May 1, 2014

An Autobiography

By Igor Stravinsky

This book came to me from our morning reading of the Intellectual Devotional: Biographies.   After reading the short, one page biography, I checked DVDs of Stravinsky’s ballets, The Rite of Spring and Firebird, out of the library.  They were wonderful and led me to search for his autobiography.  The Kindle edition is available for free on Amazon and I’m glad I didn’t spend money on it.

The autobiography was mainly about his work and people he knew.  Since I wasn’t familiar with either, it had a limited appeal for me.  There was very little as far as his personal life and/or personal feelings.  I’m not sure why, but I did read it to the end.  It must have been somewhat interesting, because it did hold my interest.  I didn’t hate it.  There were two small sections near the end that made the read somewhat worthwhile. 

One section was on how listening to music has changed.  Stravinsky felt that music was best listened to by the musically educated.  I don’t really agree with him, but his argument was interesting from a historical perspective.  I would agree that audiences and ways of listening have changed, even though I don’t agree with Stravinsky’s conclusions.

The other interesting section was a few words that Stravinsky wrote about writing music and inspiration.  Many artists share his belief that inspiration comes from application and daily hard work.  He did make a good argument for his beliefs. 

Did these sections make it worth reading?  I’m not sure.  If you have more knowledge of Stravinsky’s work and of other musicians of that era, this might be of interest.  For me, it was a decent read, but I don't think I'd recommend it.

Middlesex

By Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex came to me via Barbara Streisand and the movie Guilt Trip.  In the movie, she and her son listened to the audio version of Middlesex as they drove across the country.  It sounded like a good audiobook and it definitely was.  I listened to Middlesex as an Audible audiobook and I loved it.  It held my interest from start to finish.  I found myself making excuses to do activities where I could listen while working.  I have little knowledge of Greek culture or hermaphrodites, so I don’t know if it was contextually correct.  But it was very interesting and I feel like I have a better understanding of both.  Another plus for me was the Detroit setting.  I spent my childhood in the Detroit area, a little before the time of the story, and it brought back memories of the time and place.  The narration was excellent.  All things considered, I loved the book and am sure I would have enjoyed reading it, too.  Definitely a great listen!