Items related to The Gustav Sonata
***Shortlisted for the Costa Book Award***
** The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller **
What is the difference between friendship and love? Or between neutrality and commitment? Gustav Perle grows up in a small town in 'neutral' Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav's father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav's childhood is spent in lonely isolation, his only toy a tin train with painted passengers staring blankly from the carriage windows.
As time goes on, an intense friendship with a boy of his own age, Anton Zwiebel, begins to define Gustav's life. Jewish and mercurial, a talented pianist tortured by nerves when he has to play in public, Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav's are entwined.
Fierce, astringent, profoundly tender, Rose Tremain’s beautifully orchestrated novel asks the question, what does it do to a person, or to a country, to pursue an eternal quest for neutrality, and self-mastery, while all life's hopes and passions continually press upon the borders and beat upon the gate.
** The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller **
What is the difference between friendship and love? Or between neutrality and commitment? Gustav Perle grows up in a small town in 'neutral' Switzerland, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav's father has mysteriously died, and his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold and indifferent to him. Gustav's childhood is spent in lonely isolation, his only toy a tin train with painted passengers staring blankly from the carriage windows.
As time goes on, an intense friendship with a boy of his own age, Anton Zwiebel, begins to define Gustav's life. Jewish and mercurial, a talented pianist tortured by nerves when he has to play in public, Anton fails to understand how deeply and irrevocably his life and Gustav's are entwined.
Fierce, astringent, profoundly tender, Rose Tremain’s beautifully orchestrated novel asks the question, what does it do to a person, or to a country, to pursue an eternal quest for neutrality, and self-mastery, while all life's hopes and passions continually press upon the borders and beat upon the gate.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
"This is a perfect novel about life's imperfection... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers... Remarkable and moving novel." (Kate Kellaway Observer)
"The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain." (John Boyne The Irish Times)
"Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. *****" (Stylist)
"In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book" (Matt Cain i)
"Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious." (Melissa Katsoulis The Times)
"Elegant and spare, the novel traces the subtle nuances between friendship and passion, betrayal and disappointment... Tremain shows how good intentions can result in suffering, and does so with grace and tenderness." (Fanny Blake Daily Mail)
"Sentence by sentence, Rose Tremain’s fiction provides rich pleasures: she renders her worlds...with vivid specificity and economical elegance. In her new novel The Gustav Sonata, the textures of her characters’ surroundings are deftly drawn." (Claire Messud Financial Times)
"Reveals Tremain at her very best. It is a powerful account of loss, but also of friendship, of its inequalities and its compromises." (Vanessa Berridge Sunday Express)
"Tender, beautiful and finely characterized, this is the best book of the year so far for me" (WI Life)
"Tremain is a resourceful writer... The Gustav Sonata is a short book that manages to tell a gripping story about human fallibility while offering a meditation on life, time and desire." (Pamela Norris Literary Review)
Review:
"The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain." (John Boyne The Irish Times)
"Beautifully tender and brilliantly written novel... A tale of the most powerful part of any friendship: love. *****" (Stylist)
"In The Gustav Sonata, Tremain once again proves herself to be a writer of exceptional talent ... Previous novels like The Road Home have already showcased her staggering sensitivity and capacity for empathy but they're here again, magnificently undiminished. Tremain is a writer who understands every emotion ... and it's ultimately this understanding that has produced another exquisite book" (Matt Cain i)
"Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect... Glorious." (Melissa Katsoulis The Times)
"Elegant and spare, the novel traces the subtle nuances between friendship and passion, betrayal and disappointment... Tremain shows how good intentions can result in suffering, and does so with grace and tenderness." (Fanny Blake Daily Mail)
"Sentence by sentence, Rose Tremain’s fiction provides rich pleasures: she renders her worlds...with vivid specificity and economical elegance. In her new novel The Gustav Sonata, the textures of her characters’ surroundings are deftly drawn." (Claire Messud Financial Times)
"Reveals Tremain at her very best. It is a powerful account of loss, but also of friendship, of its inequalities and its compromises." (Vanessa Berridge Sunday Express)
"Tender, beautiful and finely characterized, this is the best book of the year so far for me" (WI Life)
"Tremain is a resourceful writer... The Gustav Sonata is a short book that manages to tell a gripping story about human fallibility while offering a meditation on life, time and desire." (Pamela Norris Literary Review)
'Tremain has the painterly genius of an Old Master, and she uses it to stunning effect ... Glorious.' (The Times)
'This is a perfect novel about life's imperfection ... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers ... Remarkable and moving novel.' (The Observer)
'The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.' (The Irish Times)
'This is a perfect novel about life's imperfection ... Tremain is writing at the height of her inimitable powers ... Remarkable and moving novel.' (The Observer)
'The Gustav Sonata is a magnificent novel, heartbreaking, unsentimental and beautifully written, and it reinforces my opinion that there are few writers out there with the dexterity or emotional intelligence to rival that of the great Rose Tremain.' (The Irish Times)
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherCharnwood
- Publication date2017
- ISBN 10 1444831453
- ISBN 13 9781444831450
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages354
- Rating
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Published by
Ulverscroft Large Print Books
(2017)
ISBN 10: 1444831453
ISBN 13: 9781444831450
Used
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