| Title | : | Dvořák in Love |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0393305481 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780393305487 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 348 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1983 |
Dvořák in Love Reviews
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I read most of Skvorecky's fiction about 20 years ago but for some reason never got round to this one. It is very different to his other work in that it has a biographical element, and is largely about the composer Dvorak and his trips to America that inspired the New World Symphony, but it is far more fun than a straight biography would be, as the narrative baton is passed through various friends, family members and musicians of varying degrees of reliability. Possibly not quite Skvorecky's best work but well worth reading, entertaining and educational.
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Trudna książka, w której Škvorecký nie ma dla czytelnika litości – rzuca go w sam środek jakiejś sceny, gwałtownie skacze w czasie i przestrzeni, a kiedy już ten jako-tako zdoła się przyzwyczaić do scenerii i uczestników zdarzeń, przerzuca go gdzie indziej. Warto się z nią jednak zmierzyć i wyłuskać z niej to, co najpiękniejsze. Obraz Dvořáka jako wielkiego kompozytora, ale również zwykłego człowieka, ze swoimi słabościami, tajemnicami, skrywanymi uczuciami. To, co inspirowało go w Ameryce – i co również nas fascynuje w tym ogromnym, barwnym kulturowym tyglu. Zabawne i smutne historie imigrantów, murzyńskie pieśni, dźwięki, smaki, zapachy...
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I adored this novel on the second try (the first time, many years ago, I found it too rich). One of the things I appreciated this time around, but not back then, was how Čapekian it is, both in its storytelling (it is story after story after story, much like
Tales from Two Pockets) and its cubism (it might be the only cubist biographical novel).
A review I had left in the book faulted it for not presenting Dvořák clearly. How could it? You see him from myriad points of view, but it is not about him, it is only about how he is seen, and he is often offstage or in the background. He is there (or it is important that he is not there), but he is rarely center stage. Škvorecký took an enormous risk, and the novel works, but only if you recognize what he is doing. -
This fictional account of Dvorak’s life during his years in the U.S. was thought-provoking. Stories were told by various characters who had encounters with Dvorak. He was fascinated with the music of the U.S. and spent time with the black musicians of the day, including Harry T. Burleigh. Although blacks were free then, their struggles were enormous, and this book showed this intimately.
A few passages from the book:
“But the important thing is that Beethoven got performed here at all back then in the thirties, when pigs were still at large in the streets and most of the music-going public in New York still believed that cellists were impoverished double-bass players who couldn’t afford a larger instrument. “
———-
“Not that I mind Dizzy or be-bop, but there’s more to the palace of music than the basement. “
———-
Told by conductor, after listening to street music:
So the old fellow turned to me and said, “Sure can play, eh what?”
“They’re doing a fine job,” I replied.
“A fine job,” said the old man, “but I tell you sir, this is nothing. I once heard a band - a big one - maybe a hundred people in it. Now there was music. Not waltzes - symponys, sir. Ever heard a sympony? My, it was lovely.”
“Where was that,” I asked.
“Oh, it must be a good twenty years back, in New York,” he said. “Friend of mine took me to the Terrace Garden, that’s where I heard it. A sympony. Ever hear a sympony? If you haven’t, then you don’t know what music is!”
I swear to you, nothing, not even the finest review has ever given me so much pleasure. Here I am, standing in a one-horse town in Nebraska, and a tattered old man tells me he heard my orchestra twenty years ago, and the experience stayed with him for the rest of his life. -
The story follows Czech composer Antonin Dvorak from Czechoslovakia to the United States (specifically New York and Iowa, allowing for interesting details dedicated to the differing landscapes and behaviors of the folks living in each) in the late 19th-century. The biographical novel is told from many perspectives of varying age, gender, race and opinion of the man and his music. Skvorecky is an obvious fan of Dvorak's music and clearly did research on his personal life, managing to not completely vilify nor champion Dvorak in the story. The various characters and their perspectives helped to flesh out this authenic person.
I like to imagine Skvorecky listened to nothing but Dvorak's music as he wrote this book; his writing is lyrical and forecful just as Dvorak's music is, and both are equally addictive, multi-layered. The composer had flaws, he was not always happy, he was hard to work with, but he always created something beautiful when he sat down to compose, and his difficulty with others only helped the creative process as opposed to destroying it entirely. This is one of those rare books I loved every moment of, but if I were to consider re-reading it at a later date I think it would be lost on me the second time around. Sometimes the first reading is the most magical; anything after that loses something, sort of like celebrating Christmas as one gets older: the presents are still nice, but the surprise is gone. -
Didn't finish. Not worth the effort.
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I decided to read this book after my orchestra programmed Dvorak's 8th symphony on our season's opening concert. It had been on my bookshelf for quite a while and now seemed to be the time. We are now starting our third concert of the season and I just finished the book today. Safe to say I had a hard time getting through it.
Each chapter is from a different character's perspective. Some are recurring figures, others are not. Not only does POV shift each chapter, but the author switches back and forth from present to past at the push of the italics button, and sometimes the flashbacks are not chronological. It is confusing to say the least.
I think what the author was trying to create was a snapshot of Dvorak's time in America as seen from the lens of the people around him. I could see this working successfully in a movie or documentary of his life, but not so much as a novel. The effect is that, instead of a portrait of Dvorak we get instead a glimpse of America's music scene during that time period. To be fair, the author does a good job writing about music and musicians, the nuances of which can often be lost in words.
One of my favorite quotes from the book: "...this country, which promised no one happiness on a platter, merely the right to pursue happiness freely." Perhaps it is my jingoism, but I feel like that is probably the heart and soul of the America Dvorak fell in love with. -
I did not have high expectations for this book but was taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed it (and learned about Dvorak). Skvorecky is a delightful writer, albeit this book is in a format I don't typically enjoy, that being from many perspectives and being fragmented in style but some how Skvorecky pulls it off with great skill; it is engaging from chapter to chapter! He is a great story teller, with each new story (incident/ dramatization of an event taken from true facts of Dvorak and necessarily fictionalized to flesh out), I found myself engaged and interested and it made me want to learn even more about Dvorak and listen online to his music (many of which I had not heretofore realized were his compositions and of which I am so familiar and love). Caveat is that at times it takes a while to figure out who is speaking/ the relevance/ the characters but ultimately it all comes together.
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Dvorak, the Czech composer, as never before seen, he is often heard though, ha ha. I enjoyed how the author brought Dvorak to life through the eyes of many different people. I was particularly interested in reading more about how he came to write the New World Symphony and his life in small town Spillville. Skvorecky reminds us that Dvorak was inspired by black spirituals (and birdsong) but news to me is that Dvorak wrote "Largo" first. After he died, the words "Goin' Home" were added so Dvorak's melody went from the concert hall to the church hymnbook.
I like this website:
https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptiv...
and this one:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/s... -
I appreciate the idea of a biography shaped from others’ memories and impressions, and, had some of the fat been trimmed, this could have worked brilliantly. I found it difficult to keep the characters straight, however — the stream of consciousness of much of the narrative tended to blur away a personality before I’d had a chance to connect with it.
It was interesting to see attention paid to Black musicians and composers, however. So often are we taught that the canon of classical music belongs solely to white men. -
Můj první Škvorecký. Nebo aspoň první, kterého jsem dočetla.
Vzhledem k tématu (všemi Čechy bezpochyby milovanému Dvořákovi, mnou především), mě Scherzo moc bavilo, přestože jsem občast dost tápala, kdo je co za postavu, která slečna je tamta a která tahle, který hrabě je tenhle, jakou přezdívku zrovna Dvořák má atd.
Bylo moc fajn přečíst si o životě tohoto velikého skladatele.
(Ale teď nějakou dobu radši pauza od Škvoreckého.) -
This definitely wasn't an easy read and I got the feeling that if I understood more about classical music, I would appreciate the structure more. It took me a while to settle into the jumping perspectives and timelines but it was worth it.
It made me listen to the New World Symphony, which the book is based around, but the Dvorak of the love story is the composer's daughter as much as it is the Master himself.
#alphabetsoup -
I liked the musical subject matter, which is unusual at least in the books I read, and learning more about Dvorak and his compositions (although I’ll have to do a little more research to discern fact from fiction). I also enjoyed the romantic drama and how many of the stories and people were interconnected with little Easter eggs here and there. It was basically like reading a book of short stories in that it hopped from one “character” to another, one time period to another, so every new chapter meant figuring out what was going on. And then within chapters it seemed like there were always flashbacks, so all that hopping around became disorienting/confusing at times.
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I loved “The engineer of human souls” by the same author. This was very different, an account of Dvorak’s time in the USA. It is fascinating and very cleverly constructed, with a range of different narrators. However I found it quite slow and it took me some time to finish.
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Absolutely beautiful. Its method of indirect storytelling is poignant and highly effective.
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Well conceived but frequently extremely difficult to follow unless, perhaps, you're already an expert on the life and times of Dvorak.
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Read the book about twenty years ago but I remember it had a unique haunting style. Good one.
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I am a great fan of Skvorecky and give this book three stars only because it is not as good as six other of his novels that rate four or five stars (being, The Engineer of Human Souls, the Cowards, the Miracle Game, Ten Rules for Father Knox, The Swell Season and Miss Silver's Past). Choose one of these six as your first Skvorecky novel. Once you have developed a taste for him Dvorak in Love is a very pleasureable read.
Dvorak in Love is an historical love that describes the four years Dvorak spent in New York City in the 1890s at the invitation of a wealthy patroness of the Arts. The second half of the nineteenth century was the era of heroic patronage of the Arts, major opera companies (e.g. the Met), symphonies (New York, Boston) and museums (Metropolitan, Massachusetts Fine Arts) were founded during the period. Dvorak in Love is thus is a glorious tribute to a great time in the development of American cultural institutions.
Skvorecky loves the USA and in fact he goes out of his way to argue that already cultural influences were starting to flow from the New to the Old World. He notes that Jazz will soon start to have an impact on European classical music. Finally taking great poetic license he suggests that the inspiration for Dvorak's great opera Rusalka came from a trip that Dvorak made to the forests of upstate New York. -
Occasionally poignant, occasionally cheesy, nearly always delightful. Made me want to visit Spillville, Iowa; listen to more Dvořák; and read more Škvorecký.
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Hmm. Talk about taking liberties with history. Add to that a tin ear for dialog, and you get another book for the abandoned shelf.
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What a diversity of opinions on this one! It is fiction, folks; and, as such, I found this to be one of the most memorable and successful life-of-the-composer type novels.
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Here's an article I wrote that discusses Dvorak in Love.
http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/38118/co... -
Not quite what I anticipated and a little obtuse but some good drinking stories that make you smile.
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Mainly about Dvorak coming to America. Interesting because of the Negro Spirituals and how they influenced his New World Symphony.
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Takes a few pages to catch the thread but it then slides along with humour and insight.
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Rozkosznie przegadana, niczym między dziesiątym a piętnastym kuflem przedniego pilsnera, opowieść o amerykańskiej przygodzie Dworzaków. Pewnie tyle w niej faktów, co w 9 symfonii amerykańskich motywów, ale świetnie się czyta. I jak po takim tozkosznym pijaństwie: głowa boli, w gardle suszy i kompletnie niczego się nie pamięta. Ale bardzo warto było :)
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What a surprise, and a delight.
