The Noise of Time (2016) by Julian Barnes (December 2019)

[Judy]

Clare wrote: "To the outside world, he was seen as a fairly loyal Soviet citizen. That began to change with the publication of Testimony: The Memoirs in 1979...."

Thanks for posting about Shostakovich's real life and these (initially) disputed memoirs, Clare - that's very interesting. I don't know very much at all about his life, so am interested to hear that the memoir does show the strain of living under totalitarianism, which comes across in the novel so strongly.

[Judy]

Nigeyb and Susan, I think he also finds it hard to live with himself when he starts to realise later on that he only led a charmed life because individuals in "power" were protecting him - I think there is a suggestion that at one stage this was Stalin himself?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Susan wrote: " even to those who were not technically called, 'victims.'"

It seems to me there were none - no one - who weren't victims. This is how I was raised to believe, that all under communism are victims, even those in power who 'serve' only at the whim of others, as Power is fluid.

[Joy D]

Just finished this book and really enjoyed it. I had known a bit about Shostakovich from my earlier years in studying music and also have read a bit about Russia under Stalin, so I am a good audience for this book. I especially liked it as an example of how tyranny reduces artistic creativity in a society. It is hard enough to create music without having to worry how it will be perceived by the state, and what might happen if it doesn’t please the despot in charge.

I thought putting this out as a work of fiction enabled Barnes to show a sense of Shostakovich’s inner turmoil, the battle between courage and cowardice, integrity vs. security. It took a toll on both Shostakovich's health and his conscience. One can only wonder what musical works Shostakovich may have produced in a more open and accepting environment.

I think Barnes is a good fit for me as a reader and plan to read more of his work. I read The Sense of An Ending earlier this year and enjoyed it as well.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Joy D wrote: "I think Barnes is a good fit for me as a reader and plan to read more of his work. I read The Sense of An Ending earlier this year and enjoyed it as well."

Interesting, because I have enjoyed Barnes as well. But I didn't care for this and the one you mention. I gave 5-stars to his Arthur & George, Flaubert's Parrot, and Nothing to Be Frightened of, and 4-stars to Pulse. I have more on my wish list and hope to actually find myself in front of them.

[Susan]

Good to hear you enjoyed this, Joy. I have also read this and The Sense of an Ending (also, the only two of his novels I have read so far) and enjoyed them. I would like to read more by him and thought his new title, The Man in the Red Coat looks interesting.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Joy - that was fascinating and very well expressed. I particularly appreciated this bit...

Joy D wrote: "I thought putting this out as a work of fiction enabled Barnes to show a sense of Shostakovich’s inner turmoil, the battle between courage and cowardice, integrity vs. security. It took a toll on both Shostakovich's health and his conscience. One can only wonder what musical works Shostakovich may have produced in a more open and accepting environment"

I agree with all of that.

Thanks again.

I'm glad you enjoyed the book

[Judy]

Yes, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this, Joy. I think you really get to the heart of the book with your comments.

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote: "I have also read this and The Sense of an Ending (also, the only two of his novels I have read so far) and enjoyed them

Me too Susan

I also really enjoyed The Sense of an Ending

[Judy]

I think the only others of his I have read are Arthur and George, which I also liked, and, many years ago, A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, which I don't remember now in any detail. I must read more by him.

[Hugh]

I think I have read all of Barnes' novels and most of the short stories. A couple of favourites not mentioned here yet: Metroland and Talking It Over/Love, Etc..

He is capable of writing in many different styles about many different subjects, which means that every new book has an element of surprise.

[Pamela]

I have only read this one and The Sense of an Ending (which I didn't like much). I enjoyed this one much more, it was more engaging.

I found lots to think about, a passage that particularly struck me was when Shostakovich was musing that no one outside the USSR understood what it was really like to live through it and made assumptions about how those inside should behave. He was quite harsh on those in the West who visited Russia and accepted what they were told at face value without challenging it, then became apologists for the regime. I think he singled out George Bernard Shaw?

I'm not sure Barnes will ever be a favourite for me, I don't get on too well with that choppy style that's full of vague hints and allusions, I would like to read Arthur & George though.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Pamela wrote: "He was quite harsh on those in the West who visited Russia and accepted what they were told at face value without challenging it"

My brother-in-law was a Russian translator. In the mid-70s, he, with his father and a large group, visited Russia. I don't recall any specifics about inside Russia, just that they were allowed to go and see where and what the State decided was permissible. I do remember his telling of his arrival and departure.

As a translator (not interpreter), he had friends inside Russia. When he arrived at Customs, he had the Russian equivalent of Playboy, and a banned book which he planned to give to one of those friends. The customs officials spent quite some time leafing through the "Playboy", laughing, joking, pointing. They didn't quite know what to do with the banned book. They felt they couldn't confiscate it, because then they would have it in their own possession and that would be problematic at best. In the end, they let him through with it. But Brand knew his phone was tapped the entire time he was there. He could hear the click. He decided not to make contact with his friend and brought the book home.

After the trip, when the airplane arrived in the West, the plane flew past a Coca-Cola sign. Many on the plane raised their voices to say "thank God for Coca-Cola." My brother-in-law thought there was no way he'd thank God or anyone else for "pernicious" Coca-Cola, but he was extremely glad to be out of the Soviet Union. My brother-in-law was quite liberal and I think might have had some sympathies before his visit, but the visit cured him.

[Pamela]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "My brother-in-law was a Russian translator. In the mid-70's, he, with his father and a large group, visited Russia ..."

That's a really interesting story, Elizabeth, thanks for sharing it. It sheds more light on how restricted and controlled these encounters between Russia and the West were. A University friend who studied Russian told me something similar when she visited Russia in the 80s.

[Joy D]

Nigeyb, I am no expert in formalism, but I think Stalin was intent on making sure Soviet artists conformed to "realism." He wanted composers to emphasize "realistic" art that glorifies communist values, such as the worker's struggles or the emancipation of the proletariat. By not doing so, Shostakovich would have been seen as a rebel, and of course, that was not a good thing to be at the time.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Joy - that's very helpful

[Nigeyb]

Pamela wrote: "I have only read this one and The Sense of an Ending (which I didn't like much). I enjoyed this one much more, it was more engaging."

That's interesting Pamela.

I like both books and probably marginally preferred The Sense of an Ending - although I can appreciate it's not going to be to everyone's taste.

[Brian E]

i thought this was an interesting story. I enjoyed the style and the insights into the life of Russian artists in the Soviet state during the Stalin and Nikita K regimes. I enjoyed the references to Stravinsky, Prokoviev and to authors. I am a sucker for novels with real life artists as characters. This book inspired me to read a bit more about Romain Rolland's admiration of Stalin.
I did prefer The Sense of an Ending, perhaps because I could identify more with the events and people in that novel. I am still pondering about rating this one 3 or 4 stars.

I used to listen to classical music on my public radio station, especially while reading, and usually found myself not enjoying the Shostakovich pieces that were played. However, for a few years my wife and I had season tickets to a chamber symphony orchestra and I found that, while my reading favorites were often a bore in concert, the Shostakovich pieces were some of the most intriguing and riveting pieces. I learned what should have been obvious: the best classical music to read to is not the best to hear in concert - and vice versa.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Brian - that was an interesting read. I look forward to your final decision regarding your rating. Like you, I enjoy novels about real people.

[Val]

At the back of October: The Story of the Russian Revolution there is a list of the significant characters, with affiliations and brief roles. Most of the Bolsheviks and Marxists were executed under Stalin or died in labour camps around 1938, which demonstrates the earlier period Shostakovich was living through quite chillingly.

[Nigeyb]

Yes indeed. Stalin was a ruthless tyrant.

[Val]

It was more the year I was drawing attention to Nigey. He was tyrannical towards people he considered enemies of the regime before that, but this was when he had consolidated his personal power enough to get rid of people who were involved in bringing about the revolution in the first place and formed the government, many of whom would have been household names in the USSR.

[Nigeyb]

Ah. Right. Gotcha. Thanks Val.


So this was the same time he had the Red Army purge?

I seem to recall around 30,000 army leaders were booted out with thousands arrested and many executed. Hardly the most obvious thing to do whilst Nazi Germany was in such expansionist mood.

To what extent was a he insane? I realise I've never read a biography of Stalin, and after loving Hitler by Ian Kershaw a few weeks back, I think I should probably put that right.

Has anyone read one that they found especially compelling and readable? If so, please post back.

[Val]

The Red Army purge was the previous year, 1937.
According to one of his doctors, he had a degenerative brain disorder, but it is also possible that Kruschev wanted to portray him as insane and the doctor went along with it.

[Val]

I thought I might have read about it a few years ago, but it was 2011.

Two newspaper reports about the content of the doctor's diaries:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...

[Nigeyb]

Great stuff. Thanks Val.

[Nigeyb]

"Stalin may have lost his sense of good and bad, healthy and dangerous, permissible and impermissible, friend and enemy. Character traits can become exaggerated, so that a suspicious person becomes paranoid," the doctor wrote

Sounds plausible 💡

[Nigeyb]

Nigeyb wrote: "Has anyone read a biography of Stalin that they found especially compelling and readable? If so, please post back."

Actually, please post on this thread....

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've been doing some research which I'll share over on this dedicated Joseph Stalin thread

[Clare]

I finished this book today and loved it. I can’t remember who nominated it, but thank you.

I think the structure worked really well. Take three points in Shostakovich’s life and use those as a starting point for wider reflections on his life, music and the times in which he lived. The book is fairly short and yet Barnes packs in so much.

It was interesting to read this just after October: The Story of the Russian Revolution and Life and Fate. I liked the description of the Russian Revolution as an ‘optimistic tragedy’. And there were so many parallels between Grossman and his characters (particularly Viktor Shtrum) and Shostakovich: the fear, the arbitrary nature of power, the thought that in such a regime death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you.

The way the book was written reminded me a little of the Hilary Mantel Cromwell novels. Perhaps it was the use of ‘he’, rather than his name, to denote the main character, the sense that you are listening to a character’s thoughts without first person narration, also the fact that this is a historical person whose true thoughts we do not, and cannot, really know.

[Nigeyb]

Clare wrote: "I finished this book today and loved it. I can’t remember who nominated it, but thank you."

It was Susan who nominated it....

Susan wrote: "I will nominate:

The Noise of Time

It is fairly short, which is often useful in group reads, and one of the few fictional books I have read, set in this period (most have been non-fiction).

In May 1937 a man in his early thirties waits by the lift of a Leningrad apartment block. He waits all through the night, expecting to be taken away to the Big House. Any celebrity he has known in the previous decade is no use to him now. And few who are taken to the Big House ever return."

[Nigeyb]

Clare wrote: "I think the structure worked really well. Take three points in Shostakovich’s life and use those as a starting point for wider reflections on his life, music and the times in which he lived. The book is fairly short and yet Barnes packs in so much."

Thanks Clare - yes, I agree that it packs a mighty punch for such a short novel


Clare wrote: "....the fear, the arbitrary nature of power, the thought that in such a regime death isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you."

Very good point Clare


Clare wrote: "The way the book was written reminded me a little of the Hilary Mantel Cromwell novels. Perhaps it was the use of ‘he’, rather than his name, to denote the main character, the sense that you are listening to a character’s thoughts without first person narration, also the fact that this is a historical person whose true thoughts we do not, and cannot, really know."

Another excellent point Clare - I hadn't considered that parallel between those books

[Clare]

Nigeyb wrote: "Clare wrote: "I finished this book today and loved it. I can’t remember who nominated it, but thank you."

It was Susan who nominated it....

Susan wrote: "I will nominate:

[book:The Noise of Time..."

Thanks, Nigeyb, for reminding me and thank you, Susan, for an excellent nomination.