Orfeo
★★★★★Read Mar 10, 2014
A delicious novel. Mostly a good reflection on an artist getting older, reviewing his life and his mistakes in a melancholic way. But then mixed in is amazing text honoring the exciting emotional impact of 20th century classical music. The connection to Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time is what drew me to this book in the first place and I really enjoyed the references and discussion of Cage, Stockhausen, Carter, etc. Interesting source material for a novel!
Goodreads readers give it 3.65★, from 7,106 ratings. I gave it 4★, +0.4, where I'm usually −0.9: I liked it more than most.
Readers call it Music, Literary Fiction, Literature, Contemporary, American, Science Fiction.
Won California Book Award 2014.
Also nominated for Booker Prize 2014, National Book Award 2014, Andrew Carnegie Medal 2015.