Rating: 
Summary: Schmaltz! Cliche! Gothic Potboiler!
Review: I cannot believe the slew of positive reviews this book has garnered! This book is a schmaltzy, badly-written, gothic potboiler, at best. Minimal literary merit. At least it's short. Characters were poorly developed, and the plot is predictably silly. This book would find its true audience more effectively were it to be covered in pink foil, with a picture of Fabio brandishing a violin!
Rating: 
Summary: a masterful writer
Review: I devoured this book in 2 days. Couldn't put it down. Definitely one of the best I've read this year. It's a compelling story with sharply written characters and fascinating musings (via the characters and plot) about music as passion, the nature of talent, immortality, and more. Only when you turn the final page will you realize the story Maurensig has told you. When I closed the book, I thoroughly understood that I had been in the hands of a masterful writer.
Rating: 
Summary: WELL DONE, BUT...
Review: I picked up this book with extremely high hopes. Maybe impossibly so. The story begins with the auction of a very special violin. The fact that we don't know who the buyer is or why he is so anxious to own the violin only adds to the mystery. Further complicating matters is the arrival of an unknown writer who wishes to buy the violin--for almost any price. From this writer we learn the story of Jenö Varga, a young Hungarian musician and former owner of the strange violin. At this point, Maurensig seems about to launch a fascinating story woven around an equally fascinating theme--the power of music to dominate our life and thus direct its course. When Jenö meets Kuno Blau, however, the story and its theme seem to shift gears slowly. Sadly, the musical theme, and even Jenö, seem left behind as Maurensig focuses his attention on Kuno Blau and his obsession with immortality. I wouldn't have minded this mid-story shift had the author somehow tied it more closely to the wonderful theme and story with which he began. The ending, although predictable to me, at least, still left many unaswered questions. What caused Kuno's agonizing deterioration? And what of Jenö? Did he find the secrect of immortality? And did he find it through his music or through his connections to the mysterious Gustav Blau? And what about the enigmatic Sophie Hirschbaum and her equally enigmatic father? Jenö's ties to her are never explored deeply enough to warrant the belief that he truly followed her into death. Maurensig is definitely a first-rate writer as far as his prose and ideas are concerned but his characters and their complex relationships are far too under-developed to give us the insight we need and deserve. This book tends to gloss over a fascinating theme and what could have been an equally fascinating story had it only been treated with a little more depth. I came away from Canone Inverso feeling as though I'd been offered a tantalizing appetizer and then been denied the rest of the meal.
Rating:
Summary: Canone Inverso 2?
Review: I picked up this book, because it promised an entertaining, at times mysterious story about an instrument I love. I was not disappointed. Although I am not a violinist myself, I was taken with the atmosphere of the first chapters of the book, the descriptions of wandering in Vienna and its taverns at night and listening to a great violinist, a true master who somehow wound up selling his art for pennies to customers of local pubs. Jeno, the violinist then starts to tell his story and how he became the man he is today. The atmosphere starts to disappear a bit at this point, although not completely until later in the book. The ending is sadly abrupt and leaves much room for thinking. I would love a Canone Inverso 2 that further elaborates on all the things that happened in the first book... There was a movie made in Italy from this ook and I can't wait for it to get to out theaters.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I was just looking through the other reviews, and found the one with all the questions in it by nikita128. Again, don't read this if you don't want the story to be given away...
Jeno *did* die in '47; it was Kuno as his alter ego Jeno who was telling the story - remember the reference he makes to "returning where i came from"? It's Kuno who's escaped from the funny farm. This all happens in 1986, when the visitor comes and explains his reasons for wanting to get the violin, saying that this happened to him the previous year - in 1985.
I absolutely loved this book, and although i am not a musician, i know a number, and absolutely love how Paolo Maurensig was able to convey the deep emotion and passion that a musician like Jeno puts into their work...
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: I was just looking through the other reviews, and found the one with all the questions in it by nikita128. Again, don't read this if you don't want the story to be given away...
Jeno *did* die in '47; it was Kuno as his alter ego Jeno who was telling the story - remember the reference he makes to "returning where i came from"? It's Kuno who's escaped from the funny farm. This all happens in 1986, when the visitor comes and explains his reasons for wanting to get the violin, saying that this happened to him the previous year - in 1985.
I absolutely loved this book, and although i am not a musician, i know a number, and absolutely love how Paolo Maurensig was able to convey the deep emotion and passion that a musician like Jeno puts into their work...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, excellent novel about music
Review: I've written very few reviews on Amazon only because I haven't felt that strongly about a book or CD. This one is different. It is a wonderful novel about two men and their passion for music. It reminded me of a music version of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," in its descriptions of the passion for music (as "Dorian" has passion for art.) The descriptions of music, immortality, friendship and the underlying theme of the coming of the Nazis are all very powerful. (I think kudos to the translator are appropriate.) I love books about music or art and the violin is my favorite instrument. I read it in two days, not able to put it down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe I should have figured it out, but the surprise ending was a surprise to me. If you are at all interested in classical music you must read this book. One of the best books I've read in a long time (and I've read some really good ones lately!)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, excellent novel about music
Review: I've written very few reviews on Amazon only because I haven't felt that strongly about a book or CD. This one is different. It is a wonderful novel about two men and their passion for music. It reminded me of a music version of Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," in its descriptions of the passion for music (as "Dorian" has passion for art.) The descriptions of music, immortality, friendship and the underlying theme of the coming of the Nazis are all very powerful. (I think kudos to the translator are appropriate.) I love books about music or art and the violin is my favorite instrument. I read it in two days, not able to put it down until I finished it in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe I should have figured it out, but the surprise ending was a surprise to me. If you are at all interested in classical music you must read this book. One of the best books I've read in a long time (and I've read some really good ones lately!)
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: If you are a musician, you will appriciate this book not only for the quality of writing but the story of this violin and people that cross it's tracks. Being a musician myself, I was envious of the passion for music that the people of this story have and the dedication they have. It was awesome book, whether you you are a musician or not! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A magical study of passion and ambition
Review: In a boisterous tavern on a warm Viennese summer's night, a man encounters a mysterious violinist with whom he feels a connection. Compelled to search for the violinist the next evening, they finally meet at an almost deserted restaurant garden. It is there that the violinist, Jenö, tells a story of friendship and betrayal. Jenö's story captures readers imagination all the way to the mysterious end. The atmosphere of early 20th century Europe is perfectly captured along with the rise of the Third Reich. Although it leaves many unanswered questions, the book is very satisfying and memorable.
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