Ghost Music - Book Review

 

 

Ghost Music

An Yu

Pub date Jan 10 2023

3 stars

 

 

 

A philosophical, melancholy tale of disappointment in a lost career, distant husband, and cliché mother-in-law. Song Tan needs companionship and music to sustain her life, she struggles with both. Her young students give her some hope in coming to terms with her own musical life but it is not enough.

Mushrooms, music, struggle, real-life, dreams, all too confusing for me. The angst the main character felt was palpable but I could not reach her. It is a sad book that did not make me want to pick it up for a few quick pages during the day. 

Although some of the phrases were surprisingly beautiful ('They were kites tied to this world by a string.'), this book made me sad. There was certainly depth available for those who wanted to delve, it could be a book worthy of your agile mind and a few friends of the same ilk. But the effort required wading through the ambiguity, and characters that were also searching for their own understanding was too much work for me. 

I cannot think of a single person in my reading circle that I could recommend this to. And that is never a good sign.

'Most people concerned themselves with what brought them joy, whether romantic, professional or familial but I concerned myself entirely with avoiding shame.'

Well-written words but words that did not inspire me. I do not recommend this book for anyone suffering from soul-searching or depression.

What this book did is make me crave a story with a real ending. The reader might like it or not, but hey, I invested my time, so author please give me the satisfaction of agreeing with you or not.

Thank you #NetGalley for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

And then I moved on to The Road, Cormac McCarthy. Not my wisest choice! But read on to the next post if you dare.

Cheers,


 

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