Its not often that composers inspire such funny surrealism. I enjoyed these very much.Bernard MacLaverty
In these playful episodes, Ron Butlin weaves delightful fables based on the lives of the great composers and philosophers: Beethoven attempts pyramid selling; Haydn deliberates over the promotional boost he would receive by an appearance on Jerry Springer; Seneca tests the validity of stoicism by taking up residence in 21st century Edinburgh; and God entrusts Vivaldi with the gift of the number 3. Vivaldi and the Number 3 is a delightful mix of music and surreal humour by an acclaimed Scottish writer.
Ron Butlin was born in 1949 in Edinburgh, where he now lives. Having worked variously as a footman, a male model and a barnacle scraper on Thames barges, he has become one of Scotlands most acclaimed writers.
A delightful mix of music and surreal humour by an acclaimed Scottish writer.
Recenzijos
?It?s not often that composers inspire such funny surrealism. I enjoyed these very much.? Bernard MacLaverty ?Like his landmark The Sound of my Voice, Ron Butlin?s Night Visits creates a displaced world of jeopardy and emotional damage? Alan Warner ?Spellbinding and compassionate? Independent ?Butlin is a successor to Kafka or Borges, two names that should be invoked whenever the necessity to save the short story may be questioned? Time Out ?For far too long, Butlin has been one of contemporary British literature?s best kept secrets? The Independent Magazine
| Acknowledgements |
|
xi | |
| The lives |
|
|
Vivaldi, the jumping cardinal, God and the number 3 |
|
|
3 | (6) |
|
Vivaldi and the heavens' multicoloured luminous stars |
|
|
9 | (8) |
|
Vivaldi learns a new skill |
|
|
17 | (4) |
|
Alma Mahler leaves the nineteenth century behind |
|
|
21 | (8) |
|
How Bach won the battle against modern technology |
|
|
29 | (4) |
|
Beethoven's response to the hanging gardens of neglect |
|
|
33 | (8) |
|
Johannes Brahms goes in search of his first symphony |
|
|
41 | (8) |
|
The fairy-tale science-fiction world of Antonin Dvorak |
|
|
49 | (8) |
|
Haydn learns to put his demon to good use |
|
|
57 | (8) |
|
Mozart tries out a major career move |
|
|
65 | (6) |
|
Schubert and the magic business card |
|
|
71 | (10) |
|
Travelling via San Francisco and the moon: seven days in the life of Robert Schumann |
|
|
81 | (8) |
|
Jean Sibelius is invited to run away and join the circus |
|
|
89 | (6) |
|
Richard Strauss and Pharaoh Amenhotep IV - their dreams |
|
|
95 | (12) |
|
Tchaikovsky decides which world he belongs to |
|
|
107 | (4) |
|
Tafelmusik and cat-scarers: a brief biography of the real Georg Telemann |
|
|
111 | (10) |
|
The Mighty Handful versus the rest of the world |
|
|
121 | (10) |
| The letters |
|
|
How Composer Q chose a better life |
|
|
131 | (8) |
|
Girls, glamour and real estate: the secret life of Composer X |
|
|
139 | (6) |
|
How recent, irreversible changes in the world have affected the life of Composer Y |
|
|
145 | (4) |
|
Composer Z explores the emptiness lying beyond the end of the alphabet |
|
|
149 | (8) |
| The thoughts |
|
|
David Hume and the pixels of gratification |
|
|
157 | (6) |
|
Nietzsche breaks through the cycle of eternal recurrence |
|
|
163 | (6) |
|
Seneca comes to the Southside |
|
|
169 | (8) |
|
Socrates celebrates the opening of the first supermarket |
|
|
177 | (8) |
| The last word |
|
|
Nadia Boulanger has the last word |
|
|
185 | (8) |
| Notes about the composers and philosophers |
|
193 | |
Before taking up writing full-time Ron Butlin was, at various times, a lyricist with a pop band, a barnacle scraper on Thames barges, a footman attending embassies and country houses, and a male model. His works include the novels The Sound of My Voice, Night Visits and most recently Belonging; two collections of stories, Vivaldi and the Number 3 and The Tilting Room, and six books of poetry. His fiction and poetry have been translated into over ten languages.
