Brutal Music

by James Lindsay

The novel follows a double narrative in alternating chapters: one strand describes the events after these inexplicable acts of violence from the viewpoint of Chris s father, Tommy; the other, from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870744712
• ISBN13: 9780870744716
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Southern Methodist Univ Pr
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

What rock music can do for its true fans (and TO them)

Chris is an obsessive "user" of rock music, particularly of the latest & best CD of his favourite (fictional) group. One thread of this novel sucks us inside the head/heart/body of a teenager who has discovered the true soundtrack for his life, while the other portrays the unquiet desperation around him. The lean present-tense prose defines both positive and negative space: what's left out is precisely as critical as what's there. And the main characters are so well drawn they're FOUR dimensional. Written before Memento started a fad for backwards puzzles, before MP3 players (remember having to deal with entire CDs full of music, with the tracks and the order selected by the band? or worse yet, their label?), Brutal Music sizzled on my second reading of it in 2009. (I think anyone who has ever thought, even for a moment, "I can't take it any more," would find themselves staying up late to finish this story.) As Chris himself says [pg 22], "Be grateful for what's there. Recognize the music for the miracle it is."

A shocking, well-crafted, page-turner of a novel

Brutal Music by James Lindsay is a dark story of violent crime and attempted suicide, told uniquely through twin vantage points that gradually unfold the brutal reality of murderous hidden secrets and agendas. Brutal Music is recommended as a shocking, well-crafted, page-turner of a novel that cruelly captures the reader's imagination from first page to last.

Amazing Insight and Sensitivity

I WANTED to read the book, but found its dark subject hard to approach. But once I began, I couldn't put the book down! Brutal Music's characters include both the hard-to-fathom and those we imagine we understand from face value. The author skillfully cuts away at our preconceptions to tell a story full of haunting insights into the fragility of the human situation. Highly recommended. I look forward to more from this author.