic takes readers on a meandering journey through the lives of these two people as we luxuriate in vivid scenes and sentences rather than page-turning climaxes.
My Thoughts
The word ‘clarion’ can refer to a kind of trumpet used in war, or a clear shrill sound. A ‘clarion call’ is a request for action, and the fact that these characters embody a distinct lack of action is done on purpose. Stasi takes some steps in her life to get what she wants, but Peter floats above everything, never showing a significant amount of emotion and constantly analyzing and the people around him in his own head. Alcohol and drugs are a way of interrupting his thoughts and forcefully placing them on a new track.
The siblings’ muted approach to life is explored when Peter realizes how vastly different his generation is compared to the old man he finishes talking to:
“Those soldiers got PTSD from the slaughter of men in fields far from home; we were lonely and online…We never got called to anything great, or terrible; we were as separate as hard, round stones on a grey beach. And we bickered.”
-p.197 of The Clarion by Nina Dunic
Sadness and loneliness permeate this entire novel. Peter finds fleeting joy in things, even going so far as to mention beautiful moments to his coworkers, or friends in a club, but he seems lost, happiness rarely shining through his monotonous schedule. He spends much of his time alone, in his head. Stasi is the more obviously sad character, disconnected from her family even though she claims they are the center of her world. She isn’t so much selfish, as she is confused. Her affair offers her distraction and sexual pleasure, but not an actual connection.
The most telling part of the novel is when the siblings meet for lunch, and that moment is retold first through Peter’s perspective, and then through Stasi’s perspective. Of course both are vastly different, which reminds readers how the variation in experiences can vary from person to person, even those who are family. Are they each experiencing their own existential crisis? Perhaps, but this book doesn’t attempt to answer any of these overwhelming questions. Instead, it gives us a snapshot into two people’s lives, offered alongside descriptive writing that forces you to slow down and consider the words chosen and the meaning behind them.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Sign up for my newsletter here: https://ivereadthis.com/subscribe/
Or follow me on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ivereadthis/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6E...
Plot Summary
Peter and Anastasia (Stasi) are siblings, but lead very different lives within the same metropolitan city. Peter does prep in a restaurant kitchen, making a scant but satisfying living. He also plays the trumpet, and we meet him the morning of an audition as he is working through his nerves. Stasi is a determined mother and wife, dedicated to her career in a start-up fashion company that has finally found success. She is passed over for a promotion by an external hire, and finds herself mired in bitterness and despair over this setback. Peter has his vices; drinking and doing drugs in clubs when he can barely afford food, while Stasi continues a long-term affair, hiding a burner phone in the liner of her purse which she uses to communicate with her lover. At times their lives couldn’t be more opposite; Peter is barely scraping by while Stasi speeds away in her luxury vehicle, Peter has very few friends and no family outside of his sister, while Stasi luxuriates in being alone whenever possible, which isn’t often. Both are seeking something, but neither is sure what they are after. Other than the results of the audition and a brief interlude of therapy, there is very little action in the plot. Instead, Dunic takes readers on a meandering journey through the lives of these two people as we luxuriate in vivid scenes and sentences rather than page-turning climaxes.
My Thoughts
The word ‘clarion’ can refer to a kind of trumpet used in war, or a clear shrill sound. A ‘clarion call’ is a request for action, and the fact that these characters embody a distinct lack of action is done on purpose. Stasi takes some steps in her life to get what she wants, but Peter floats above everything, never showing a significant amount of emotion and constantly analyzing and the people around him in his own head. Alcohol and drugs are a way of interrupting his thoughts and forcefully placing them on a new track.
The siblings’ muted approach to life is explored when Peter realizes how vastly different his generation is compared to the old man he finishes talking to:
“Those soldiers got PTSD from the slaughter of men in fields far from home; we were lonely and online…We never got called to anything great, or terrible; we were as separate as hard, round stones on a grey beach. And we bickered.”
-p.197 of The Clarion by Nina Dunic
Sadness and loneliness permeate this entire novel. Peter finds fleeting joy in things, even going so far as to mention beautiful moments to his coworkers, or friends in a club, but he seems lost, happiness rarely shining through his monotonous schedule. He spends much of his time alone, in his head. Stasi is the more obviously sad character, disconnected from her family even though she claims they are the center of her world. She isn’t so much selfish, as she is confused. Her affair offers her distraction and sexual pleasure, but not an actual connection.
The most telling part of the novel is when the siblings meet for lunch, and that moment is retold first through Peter’s perspective, and then through Stasi’s perspective. Of course both are vastly different, which reminds readers how the variation in experiences can vary from person to person, even those who are family. Are they each experiencing their own existential crisis? Perhaps, but this book doesn’t attempt to answer any of these overwhelming questions. Instead, it gives us a snapshot into two people’s lives, offered alongside descriptive writing that forces you to slow down and consider the words chosen and the meaning behind them.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Sign up for my newsletter here: https://ivereadthis.com/subscribe/
Or follow me on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ivereadthis/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6E...
October 1, 2023
A lovely story about a brother and sister, and their flaws, their traumas and all that makes them human. Chapters alternate between Peter and Stasi, with some overlapping narratives. At 200 pages, it's an extended short story, written by a master short story writer.
November 10, 2023
This book bothered me from the get-go when Peter walks into a restaurant to audition for a band and proceeds with the audition without warming up. I made that mistake once, and the audition went terribly. Well, it's no wonder he didn't get the part! You can't go into an audition (for any instrument) without first warming up the instrument or your chops - he probably came off sounding really flat, playing into a cold trumpet.
The book doesn't really get any better from there. We follow the lives of two siblings - Peter and Stasi, who both seem to be experiencing some sort of mid-life crisis as they wander through life aimlessly searching for purpose and meaning. There's no plot as the 'story' focuses on the two characters' sad, mundane, and boring lives. There wasn't any real conclusion to the 'story' either.
*** #13 of my 2023 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Read an author local to you. ***
The book doesn't really get any better from there. We follow the lives of two siblings - Peter and Stasi, who both seem to be experiencing some sort of mid-life crisis as they wander through life aimlessly searching for purpose and meaning. There's no plot as the 'story' focuses on the two characters' sad, mundane, and boring lives. There wasn't any real conclusion to the 'story' either.
*** #13 of my 2023 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge - Read an author local to you. ***
January 29, 2024
Dunic is a lovely writer and the overall reader experience of this book was fine, but I’m not sure I got much out of it in the greater sense.
It’s essentially a character study and the characters are well-rendered, but they’re not especially engaging or unique, which leaves the lingering question of what, if anything, this book is trying to say.
This is a dual POV book and both protagonists feel relatively worthy of our attention, but the book never really gets anywhere or says anything much beyond what we’ve heard dozens of times before from similar stories. I suppose I picked up some interesting tidbits about playing the trumpet, but other than that it’s the same New Adult inner monologue New Yorker novel that shows up over and over again.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
It’s essentially a character study and the characters are well-rendered, but they’re not especially engaging or unique, which leaves the lingering question of what, if anything, this book is trying to say.
This is a dual POV book and both protagonists feel relatively worthy of our attention, but the book never really gets anywhere or says anything much beyond what we’ve heard dozens of times before from similar stories. I suppose I picked up some interesting tidbits about playing the trumpet, but other than that it’s the same New Adult inner monologue New Yorker novel that shows up over and over again.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
October 4, 2023
Ohh... so beautifully written. Almost every page had at least one line I wanted to underline or place an asterisk next to, but I didn’t, because I wanted to simply focus on reading without interruption. It’s a difficult book to put down.
I found the similarities and contrast between the two siblings (who take turns narrating the novel) quite interesting. There is Peter, who’s a loner and lives what could be considered by some to be a meaningless and mundane life, and his older sister Stasi, a career-first woman with a lover, husband and young daughter. Both siblings have rich inner worlds, viewing the external world with spectacular detail and astute observations. The narrative is littered with their vivid reflections, so many of them spot-on, some of them enough to make you ache, and even more just so wonderfully refreshing. One of the many I loved: “Pretty much everybody, I was everybody. Not quite sad but going home as unimportant as a Tuesday afternoon.” Or another with Peter on the bus, looking at people, feeling something akin to joy at seeing an old woman wearing red rubber boots. Little moments, snippets, that bring so much to this novel.
Now, on to the siblings… the two main characters…
When I first met Peter, I initially rooted against him (only for the first three pages!!). He was vulnerable, and it made me uncomfortable; the opening scene is so personal, Peter, fixing his tie, wanting something… and as a reader, you’re forced to question his ability to get it. Like, “Is this guy overcompensating? It seems like he is. Nah, he ain’t getting this audition… is he?? He might. He could...”
As he takes public transit to get to the audition, the reader has no other choice but to step in his shoes and go along for the ride. Thus, I warmed up to him very quickly. He’s so human. And in many ways, so much like me. I found myself standing in his place, before, during and after his trumpet audition, having felt and experienced the exact same emotions of anxiety and then reckless relief he described. It was immaculately portrayed – I mean, something so simple, and yet it was utterly perfect. It was well past my bedtime, but I kept reading for another 60 pages before my eyes finally gave out. Thanks, Peter.
Throughout the novel Peter just does his thing and doesn’t expect anything from anyone else. This sort of character could easily come across as severe or arrogant, but Peter is anything but. I found him to be kind. Gentle. Harmless. Outsiders might easily consider him to be someone who is lost (living alone, working in a kitchen in his mid-to-late 30s, no true friends, no real hobbies, etc.), but I felt like Peter was very much “found”. He knew where he was at, he didn’t want much. He didn’t need much. He was in control (at least intellectually and emotionally) of his life. He didn’t resent his station; it simply was what it was and he had this real acceptance of that. I felt a pure sort of contentedness when reading Peter’s chapters. I really liked the guy. And I liked it that others liked him too. Especially that salty curmudgeon Stu.
Stasi was a little more difficult to like as a person, even though I did enjoy her chapters. She was full of flaws, as we all are, but even though she’s gifted with a sharp perception of the external world, she seems to lack the same clarity of self her brother possesses. Yet, she’s the one society would label a success, even though I found her to be an emotional mess (without being overly emotional or dramatic, as impossible as that seems). Maybe it was just me, but I felt that almost all of her descriptions about herself and the people in her life were a complete contradiction: she talks about her safe, lovely husband whom she adores and who’s come from such a good family that his forehead lacks creases… and yet she shamelessly cheats on him, and I never once suspected she felt an ounce of remorse for doing it. She reflects more about her lover than she does her husband, even though she hides important events in her life from this lover, assuming their entire relationship is about sex. By the time we actually meet him, I thought, “Wait, he’s not such a bad guy.” I felt like she’d misled us (the readers), though unintentionally, due to her complete lack of self-awareness. Regarding this lacking, for example, at one point she laments how she isn’t like other people, yet fails to understand that this might be the precise reason why she did not get the promotion she so craved. Additionally, she describes her family (husband and daughter) as being the centre of her world, yet spends remarkably little time even thinking about them, let alone being physically present. The one scene with her daughter made me feel there was a deep chasm somewhere within their bond… these two people were not at all close. Stasi doesn’t let anyone get close, even those she claims to love. Maybe I’m all wrong here… but I felt like Stasi didn’t know herself at all.
When I reflect back on it, after a few weeks’ time, it seems to me as if Peter knew himself but didn’t really understand the world, while Stasi understood the world but not herself. This inability to reconcile these two things, for each sibling, helps breed the powerful sense of loneliness that permeates the entire novel…
I found the similarities and contrast between the two siblings (who take turns narrating the novel) quite interesting. There is Peter, who’s a loner and lives what could be considered by some to be a meaningless and mundane life, and his older sister Stasi, a career-first woman with a lover, husband and young daughter. Both siblings have rich inner worlds, viewing the external world with spectacular detail and astute observations. The narrative is littered with their vivid reflections, so many of them spot-on, some of them enough to make you ache, and even more just so wonderfully refreshing. One of the many I loved: “Pretty much everybody, I was everybody. Not quite sad but going home as unimportant as a Tuesday afternoon.” Or another with Peter on the bus, looking at people, feeling something akin to joy at seeing an old woman wearing red rubber boots. Little moments, snippets, that bring so much to this novel.
Now, on to the siblings… the two main characters…
When I first met Peter, I initially rooted against him (only for the first three pages!!). He was vulnerable, and it made me uncomfortable; the opening scene is so personal, Peter, fixing his tie, wanting something… and as a reader, you’re forced to question his ability to get it. Like, “Is this guy overcompensating? It seems like he is. Nah, he ain’t getting this audition… is he?? He might. He could...”
As he takes public transit to get to the audition, the reader has no other choice but to step in his shoes and go along for the ride. Thus, I warmed up to him very quickly. He’s so human. And in many ways, so much like me. I found myself standing in his place, before, during and after his trumpet audition, having felt and experienced the exact same emotions of anxiety and then reckless relief he described. It was immaculately portrayed – I mean, something so simple, and yet it was utterly perfect. It was well past my bedtime, but I kept reading for another 60 pages before my eyes finally gave out. Thanks, Peter.
Throughout the novel Peter just does his thing and doesn’t expect anything from anyone else. This sort of character could easily come across as severe or arrogant, but Peter is anything but. I found him to be kind. Gentle. Harmless. Outsiders might easily consider him to be someone who is lost (living alone, working in a kitchen in his mid-to-late 30s, no true friends, no real hobbies, etc.), but I felt like Peter was very much “found”. He knew where he was at, he didn’t want much. He didn’t need much. He was in control (at least intellectually and emotionally) of his life. He didn’t resent his station; it simply was what it was and he had this real acceptance of that. I felt a pure sort of contentedness when reading Peter’s chapters. I really liked the guy. And I liked it that others liked him too. Especially that salty curmudgeon Stu.
Stasi was a little more difficult to like as a person, even though I did enjoy her chapters. She was full of flaws, as we all are, but even though she’s gifted with a sharp perception of the external world, she seems to lack the same clarity of self her brother possesses. Yet, she’s the one society would label a success, even though I found her to be an emotional mess (without being overly emotional or dramatic, as impossible as that seems). Maybe it was just me, but I felt that almost all of her descriptions about herself and the people in her life were a complete contradiction: she talks about her safe, lovely husband whom she adores and who’s come from such a good family that his forehead lacks creases… and yet she shamelessly cheats on him, and I never once suspected she felt an ounce of remorse for doing it. She reflects more about her lover than she does her husband, even though she hides important events in her life from this lover, assuming their entire relationship is about sex. By the time we actually meet him, I thought, “Wait, he’s not such a bad guy.” I felt like she’d misled us (the readers), though unintentionally, due to her complete lack of self-awareness. Regarding this lacking, for example, at one point she laments how she isn’t like other people, yet fails to understand that this might be the precise reason why she did not get the promotion she so craved. Additionally, she describes her family (husband and daughter) as being the centre of her world, yet spends remarkably little time even thinking about them, let alone being physically present. The one scene with her daughter made me feel there was a deep chasm somewhere within their bond… these two people were not at all close. Stasi doesn’t let anyone get close, even those she claims to love. Maybe I’m all wrong here… but I felt like Stasi didn’t know herself at all.
When I reflect back on it, after a few weeks’ time, it seems to me as if Peter knew himself but didn’t really understand the world, while Stasi understood the world but not herself. This inability to reconcile these two things, for each sibling, helps breed the powerful sense of loneliness that permeates the entire novel…
January 21, 2024
The Clarion
by Nina Dunic
The Clarion is a literary fictional chronicle of a short period in the life of two self-absorbed siblings. Peter is trying to break into the world as a professional trumpet player, while his sister Stasi is trying to climb the corporate ladder and struggling. The Clarion is written by award-winning short story author Nina Dunic.
The story opens with Peter as he’s preparing for an audition to play his trumpet in a local restaurant. He’s quite nervous, and he uses a number of techniques to try and calm himself down so that when he gets to the audition he will look very confident on the stage. His audition leads to other opportunities. Peter’s day job is as a short order cook in a restaurant and he is good at it. This is the job he uses quite often to support himself but he doesn’t think of it as his profession. Will he be successful at becoming a professional musician, and the question is does he really want to? Peter’s sister Stasi has a husband and a child whom she loves, but she also has a lover on the side for a reason I don’t understand. However, the most important thing for her is climbing the corporate ladder. This is hampered when another company buys her company out.
I believe the author does an excellent job of sketching her two main characters, but I find them both irritating. Only the author knows if this is what she is trying to achieve. Peter always finds some reason for his failed auditions. He has a hard time identifying why until he receives some honest feedback. Stasi also seems quite self-absorbed thinking the world is at her beck and call. She loves her husband and daughter but that isn’t enough. She is not happy with her job and even her lover doesn’t meet her needs. She quits going to her therapist because she knows what he will suggest something she doesn’t like and she doesn’t want to do it.
Dunic is very good and painting a picture of the emotions in the moment. There is the point when Peter discovers what is holding him back and the clarity of the moment is incredibly well described. The point at which Peter recovers his grandfather’s lost trumpet is also a highlight.
The story isn’t enough to keep me interested and this is likely because I don’t like the main characters. Some of the characters Peter works with are very interesting but they can’t carry the story. I realise that this book has been nominated for many awards so I may have missed something.
This book is meant for people who like character analysis. The story is not fascinating but Dunic had great writing technique re: her characters. I give it a 3 on 5.
by Nina Dunic
The Clarion is a literary fictional chronicle of a short period in the life of two self-absorbed siblings. Peter is trying to break into the world as a professional trumpet player, while his sister Stasi is trying to climb the corporate ladder and struggling. The Clarion is written by award-winning short story author Nina Dunic.
The story opens with Peter as he’s preparing for an audition to play his trumpet in a local restaurant. He’s quite nervous, and he uses a number of techniques to try and calm himself down so that when he gets to the audition he will look very confident on the stage. His audition leads to other opportunities. Peter’s day job is as a short order cook in a restaurant and he is good at it. This is the job he uses quite often to support himself but he doesn’t think of it as his profession. Will he be successful at becoming a professional musician, and the question is does he really want to? Peter’s sister Stasi has a husband and a child whom she loves, but she also has a lover on the side for a reason I don’t understand. However, the most important thing for her is climbing the corporate ladder. This is hampered when another company buys her company out.
I believe the author does an excellent job of sketching her two main characters, but I find them both irritating. Only the author knows if this is what she is trying to achieve. Peter always finds some reason for his failed auditions. He has a hard time identifying why until he receives some honest feedback. Stasi also seems quite self-absorbed thinking the world is at her beck and call. She loves her husband and daughter but that isn’t enough. She is not happy with her job and even her lover doesn’t meet her needs. She quits going to her therapist because she knows what he will suggest something she doesn’t like and she doesn’t want to do it.
Dunic is very good and painting a picture of the emotions in the moment. There is the point when Peter discovers what is holding him back and the clarity of the moment is incredibly well described. The point at which Peter recovers his grandfather’s lost trumpet is also a highlight.
The story isn’t enough to keep me interested and this is likely because I don’t like the main characters. Some of the characters Peter works with are very interesting but they can’t carry the story. I realise that this book has been nominated for many awards so I may have missed something.
This book is meant for people who like character analysis. The story is not fascinating but Dunic had great writing technique re: her characters. I give it a 3 on 5.
June 20, 2024
I really enjoyed this small look at the lives of two Millennial siblings in Toronto. The chapters flip back and forth between Peter, the aimless mid-30s brother, a shy, lonely, aimless trumpet player and Stasi (Anastasia), his early-40s married-with-a-kid sister.
Dunic writes the way that I think, noticing the minutiae of daily life as we amble through it. In Peter, the lonely optimist whose comfort derives from understanding he’s but a minor character in the play, we get the earnest longing for human connection, the daily attempts to find meaning in the chaos and randomness of our lives. I recognize a lot of my mid-20s self in Peter, though he’s stuck in that rut well beyond that, largely because he finds joy in the brief moments of euphoria between the daily monotony.
Stasi is the more interesting and elusive of the two characters, an A-type whose decision to have an affair is handled deftly and believably through a first-person narrator who identifies her own flaws and limitations even before we can.
Dunic writes incisively about human contradictions, about how we can all be protective and sensitive while also yearning for someone else to rip us out of that dynamic. How small moments make a life worth living, and how sometimes there’s beauty in the cold barrenness of a November day in Toronto.
I love how Dunic makes Toronto both an evocative location for small actions — a woman running out in her bare feet to ask Peter to help her open a tight tomato jar lid — that have profound internal impacts on our characters; and as a backdrop for the characters’ interiority, a mechanism by which these flawed characters move from scene to scene.
I feel like this one will stay with me for a long time. 4.5 stars.
Dunic writes the way that I think, noticing the minutiae of daily life as we amble through it. In Peter, the lonely optimist whose comfort derives from understanding he’s but a minor character in the play, we get the earnest longing for human connection, the daily attempts to find meaning in the chaos and randomness of our lives. I recognize a lot of my mid-20s self in Peter, though he’s stuck in that rut well beyond that, largely because he finds joy in the brief moments of euphoria between the daily monotony.
Stasi is the more interesting and elusive of the two characters, an A-type whose decision to have an affair is handled deftly and believably through a first-person narrator who identifies her own flaws and limitations even before we can.
Dunic writes incisively about human contradictions, about how we can all be protective and sensitive while also yearning for someone else to rip us out of that dynamic. How small moments make a life worth living, and how sometimes there’s beauty in the cold barrenness of a November day in Toronto.
I love how Dunic makes Toronto both an evocative location for small actions — a woman running out in her bare feet to ask Peter to help her open a tight tomato jar lid — that have profound internal impacts on our characters; and as a backdrop for the characters’ interiority, a mechanism by which these flawed characters move from scene to scene.
I feel like this one will stay with me for a long time. 4.5 stars.
January 15, 2024
Stasi is a 40 year old trying to deal with the fact that she did not get the promotion she wanted at work. Meanwhile her brother Peter lives life a bit aimlessly. I could write more if this book actually had a plot, but it is basically a reflection on two different ways of growing up. There's no conflict, no resolution. It's just a lot of thinking about being a 40 year old woman with a daughter and being a 30ish something man with no career plan or anything in his life. The book is told from two different view points and I think the only point where they intersect -at lunch - is the most interesting one since we can see that the things that they took from the lunch are totally different.
There are certain moments in this book that are inspired in terms of writing - hence, the 3 stars - but some other parts are just pointless (e.g., she describes showering her lover. Why?).
I would recommend this book for people who like to think about what's the point of life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy is exchange for my honest review.
There are certain moments in this book that are inspired in terms of writing - hence, the 3 stars - but some other parts are just pointless (e.g., she describes showering her lover. Why?).
I would recommend this book for people who like to think about what's the point of life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy is exchange for my honest review.
June 10, 2024
This first novel for a talented and award-winning short story writer is quite remarkable in its fluid lyrical style, the seemingly ordinary daily lives of two siblings, Peter and Stasi highlighted as they navigate through dramas: Peter's audition (yet another one) for a trumpet gig, Stasi's being looked over for the VP job at her work. It is the author's keen eye to detail, setting, inner feelings, longings and rantings that mark this book as something more, bigger than a short story, well-fleshed out characters even if they come across as a bit shallow: it is who they are. They've not had a 'call', like many, they want something more, something bigger, a connection. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dunic is up for a Trillium award for this first novel. A solid distinction for an emerging author. Well-done.
Dunic is up for a Trillium award for this first novel. A solid distinction for an emerging author. Well-done.
April 14, 2025
Nina Dunic writes beautiful prose. Clearly, she is a talented writer, but "The Clarion," which I forced myself to finish, was (for me) a total bore! I loved the premise, as books about siblings, musicians, families, and finding oneself, are often interesting and engaging. Not this time. My only regret is not giving up on it after the first hour of the audiobook, but I kept going since it was under 7 hours, which meant I could suffer through it and be done without giving up many days of my life. It was well read by the audiobook narrators. That is about all I can say about it that is positive. I gave it 2 stars because structurally and grammatically it was perfect. A writer created it, and a publisher published it, so unless the writing is totally dismal, I cannot give a book fewer than 2 stars for effort, if nothing else.
April 1, 2024
Gorgeous writing. Long-listed for the Giller Prize. Exquisite character development, but it may be annoying for people who want more plot. It is a glimpse into the life of two siblings, a brother (Peter) who is trumpet player and works in a kitchen, and a sister who is living a double life - with her husband and child and with another man. The siblings recently lost their mother, who lived with agoraphobia. A bit melancholic, about looking for meaning in life. The title of the book refers to a running theme involving the clarion call of a heritage trumpet and an encounter with a world war one veteran who played trumpet during the war. Peter reflects that he was never called to war; never called to anything outside of his life of solitude.
December 15, 2023
A slice-of life litfic with lovely prose and not much plot.
Premise - a pair of siblings, struggling musicians, bumble through their lives in a fog of apathy.
A minimalist plot can be a feature rather than a flaw if the characters and their lives are compelling enough that I want to inhabit their world for a bit. I didn’t connect to either character, unfortunately, and just felt kind of down and bored reading this. That said, the quality of the prose is strong and I’m sure others will enjoy it.
Thanks, NetGalley and Invisible Publishing, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Premise - a pair of siblings, struggling musicians, bumble through their lives in a fog of apathy.
A minimalist plot can be a feature rather than a flaw if the characters and their lives are compelling enough that I want to inhabit their world for a bit. I didn’t connect to either character, unfortunately, and just felt kind of down and bored reading this. That said, the quality of the prose is strong and I’m sure others will enjoy it.
Thanks, NetGalley and Invisible Publishing, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 7, 2024
Dunic offers a deeply sensitive and thoughtful examination of the mundane in our routines and the highs and vices we seek and establish as its counterweight. I found myself in awe of the mirror this afforded me to me own highly sensitive habits, choices and reflections. In this world we notice it all and understand the significance of silent strangers, unifying events and loneliness as spurs to action. You will find yourself immersed in the rich inner lives of a set of siblings that overlap in their interiorized tendencies, but understand the world around them through markedly different lenses. It's a beautiful read and a study in what fills the space when we allow to be there.
March 4, 2024
Peter has an audition to play trumpet at a nice restaurant. If he gets the gig it will be a nice change from his job in the kitchen of another restaurant. He lives a lonely life. His sister Stasi (Anastasia) seems to be successfully hiding her affair from her husband. She has just started to see a psychiatrist and she’s smoking again. Nicely written. I kept reading to find out what’s going to happen next. Spoiler: nothing. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I like it when a book has a plot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2025
One of those quiet, ruminative reads that takes a seemingly simple little slice-of-life story about two ordinary, flawed characters and turns it into a sneakily poignant study of what it means to be just that—ordinary and flawed. The Clarion doesn’t reach out and grab you by the collar with plot turns; instead it gently chaperones you through a week in the life of Peter and Stasi—with a narrative driven by beautiful, empathetic writing full of lived-in details that feel too real to be fiction—and lets the soft sadness of their lives slowly take hold of you.
March 6, 2025
The Clarion is one of my fav books. Nina masterfully crafted a story told from 2 POVs. The characters' voices are so unique that the reader is able to tell whose POV it is (which is important since the chapters do not explicitly tell you from whose POV you're reading). The timelines of each character's story (one moves day to day while the other moves month to month) mash well together. The story itself is beautiful, but it's worth getting the book just to see the amazing writing craft!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews