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    Sight Reading: A Novel
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    Sight Reading: A Novel
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    Sight Reading: A Novel
    Ebook441 pages6 hours

    Sight Reading: A Novel

    By Daphne Kalotay

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Lyrical and evocative, Sight Reading by Daphne Kalotay is an intense, literary love story.

    When Hazel and Remy happen upon each other on a warm Boston spring day, their worlds immediately begin to spin. Remy, a gifted violinist, is married to composer Nicholas Elko, who was once the love of Hazel's life. Over the decades, each buried secrets, disappointments, and betrayals that now threaten to undermine their happiness.

    We follow the notes of their complicated, intertwined lives from 1987 to 2007, from Europe to America, and from conservatory life to the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

    Sight Reading, from the author of the acclaimed debut novel Russian Winter, is an exploration of what makes a family, of the importance of art in daily life, and of the role of intuition in both the creative process and the evolution of the self.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 21, 2013
    ISBN9780062246950
    Author

    Daphne Kalotay

    Daphne Kalotay is the author of the award-winning novel Russian Winter, which has been published in twenty languages, and the fiction collection Calamity and Other Stories. She has received fellowships from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo, and has taught at Boston University, Skidmore College, Grub Street, and Middlebury College. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

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    Reviews for Sight Reading

    4/5

    59 ratings19 reviews

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    • 5/5
      ceritanya sangat jelas ,, masa depan aku bicara yg jelas nih
    • 5/5
      Daphne to get my nails done tomorrow is the only one that has been the same time as the first place for a while ago but the most
    • 5/5
      အ
    • 4/5
      good
    • 5/5
      gooood!!!!
    • 5/5
      sooooperrrrr
    • 5/5
      good
    • 5/5
      Very good one of my favorites
    • 5/5
      gud
    • 5/5
      4
    • 5/5
      zawlinhtet
    • 5/5
      I want read this books
    • 5/5
      Nice
    • 4/5
      Beautiful story woven together like a fine symphony. One of my favorites of 2013.

      I received this as an ARC.
    • 4/5
      A bit of a roller coaster here. Not plot-wise, but writing-wise. At times - an unbelievably precise and beautiful choice of words, details and power of observation are very impressive, as well as intimate knowledge of classical musicians' world, some insights into life and relationships are striking (Ms. Kalotay has often an uncanny ability to put into words what we feel but cannot express as eloquently); while at the same time - the plot seems trivial at times, in fact, it's weaker than expected from this writer, and there is phrase-for-the-sake-of-a-phrase type of thing going on, some phrasing is a bit too sugary at times, a touch of melodrama... But what I took from this book is the fact that nothing in life can be taken for granted. Not a new idea, but a weighty one, and it's good to be reminded of it.
    • 3/5
      Promising but ultimately disappointing novel that loses its way about two-thirds of the way through and never finds it again. An interesting and potentially dramatic configuration of characters and relationships, with music as a core theme and metaphor, fizzles out by trying to go too many directions with too many interconnections, ultimately doing justice to none of them.I enjoyed what I learned about musicianship, both performing and composing, and (as always) I relished the back-home feel of a Boston setting, but I ended by feeling as if I had invested far too much of my time and attention for very little return.My rating of three stars is arguably severe, but in my opinion a book that aspires to more should be held more accountable when it falls seriously short of the mark.
    • 5/5
      Follows three main characters - Hazel, Remy, and Nicholas, as their lives interweave through marriage (first Nicholas and Hazel, then Nicholas and Remy), and their careers in the fine arts world. Hazel is the artist who is afraid to commit and put her work "out there" - she sketches, plans, and dreams, but never puts it altogether. Remy is forever stuck in second place - second chair at her conservatory, later first chair, but of the second violins, second wife, second mother, etc. Nicholas, at the beginning of the story, is the "new" hot young composer who can do no wrong, except when it comes to Hazel and his marriage. His lack of self awareness never really resolves itself, and ultimately begins to wreak havoc on his marriage with Remy and with his friend Yoni, as well.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful story woven together like a fine symphony.
    • 3/5
      One of the reasons that I've become so taken with young adult fiction in recent years is the focus on coming of age, of finding oneself and accepting that person. Though young adults may grow and change more overtly, this is a lifelong process, and something universally relatable. Yet, somehow, adult fiction rarely focuses on these themes in a similar way, instead showing the way change affects adults through the lens of marital strife and infidelity. Sight Reading is just such a novel, detailing the various affairs of three adults. Though the book is beautifully written, I dislike stories about cheating, so I failed to love Sight Reading as much as Russian Winter.Daphne Kalotay's prose is glorious. Her writing is the kind that I want to take in slowly, and I make slower progress through her books than I might otherwise, because I really like to chew on the words and appreciate the prose. Her novels feel powerful and meaningful, and have the sort of quotes I want to turn into art for my wall, if I were not too lazy and unartistic for such things.The parts that focus on the music, too, are brilliant. I loved her descriptions of Nicholas composing and Remy playing the violin. She captures both the love, the suffering, and the boredom that come from their careers. Remy has a constant spot on her neck from her violin. Nicholas suffers from fear that he's no longer the composer he once was and that he'll never complete his symphony. Remy loses her passion for a while, playing by rote and no longer feeling the same drive. Through it all, though, music runs their lives and they could never do anything else, nor would they wish to. The passion, power, and beauty of music runs through the novel.The big downside for me was that all of the rest focused on the affairs. Nicholas starts out married to Hazel, and they're established as very much in love, drawn to each other from the very beginning. Inevitably, though, he starts getting that itch when she leaves to support her mom during her father's decline in health, and takes up with his student, Remy. Wonderful.Later on, there are even more affairs, and the behavior of all parties made it impossible for me to like any of them. I didn't feel like any of them really deserved marital happiness, except for Hazel, who I still took an immediate dislike to. At the end, everything resolves into this happily ever after for the couples, now in their fifties (forties for the younger Remy). No cheating story should end with a happily ever after in my opinion, or at least not with the couple still together. That is not my idea of romance or a happy life. That message really does disgust me.Daphne Kalotay is massively talented, but I do wish she'd taken on some better subject matter than a series of tawdry affairs. Such plots are trite in adult fiction, and she didn't add anything new or satisfying to that framework. Sight Reading is still worth reading for the writing and the music, but it's not one I'll ever be revisiting.