Aggravating Mozart Followed by More Pulp Fiction

Oh, I had such high hopes for Mozart: A Life, but alas! I couldn't continue with it.

There were many details in it--about Mozart's life, his work, his music, his travels, his family members.  Too many.  I found myself fast-forwarding through his performance itinerary and the analysis of his music.  The biographical details were interesting for a while, but after reading the many accounts of Mozart's father's controlling ways and Mozart's failure to do anything to do stop him, I couldn't bear it anymore.  I was so aggravated I wanted to shake Wolfie and slap his father around a bit.  When I saw there was no let up in sight, I abandoned it, saying "I find I don't care what happened to Mozart or why."

So, I went back to pulp fiction for a while to clear the anxiety generated by Mozart's dysfunctional family, finishing The Watchman, by Robert Crais, featuring his continuing character, Joe Pike, another "hero" who operates outside the law and carries out acts of vengeance in the name of justice.  It was fast-paced and interesting, but I don't think I'll be reading another one of these.  My coworker (from whom I borrowed this book and others like it) must have power issues; he doesn't have enough and so likes to fantasize that he can take out evil-doers without suffering the legal penalties our system of justice demands.  But I shouldn't pick on him; the number of current movies and television shows with a vigilante theme show that feelings of powerlessness and desire for vengeance are common in our society.

Since finishing The Watchman I have been thinking of reading Alexander Hamilton, a biography by Ron Chernow, a renowned historian.  I started it and find it interesting, especially since it begins with the story of Hamilton's being killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.

Another possibility is the latest novel by Sherman Alexie, Flight, which I took out of the library.  I may have to read that first just because I'll have to return it long before I finish the gargantuan biography of Hamilton. We'll see.

I'll let you know how it goes.  See ya later!

From Implausible Pulp to Mozart

Well, I took a break from reading anything but pulp fiction over the last few weeks, and since that type of reading for the most part does not require much in the way of comment or critique, I won't go into it here.  One book I will say something about: Cell, by Stephen King, was not that good.  The premise was not completely plausible and the characters not completely likable or very interesting.  I would not recommend it.

But I'm back to reading non-fiction now.  I've picked up the biography of Mozart that I started years ago but really don't remember much about.  Mozart: A Life, by Maynard Solomon, was published in 2005.  It is very detailed and filled with information I didn't know about my favorite composer.  I'm enjoying it so far, but it's slow going and at 656 pages, it will be a very long read.

One thing I've picked up on almost immediately is that what most people believe about Mozart comes from the movie Amadeus, a screen adaptation of a stage play by the same name.  My book's author, Maynard Solomon, disagrees with the movie's characterization of Mozart and seems to be striving in his book to dispute that view, or to at least complicate it.  I enjoyed the movie, but looking back, it did seem a bit simplistic.

So far in the book, we are learning about Mozart's parents and their histories and how Mozart's father, Leopold, controlled Mozart's development and managed his early musical performance career.  Mozart made him a rich man very early, apparently, and as Solomon contends, he was doubtless dependent upon that income by the time Mozart reached his teen years.

The book is well written and I think will be worthy of my time.

Stay tuned for more dispatches from 18th century Austria.