Tuesday
Sep132011
Can The Bird And The Fish Ever Fall In Love?
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at 4:34PM
Yes, but where will they build their nest?
I'm not getting all philosophical on you, it was a question posed in a book I just read. One of the best books I've ever read in fact. And it has nothing to do with inter species breeding, or animals in the wild. It's about a lot of things, but birds and fish don't have a role to play.
Music: Yes. Physics: Yes. Politics: Yes. These are all important parts of the book, but they remain parts. The overarching theme is whether race trumps everything, or whether love, and family, can overcome the constraints of the colour of someone's skin.
The book is called The Time Of Our Singing, by Richard Powers, and is a tale of epic proportions. It spans three generations of the Strom family, from 1939 to 1995, in the United States. The narrator, Joseph, is the son of a mixed race couple; she is from a Baptist family in Philadelphia, he is a German Jewish immigrant. They fall in love at the Marion Anderson concert, in Washington, and their lives spiral outwards from there.
They are united by their love of music, music of all kinds, and this musical thread winds throughout the book, as with incredible skill, the author makes you hear the music coming out of the pages. His descriptions of sounds, beats, and voices are just phenomenal, and his knowledge of all genres is fantastic. This is not a book you can just sit down and scribble out. It's been painstakingly researched, as all the physics descriptions attest to, and is a true labour of love.
I've never read such an eloquent, verbose book before. On many occasions, the descriptions of people, of places, do not just serve the story; they are the story. As I've said, the book is about race and colour. It isn't just black and white though, as the author's descriptive ability shines when describing the skin colour of some of the protagonists. Imagining these characters is extremely easy with Powers' words.
The story itself is easy to imagine, following Joseph as he devotes himself, and his piano playing skill to the services of his older brother Jonah, who has a voice like no other. Jonah is very fair, almost white, and tries in vain to assimilate himself into highbrow white European culture. Yet he remains just "one of the finest Negro singers around". Ruth, the boys younger sister meanwhile, devotes her talents to the Black Panthers. Joseph remains stranded between the two. Everything that happens to the characters is set to a backdrop of race relations in the US during the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.
Historically, a lot happened during this period, which perhaps explains why the book is over 600 pages long. It was the historical and political nature of the book which drew me to it in the first place, but they merely remain in the background, anchoring the story firmly in reality. It's the personal relationships which drive the book, and make the story so enthralling.
And, so relevant today. With the ten year anniversary of 9/11 fresh in my mind, the book offers an incredible window on tolerance, differences, and human nature. We all ought to remember the importance of tolerance, and should judge people on their actions, not on their looks.
Civil Rights have long been a passion of mine, and I focused my studies at university on the Civil Rights Movement in the US. This book showcases the Civil Rights Movement in a way no text book ever could. It's not a fast read, not a trashy, throwaway novel. The descriptions are paramount to the story, and should be savoured. But it is a truly incredible read, and I heartily recommend it to anyone.
P.S. It's my ambition to one day write, and narrate, a Civil Rights documentary series, in true BBC/PBS style. I once even mapped it out, episode by episode. Hopefully one day, I'll have the resources to make it a reality, perhaps even in time for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, in 2017.
I'm not getting all philosophical on you, it was a question posed in a book I just read. One of the best books I've ever read in fact. And it has nothing to do with inter species breeding, or animals in the wild. It's about a lot of things, but birds and fish don't have a role to play.
Music: Yes. Physics: Yes. Politics: Yes. These are all important parts of the book, but they remain parts. The overarching theme is whether race trumps everything, or whether love, and family, can overcome the constraints of the colour of someone's skin.
The book is called The Time Of Our Singing, by Richard Powers, and is a tale of epic proportions. It spans three generations of the Strom family, from 1939 to 1995, in the United States. The narrator, Joseph, is the son of a mixed race couple; she is from a Baptist family in Philadelphia, he is a German Jewish immigrant. They fall in love at the Marion Anderson concert, in Washington, and their lives spiral outwards from there.
They are united by their love of music, music of all kinds, and this musical thread winds throughout the book, as with incredible skill, the author makes you hear the music coming out of the pages. His descriptions of sounds, beats, and voices are just phenomenal, and his knowledge of all genres is fantastic. This is not a book you can just sit down and scribble out. It's been painstakingly researched, as all the physics descriptions attest to, and is a true labour of love.
I've never read such an eloquent, verbose book before. On many occasions, the descriptions of people, of places, do not just serve the story; they are the story. As I've said, the book is about race and colour. It isn't just black and white though, as the author's descriptive ability shines when describing the skin colour of some of the protagonists. Imagining these characters is extremely easy with Powers' words.
The story itself is easy to imagine, following Joseph as he devotes himself, and his piano playing skill to the services of his older brother Jonah, who has a voice like no other. Jonah is very fair, almost white, and tries in vain to assimilate himself into highbrow white European culture. Yet he remains just "one of the finest Negro singers around". Ruth, the boys younger sister meanwhile, devotes her talents to the Black Panthers. Joseph remains stranded between the two. Everything that happens to the characters is set to a backdrop of race relations in the US during the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.
Historically, a lot happened during this period, which perhaps explains why the book is over 600 pages long. It was the historical and political nature of the book which drew me to it in the first place, but they merely remain in the background, anchoring the story firmly in reality. It's the personal relationships which drive the book, and make the story so enthralling.
And, so relevant today. With the ten year anniversary of 9/11 fresh in my mind, the book offers an incredible window on tolerance, differences, and human nature. We all ought to remember the importance of tolerance, and should judge people on their actions, not on their looks.
Civil Rights have long been a passion of mine, and I focused my studies at university on the Civil Rights Movement in the US. This book showcases the Civil Rights Movement in a way no text book ever could. It's not a fast read, not a trashy, throwaway novel. The descriptions are paramount to the story, and should be savoured. But it is a truly incredible read, and I heartily recommend it to anyone.
P.S. It's my ambition to one day write, and narrate, a Civil Rights documentary series, in true BBC/PBS style. I once even mapped it out, episode by episode. Hopefully one day, I'll have the resources to make it a reality, perhaps even in time for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination, in 2017.
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