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Jul 02, 2016herpwop1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
More a rumination than a novel, the latest from Barnes is full of razor-sharp writing and lots of passages to highlight. The author chooses three crossroads in the Russian composer Shostakovich's life - when Stalin takes umbrage with his opera, Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk and the composer is interrogated by a high Soviet official; when Shostakovich is compelled to attend the New York Peace Conference in 1948; when he is pressured to join the Communist Party in 1960. Barnes uses these three times to bring Shostakovich's character and moral dilemmas to life. Why did Shostokovich stay in the repressive Soviet Union where he had to make many concessions so that he could continue to write his music? We really cannot know what thoughts ran through his mind, but Barnes has taken the facts of the composer's life and extrapolated brilliantly to give the reader not only an idea of Shostakovich's personality, but the fear and terror that many felt under Stalin's regime. An intriguing question emerges from the book - does it take more courage to be a coward than to be a hero? Highly recommended!