Orfeo - Richard Powers

[Esther]

Are you planning to read Orfeo?

[Trudie]

Purely by chance I had just finished this one as the longlist was announced. It is a bit of a ride for sure - hard going I think, especially if you are not terribly musically inclined but wow the boy can write. I was mesmerised by some of the passages in this. So I guess for me it was admired for it's ambition and writing but I didn't fall warmly in love with it.
Really interested in other people's opinions particularly if your coming at as say a music or composition student ...

[Lee]

I really liked this book. That said, although I was not a music major, I do play guitar and piano, am the mother of two All State Band kids and am enough of a nerd to listen to Mahler, Mozart's Jupiter and other works mentioned in the book while knocking out spreadsheets at the office. I also formerly lived in Champaign-Urbana, where parts of this book take place.

Do you need to have a music background to appreciate this book? Not necessarily, but it probably helps!