Book Reviews (マイブック評)

どんでんがえしの推理小説。１９９０年に発表された作品で、東野さんの初期のものだ。文体が最近のものと大きく違い、ちょっと戸惑いを感じる方もあるかもしれない。この２０年くらいの間に変化して来たのかなあ、と思いつつ、この本の後に、２０１０年に発表された「白銀ジャック」を読んで、文体に共通点を感じ、東野さんは沢山の抽斗を持っていることに納得。様々な抽斗から、その場にふさわしい文体、語り口を選ぶんですね。どちらも、舞台が絞られていて、一箇所の狭い人間関係の中から、事件が起こり、そして解決へ。割と、シンプルなストーリー展開だけど、読者を惹き付ける力はすごいです。ぐぐっと、引き込まれますよ。

This is a book review on Artur Schnabel’s auto-biographical book. Schnabel  (1882-1951) is a legendary figure and he has been one of pianists I always respect and admire. I have studied his famous edition on Beethoven sonatas, and heard his recordings mainly on Beethoven and Schubert sonatas. Whenever I play Beethoven or teach Beethoven to […]

I usually write about books in my Book Reviews, but this book is so strong that I decided to write in my blogs. This book has been Bestsellers for weeks, and I was very excited to start reading it. It is a documentary, a science history, a racism in America, a family history, humanity, poverty, and […]

I was reading the book “the Danger of Music and Other Anti-Utopian Essays” by Richard Taruskin, and found a very interesting essay about Horowitz and Tchaikovsky. In this essay, he quotes an article on Horowitz in Grove Dictionary from 1980. I am lucky to still own this old version of Grove Dictionary (Paper Copy!!). 20 […]

I have been reading a book ” “Hitler’s Emigres and Exiles in Southern California: A Windfall of Musicians” by Dorothy Lamb Crawford, and found a wonderful quote from a great cellist, Piatigorsky. This is from P. 64 to P. 65 in this book. -You don’t have to be a genius to know your shortcomings, because […]

I am reading a book “Violin Dreams” by Arnold Steinhardt. He writes about his parents as Jewish. It is very touching, and the music in their lives has been deeply attached to their long history. Mr. Steinhardt writes “Jews believed that only music could give these prayers wings strong enough to deliver them to God.” […]

Dear Mr. Steinhardt, I just finished your book, and I am still very moved and touched. Your book gave me tear, giggle, and smile. You wrote a wonderful book. Toward the end of the book, you talk about Schubert “Death and the Maiden” quartet.  So I pulled the music out of the bookshelf, and played the […]