The Song of Names

Norman Lebrecht was already established as a Music commentator, and the author of a dozen books on Classical music when he startled the publishing industry with this first novel, which won the Whitbread award in 2002. The novel follows a friendship between two Jewish boys, starting before the Second......more

I found the book was quite special and full of depth. The writer addressed topics like friendship, bonding, love for music, dealing with the loss of family members in a remarkable way. Despite the bunch of difficult words and sentences, the book was easy to read and kept me longing to the end. I was......more

"My life was a pathetic sonata built upon an unresolved chord, infinitely tense and unrewarding. Like an amputee, I never lost sensation in the missing limb, or the ache of deprivation. Not a day passed without a remembrance of wholeness" 'The Song of Names' is full of musical references, and tells t......more

Low 2. There is a poignant and very moving explanation behind the title of this book but unfortunately the author has not woven this idea into a novel which really captures the attention of the reader. The protagonist, Martin Simmonds, fails to engage the reader’s interest, while the all-too brief a......more

Two Jewish boys befriend each other; one, Martin, is well off but feels like an outcast - he is very unhappy and lonely, is pudgy, and has a stutter. The other, David, is suave, confident, and is a violin virtuoso but is poor; his family is from Warsaw and sent him to study w/ a illustrious violin i......more