"A terrific novel: entertaining, moving, and instructive. It could make a great movie. Reminded me of A Midsummer Night's Dream. All those lovers confused about who and what they love who, in a short space of time, escape for at least a moment from their confusion . . . too harsh on the neocons, too gentle with their antagonists, but all that is peripheral. [The] . . . theme is the human heart and its profound and foolish longings, and . . . [the author treats] that great theme generously and humanely."
Peter Berkowitz, author of Nietzsche: Ethics of an Immoralist and former contributing editor, The New Republic
"This is a witty, uniquely fresh novel that manages to be both cerebral and heartfelt. Filled with characters who are quirky and captivating, the book will be a wonderful read for those interested in contemporary intellectual life as well as for anyone interested in a good story."
Lan Cao, author of Monkey Bridge
Marie Jones, reviewer, bookideas.com
In the new wild East, when the laws of the capitalist
jungle have come to replace previous beliefs, the septuagenarian novelist Arthur
Rizler has come to preach to the thirsting masses on the topic of Mozart. Alas,
in Prague, where the action is mostly set, the Rolling Stones are also playing
and this far outweighs the musings of the aged novelist. While the speech is
rearranged, his fourth Maya, her mother (the dreadful Mrs Svobodnik) and would
be lover, the Global Bankâ's globetrotting consultant Jeremy Stuart circle
around each other in this amusing, extraordinary and compelling story.
Rizler is concerned with his own place in the world and its history, having
achieved success writing social anthropology about the ethnic experience in the
USA “ but his powers have waned and he fails to discern the connections
between his own past ideology and the rise of the grubby right wing Croatian and
his gang, the son of the millionaire bartender at his hotel. Jeremy Stuart takes
the role of anti-ideologue, having realized that the intellectual life offered
by academia is mostly a fraud “and possibly a degraded one at that, while
traveling the world in a borrowed but private jet. His lunches are martinis and
his intentions are to promote himself while derailing the privatization of the
Czech telecommunications industry and collecting as many attractive young women
who strike his fancy and who might be available. Especially Maya, whom he
monitors electronically, with all the skills of an expert researcher.
This is a modern novel combining the novel of manners, the satirical
commentary and the philosophical reflection. It also has some good jokes, which
always helps. It is a surprising confection and, surprisingly, it more or less
hangs together, although the ending is probably the weakest part. Then again,
that may be my desire for a coherent ideology to emerge from the post modern
wreckage of destructive capitalism rather than the small consolations of human
empathy.
Recommended and I would anticipate that future works will find a larger
publisher than Xlibris, which has done a good enough job on production but has
not eliminated all typos.
John Walsh, in the online book review magazine
www.bookpleasures.com, December 2004
http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/1210/article/Mozart_A_Novel.html
It's hard to say what the characters in Mozart: A Novel really want. Between their individual pursuits of sex, influence and control over their own destinies are smatterings of starcrossed romances, lost opportunities and political upheavals that have caused them to question their own ideals, they seem an awful lot like people we know. People who are connected by forces outside of themselves, and yet will often do everything in their power to ignore or deny that connection.
So, they seem to plow ahead with the determination that they will in some way shape their worlds. From the lead character, a rather boorish writer named Arthur Rizler, his fiercely devoted younger wife, Maya, and a cast of supporting characters each with their own agenda, including Lucy, a lovelorn bi-polar female physician extraordinaire and the man she loves, Jeremy Stuart, a selfish entrepreneur-in-the-making who is obsessed with Maya...these people are real flesh and blood examples of how human lives are not only messy, but interestingly so. As Rizler struggles to maintain both his career and his identity in a world that holds vast idealogical differences, he encounters obstacles that both frustrate and challenge him. When he dreams of writing fame and influence begin to diminish, along with his youthful vigors, he comes to the realization that we all do as we walk the path of life - that new dreams await, along with new challenges. Change is the only constant.
Rizler, as arrogant and grumpy as he can sometimes appear, loves his wife, still finds sexual attraction to other women invigorating, seeks the highest ideals, opposes cultural destruction and crassness...and is something of a prophet who is entirely misunderstood in his own land. He goes to Prague to lecture on Mozart, which makes up the backbone of the plotline, and finds instead that he is faced with a total re-examination of his marriage (all four of them), his desire for fatherhood (despite having fathered five children already), his career goals (perhaps a novel?) and his political place in the world (from liberal to neocon in no time flat!). His struggle makes up the crux of this intriguing and entertaining novel.
The stories of Maya, Jeremy and Lucy, the woman Jeremy ultimately finds true love with, make for interesting subplots that tie the main storyline together. In Mozart: A Novel everyone is searching for something, and in the end, they all manage to find it, albeit not quite in the manner they had hoped for or expected.
Howse, who has quite a background in the academic and political fields, does well with dialog and narrative. The plot structure often falls weak, and there are many typos (typical of self-published books), but I found this story engaging, and the characters just flawed enough that they kept my interest going as I explored their worlds, both separate and intersecting.
Mozart: A Novel is fiction that forces you to actually think about the story and the ideals being presented. Imagine that. A novel that makes you think. The book can be purchased via Xlibris.com, and through the author's website, www.mozartnovel.com.
Marie Jones, bookideas.com, Rating:
http://www.bookideas.com/reviews/index.cfm?fuseaction=displayReview&id=2296