Overlong, But Recommended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                      The  novel sprawls, darlings!  Its narrative goes from Queens (OMG!) to Prague, in both the past and the present.  The Holocaust period is dredged up, so this book is a mixture of social upheaval personal sadness, musicology, and the enduring quest for a sonata that may or may not have been written by Beethoven.

                                       Morrow has done has research, in both musicology and on Prague, and it shows, almost too well.  So detailed are his narrative backgrounds, that one sometimes loses the pulse of the story.  If the novel could have been trimmed, by, say, 100 pages, it might have even been more satisfying.

                                          Awhile back, I posted about "The Weight Of Ink."  This is similar to that; another academic archival literary (or in this case, musical) exploration, in the tradition of the gold standard set by "Possession" by A.S.  Byatt.

                                            That does it for me, on this genre, for awhile.  For those specifically attuned to the genre, this will be Manna In The Wilderness.

                                              To those, as I, seeking a new, literary discovery, I can honestly say it is good of its kind, but I don't expect to be reading any more Brad Morrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                Time is too precious, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!