The Songs

A story of the Herzl family, each chapter from a different person’s standpoint. I didn’t find the characters particularly engaging, but thankfully the twist in the tale really did save the day- I definitely didn’t see it coming, and it spurred me on to finish the book.

The Songs chronicles the life of the Herzl family and friends. Iz Herzl is a political activist and singer, now in his 80s with ailing health. The narrative is shared between various people whose lives intersect with Iz’s in some way. The main characters are his first child Joseph, from whom he is now estranged and whose musical career is struggling, Rose and Huddie, two later children who are in their teens and still live at home but have never met Joseph, and a collection of wives/ex-wives, friends and associates. As each character tells their history in alternating chapters, we discover more about their pasts and the character’s lives start to converge.

Whilst I did not fall in love with this book, it did grow on me as I got to know the characters. We learn quite a lot about the narrators as we are privy to their thoughts and feelings as they reveal their stories. It is gentle and slow-paced, possibly too much so at times. There are some poignant observations and a twist in the tale which nearly saves the day.

On the down side, the book is fairly unremarkable. I could not really relate to many of the characters and thought they could have been developed better. However, the main problem that I had with it was the very large cast list. As each of the characters tell their stories, they introduce a large cast of peripheral characters that impinged on their lives and these can be difficult to keep track of at the best of times. In this particular instance the problem is exacerbated because of the way the book is structured. I only meet these people every few chapters when that particular narrator takes his next turn - in the meantime I have been following the lives of completely different people with a completely different cast list. By the time I return to a particular narrator, I may just about be able to remember who he is, but the rest of the cast list has escaped my memory completely. This meant that there was a lot of flicking back through the pages and skimming passages that I had already read in order to try and make some sense of it all. The reality is that the very minor characters don’t actually matter very much, but I didn’t know that at the time and it was irritating to have to read half the book again in order to place them.

Whilst I certainly did not fall in love with the book, I would not dismiss it out of hand. It is worth reading and, with some reservations, I would recommend it.

This provided a lively discussion for our September book group read. Told from the viewpoint of a teenage girl plus sections telling the stories of other characters woven in, The Songs fits in many themes such as activism, dysfunctional families, disability, teenage angst and others which would give away certain story archs! There was a lot to talk about, we didn't like all of the characters and felt it was Rose's story rather an Iz's. There may have been too many ideas and storylines packed into a relatively short novel which could have been explored further.

Interesting and effective characterisation, but slightly confusing timescale. Our reading group found it difficult sometimes to follow the relationships of the characters. However, worth a read especially if you like exploring dysfunctional family dynamics.