Half Blood Blues: Man Booker Prize 2012 Shortlisted Novel - Perfect for Book Clubs & Literary Enthusiasts
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SKU:83952887
Product Description
Chip told us not to go out. Said, don't you boys tempt the devil. But it been one brawl of a night, I tell you.The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe and never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black.Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero's bandmate and the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there's more to the journey than he thought when Chip shares a mysterious letter, bringing to the surface secrets buried since Hiero's fate was settled.In Half Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don't tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they just might tell it wrong ...
Customer Reviews
I read this book with no expectations of what it would deliver.I try to avoid researching a plot or the reviews on a book too much before reading it because I tend to start reading the book with pre-conceived notions of what it will be like.From the moment I started to read this story, I was transported into the world of Sid and his memories of playing jazz in pre-WWII Germany with his buddies. Every piece of dialogue he spoke, I imagined it clearly in a Baltimore accent. From his slightly innocent view of the world in the late 30's to his interpretation of his present life (in 1992) as an old man, he pulls you into this story. An interesting lead character to follow, you may not always agree with his point of view but if you let yourself go in this novel, you will enjoy every turn of the page. The music, the journey the characters take, the influence of uncontrollable events in the outside world and friendships are what pushes this story along.For those that have reservations about the ending - I think that it represents how life is sometimes... You don't always get closure. People don't always hash out their past and resolve it. Also, the story wasn't about Hiero so for me, whilst I wanted to know what had happened to him, I understood that it was Sid's journey that was important.Not every book will be universally loved, but it's the only book in the last year that I have had the confidence to recommend to others.
