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A Life's Music

'Moving, haunting . . . a mini-masterpiece' - William Boyd, Guardian
By Andreï Makine and Andreï Makine
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3.91 goodreads logo

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Check link for latest rating. ( 2,228 ratings, 276 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Life's Music follows Alexei Berg, son of a dramatist and an opera singer living under Stalin's oppressive regime in 1930s Russia. A gifted pianist, Alexei's life is shattered when his parents are arrested just before his debut concert in 1941. Forced to assume a dead soldier's identity, he fights in WWII and later serves as a general's driver, concealing his past. After a reckless moment exposes him, he spends a decade in a prison camp. Despite these hardships, Alexei's spirit remains unbroken as he recounts his story in a remote Urals railway station.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This poignant novel is ideal for readers who appreciate historical romance entwined with profound human resilience and Russian literary tradition, including fans of finely crafted narratives reflecting on survival and identity during war.

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A magnificent story of courage and survival in the face of great adversity

A magnificent story of courage and survival in the face of great adversity

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Alexei Berg's father is a well-known dramatist and his mother an opera singer, but in late 1930s Russia both parents suffer constant suspicion and harassment under Stalin's reign of terror.

So great is Alexei's musical talent that he is allowed to continue his studies, but two days before his first concert in May 1941, he arrives home to find his parents being arrested. He flees, abandoning his budding career as a concert pianist, and assumes the identity of a dead Russian conscript to fight against the advancing Germans.

When the war is over he stays on as a general's driver, continuing to keep his real identity hidden until a moment of folly reveals the truth and earns him 10 years in a prison camp. But despite a life of misfortune, Alexei remains unbroken, and in a snowbound railway station in the middle of the Urals, he tells his story.

A Life's Music by Andreï Makine is a poignant tale of perseverance and the enduring power of the human spirit.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Andreï Makine's work for its clarity, lyricism, and emotional depth. Francis King from the Spectator compares Makine to Ivan Bunin, highlighting his elegant storytelling. The Scotsman notes the novella's beautiful pacing and mythic portrayal of Communist Russia, while Scotland On Sunday calls it a powerful tale of war, heartbreak, and survival. Makine's narrative skill ranks alongside literary greats such as Stendhal and Tolstoy, making this a compelling and memorable read.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780340820094

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 09 June 2003

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Sceptre

Illustration: none

Contributors:

  • Translated by Geoffrey Strachan

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 194.0mm

Weight: 88g

Pages: 112

Collections

Andrei Makine Andreï Makine Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Romance

About the Author

Born in Krasnoyarsk in Siberia in 1957, Andre Makine has lived in France since seeking asylum there in 1987. DAUGHTER OF A SOVIET HERO, his first novel, was originally published in French in 1990 and was followed by CONFESSIONS OF A LAPSED STANDARD BEARER and ONCE UPON THE RIVER LOVE. Then in 1995 his fourth novel, LE TESTAMENT FRANCAIS, became the unprecedented winner of both the Prix Goncourt and Prix M dicis and has gone on to sell over a million copies in France alone, and to be published in translation in twenty-nine countries. Its translation into English by Geoffrey Strachan, published by Sceptre in 1997, also won the Scott Moncrieff Prize. Since then Andre Makine has published THE CRIME OF OLGA ARBYELINA, REQUIEM FOR THE EAST and A LIFE'S MUSIC, published in France in 2001 where it won the Grand Prix RTL-Lire.

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