Book 11 - Nicholas Cook "Music: A Very Short Introduction"

Nicholas Cook "Music: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford University Press)





I quite enjoyed this little book – and in general find the idea of the Very Short Introduction series a good one. I’m trying to learn about music, a topic which I know almost nothing about, and this was probably a good place to start. It doesn’t review any formal topics, more esoteric ones – the concept of the composer/artist as primary source, authenticity and relative importance of one genre vs. another.

Nicholas Cook's essay is largely about a philosophy of music. Eschewing any more than passing consideration of the international history of music, he acknowledges the diversity of music but starts his intellectual journey with Beethoven and his more detailed examples are drawn more from 'Classical' music than Rock or Pop. Despite this, the main thrust of his argument is about our response to music and its creation; there is nothing here about musical structures or forms. As this idea of involvement and perception develops, the book becomes increasingly academic. This is a short sharp introduction for the intelligent articulate non-musicologist who might consider studying further. I imagine that someone seeking such a grounding would prefer this to be the opening of a larger book while those to whom brevity is critical would prefer a broader more superficial approach.

A good read, nonetheless.

Book 12 - Alasdair Gray "Poor Things"

Alasdair Gray "Poor Things" (Bloomsbury)




Gray is very bleak and Scottish; his books suggest that he has all the sympathies required to be a Socialist, combined with a deep and abiding distrust of - well, more like visceral disgust at - politics of any stripe, with the possible exception of Scottish independence. This illustrates it nicely: the core story is a macabre but touching Victorian tale of innocence and idealism, goodness and intelligence, going through trials but eventually winning out over wickedness to accomplish personal goals and do some small good in the world. The frame-story is about how the world stomps on innocent idealism with big hobnailed boots and shits on it, no matter how hard it tries, because it doesn't matter how enlightened individuals are if society at large clings to its malicious illusions; and, in any case, enlightenment needn't imply that people are very pleasant to each other. It's pretty manipulative; you get the nice glowy Dickens feeling at the end of the core story, and then the carpet's yanked from under your feet. Not a book to cheer one up.

At the same time it's good writing, at times beautifully poetic; it has a rock-solid sense of (and love for) its Glasgow setting, and it's full of the sort of appendices that make one squirm with glee on the author's behalf - for instance, one of his characters, a Great Victorian General, is adorned with fabricated references from late-Victorian poets, such as Kipling.

He also illustrates his own books - pretty damn well - which I admire and respect.