Violin Lessons
Zable, ArnoldLinked by the common thread of music, this collection of ten non-fiction short stories takes the reader on a global odyssey reaching from Australia to Vietnam, Iraq, Italy, Germany, Poland and beyond. Ranging from 1970-2011, these are stories of survival that celebrate life while conveying the breadth and depth of the challenging experiences of each narrator.
Whether it is the asylum seeker who is shipwrecked or the young violin student in Melbourne, each story is complete unto itself and a vivid reminder of the resilience of the human spirit. Sobering yet inspirational. [Larger font]
Comments from Groups
Found it an easy read. Harrowing stories. Hanmer 001 The book elicited mixed reactions...Criticism related to the episodic and time-bewildering writing style, and the contrived link to music in some stories. Positive comments: enjoyed the lyricism of some descriptive passages and insight into lives completely remote in cultural terms to our own. Palmerston North 008 Rather a lot of terrible tragedy in one book. However, beautifully written. Needed to let time pass between reading. Waikanae 004
Pages
288
288
Year
2011
2011
Reviews
24-07-2023
Most members found this collection rather unmemorable! Good discussion on the merits of short story writing.
10-10-2022
Beautifully written and very moving. Only one of our group didn't love it.
05-08-2019
It would seem that readers either empathise with these stories of hardship, or find 'Violin Lessons' just too miserable to read. This was the case with our book discussion group. However those who read it had some insightful discussion helped by the questions set for the reading.
05-08-2019
Highly recommended. We found it very well-written and moving. It prompted discussion on a variety of deep topics - such as war, migration, displacement, culture, history and music.
05-08-2019
This book was the cause of much discussion - most of us thoroughly enjoyed it. A few found it a little depressing. Beautifully written and expressed.
05-08-2019
Discussion was interesting. Short story format was enjoyed. Everyone loved the writing style, but some sick of reading about war and death! Others glad they have been informed in such wonderful prose.
05-08-2019
This collection of creative non-fiction stories, as well as having a connecting musical theme, are all stories of people displaced from their homelands or their former way of life, usually through war. The stories were easy to read but some of our group found them depressing. However we had a lively discussion, and I would recommend the book as an interesting read.
05-08-2019
These creative non fiction stories were very well-written and thought provoking. We enjoyed some stories more than others.
05-08-2019
The book is beautifully written and the characters skilfully developed within the genre. However, some of the material is very complex and discussion was somewhat fractured.
05-08-2019
Wonderful read.
05-08-2019
Mixed reaction - members that had travelled to those places really enjoyed the book. Others found it difficult to deal with the short story aspect and to make appropriate comments, as it was difficult to remember the different stories.