Sleeping with Schubert
Title: Sleeping with Schubert
Author: Bonnie Marson
Publisher: Random House, New York
Other Details: ISBN 1-4000-6041-9. 382pp.
Date Published: 2004
Review
Anyone who has spent any time looking for books about Schubert in the last six months or so, can hardly have failed to spot this one, as the marketing hype bandwagon has been vigorously rolling along. Described as ‘A novel about genius, passion, and hair’, it is the debut novel of Bonnie Marson, who is, we are told, ‘an artist who has worked in many different media, including painting, drawing, stained glass, and mosaics’. As well as the book, it can be found in an abridged audio cd/cassette form, and there is also a ‘companion’ CD which consists of a few random selections from Schubert’s ‘greatest hits’ from Sony’s back catalogue (so don’t bother !). To make matters worse (or, perhaps, better), the film rights have been bought by Paramount, so we can anticipate something very different to the usual Das Dreimäderlhaus derived romantic twaddle, or the ‘art film’ approach of Mit meinen Heissen Tränen.
So what is all the fuss about ? Well, the story is set in contemporary New York, after a 31 year old (note the age) lawyer finds her mind and body has become inhabited by the spirit of Franz Schubert. The critic who described this as a ‘daringly original’ first novel has obviously never heard of Rosemary Brown ! Overnight our lawyer becomes a fantastic concert pianist, and, after a first public concert in the Carnegie Hall, tours the world performing Schubert to rave reviews. Schubert soon starts to write new works through her, and she causes a huge stir performing them, and getting all the musicologists debating whether they are original or not. The story (which I don’t intend to give away) moves swiftly to a fairly predictable and not entirely satisfying conclusion revolving around ‘the unfinished’ in Vienna.
It seems fairly obvious that Schubert was chosen because Marson wanted to work the ‘unfinished’ into the plot, without which almost any other composer could have been chosen. Indeed, had Marson wanted us to believe all the details in the story, she would surely have chosen a composer who was a piano virtuoso, such as Chopin. But, of course, realism is not her intent, and it would be unnecessary: given that you have to suspend reality to even accept the basic premise of the plot, mere facts like Schubert’s lack of virtuosity, or the invented relations he dreams about in flashbacks are of no consequence.
Schubert is not a mere passenger in the novel. You want to believe the description of the look of joy on her face when Schubert is composing through her. Schubert breaks free a little from time to time, and usually has a little footnote at the end of each chapter. Some of these are meant to be profound, others light-hearted. For instance, early on, we get:
The mystery, the business of woman. How often did I steal a glance at a woman’s bodice, imagining the wonders beneath her skirts ? I know these mysteries now. They are divine and mundane, like a man’s.
I must admit I was more than pleasantly surprised with the book. In fact, once I started to read it, I found it difficult to put down, and because it is light reading (an ideal holiday read) it doesn’t take long to complete. I approached it with a huge degree of scepticism, and anticipated that it might be awful. But it is much better than you have any right to expect from the précis of the plot. This is largely because it is so well written: I really enjoyed her writing style. There is plenty of humour and irony, there are lots of quirky characters, and she takes every opportunity to make gentle attacks on targets such as Californians, New Yorkers, lawyers, psychologists, the media, musicians and so on. As long as you can suspend belief, and not get irritated by all the inaccuracies, you will probably find it hugely enjoyable.