Thursday, September 29, 2016

Book review: The Gustav Sonata, by Rose Tremain

Tremain’s (The American Lover, 2015) newest literary work, structured in three movements, traverses the shifting patterns of a remarkable friendship that runs deep and lifelong but isn’t always equally shared.

In 1948, Gustav Perle is a kindergartner in the undistinguished town of Matzingen, Switzerland, when he befriends Anton Zwiebel, a sensitive, musically talented classmate. Anton’s kind Jewish parents encourage their bond; however, a mystery arises when Gustav’s brittle mother, Emilie, discourages Anton’s visits to the sparsely furnished apartment where the two live.

Emilie instructs Gustav to “be like Switzerland . . . separate and strong,” and the novel affectingly explores the cost of remaining neutral in both a personal and political sense. In effect, Gustav becomes the emotional anchor for his beloved, conflicted friend, who dreams of being a concert pianist yet is held back by immense stage fright. The later sections look back to the 1930s, depicting his parents’ troubled marriage and a moral dilemma faced by Gustav’s late father, and then move ahead to the 1990s, as Gustav ponders his life choices and relationships.

An extraordinarily gifted writer, Tremain illuminates her characters’ lives with care and understated elegance. She finds great meaning in both world-changing events and smaller, quotidian moments. Though fairly short, her novel manages to capture the full range of a man’s interior life.

The Gustav Sonata was published on Tuesday by W.W. Norton in hardcover (288pp, $26.95).  This review first appeared in Booklist's August issue.  I was happy to be asked to review this one, since Tremain's Merivel was a favorite title, and I also enjoyed her earlier Music and Silence.

5 comments:

  1. I've read two of her novels, Restoration and another whose title I've forgotten, about an Englishman who is a member of an orchestra in 17th century Sweden, only it's the king's personal orchestra who are expected to play underground so he can have a sort of stereo system of music coming from under the floor. I can't recall which king it was. Anyway, I loved both books. She does great historical fiction!

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  2. Ah. That was Music And Silence, wasn't it? :) Soory, it's been years since I read it.

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    1. That's the one! :) It sat on my TBR shelf for over a decade before I got around to reading it - I ended up reading Merivel first. I still haven't gotten to Restoration, but Merivel made perfect sense on its own.

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  3. I was going to say that I have never read her before, but I have. I read Music and Silence I am pretty sure. lol Or at least had a copy kicking around at one point...

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    1. I've only read three of hers, but there are many others I hope to get to.

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