Half-Blood Blues - The Library of the Uncommons

No cover — Esi Edugyan: Half-Blood Blues (2011, Serpent's Tail Limited)

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2011 by Serpent's Tail Limited.

ISBN:: 978-1-84668-859-1

(2 reviews)

"Berlin, 1939. The Hot-Time Swingers, a popular German American jazz band, have been forbidden to play live because the Nazis have banned their 'degenerate music.' After escaping to Paris, where they meet Louis Armstrong, the band's brilliant young trumpet-player, Hieronymus Falk, is arrested in a café by the Gestapo. It is June 1940. He is never heard from again. He is twenty years old, a German citizen. And he is black. Berlin, 1992. Falk, now a jazz legend, is the subject of a celebratory documentary. Two of the original Hot-Time Swingers American band members, Sid Griffiths and Chip Jones, are invited to attend the film's premier in Berlin. As they return to the landscape of their past friendships, rivalries, loves and betrayals, Sid, the only witness to Falk's disappearance who has always refused to speak about what happened, is forced to break his silence. Sid recreates the lost world of …

"Berlin, 1939. The Hot-Time Swingers, a popular German American jazz band, have been forbidden to play live because the Nazis have banned their 'degenerate music.' After escaping to Paris, where they meet Louis Armstrong, the band's brilliant young trumpet-player, Hieronymus Falk, is arrested in a café by the Gestapo. It is June 1940. He is never heard from again. He is twenty years old, a German citizen. And he is black. Berlin, 1992. Falk, now a jazz legend, is the subject of a celebratory documentary. Two of the original Hot-Time Swingers American band members, Sid Griffiths and Chip Jones, are invited to attend the film's premier in Berlin. As they return to the landscape of their past friendships, rivalries, loves and betrayals, Sid, the only witness to Falk's disappearance who has always refused to speak about what happened, is forced to break his silence. Sid recreates the lost world of Berlin's pre-war smoky bars, and the salons of Paris, telling his vibrant and suspenseful story in German American slang. Half-Blood Blues is a novel about music and race, love and loyalty, and marks the arrival of an extraordinarily 'gifted storyteller' (The Toronto Star)"--

12 editions

JohnnyCache reviewed Half-blood blues by Esi Edugyan

Review of 'Half-blood blues' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

AMAZING. I wasn't into it for the first quarter or so, but by halfway through, I couldn't put it down. This is going to give Annabel some serious competition for Canada Reads 2014. It's the better book, but doesn't feel as "Canadian" - merely due to the setting and whatnot. Either way, one of my favorite books I've read this year.

Edit: just finishing up Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood. At this point, with only The Orenda left to read, Half Blood Blues is my favorite out of the Canada Reads finalists.

Edit 2: It has been a little while since I finished the book. It has really stuck with me, so I came back here to make sure that I gave it five stars instead of four. Yep, I have it five. It really deserves it.

MaidMerry reviewed Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Review of 'Half-Blood Blues' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book had me from the first page. The narrative voice is so distinct, the imagery so evocative, the subject matter so compelling and novel (pun not intended), that I was immediately drawn in.

This is the story of mixed-blood jazz musicians in Nazi Germany and occupied France. Two are Americans and comparatively "safe" from persecution, but one, the youngest and most talented, is a "mischling"--a German person of mixed-blood and, therefore, a particular target. This is a tale of love, lust, talent, disappointment, betrayal, and forgiveness. I think almost any jack or jane would enjoy reading about the gates in this story.

I am impressed by this author and will definitely read more of her work.

Subjects

Musicians, fiction
Blacks, fiction
Crime, fiction
Fiction, psychological
Paris (france), fiction
Fiction, historical, general
Berlin (germany), fiction