Accordion Crimes (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1996; vuoden 1996 painos)

Abandoned this one. Each of the sections I got through was interesting enough, but I lost interest in the book as a whole and it began to be a slog for me, so after a couple of weeks of slogging, I abandoned it.

This book reminded me so much of [book:Girl in Hyacinth Blue|321577]. Proulx's book actually came first. In this novel, we follow a small green accordion. It is masterfully made by an Italian immigrant, spends decades with a German immigrant who loves it and plays it constantly, and then it moves on to other owners, becoming more rundown as it ages. In the end, it gives up its last gifts.

Girl in Hyacinth Blue is one of my favorite books, I loved how the painting is the main character of the book. I also like how it goes backward in time, tracing the provenance of the painting through the centuries. In this book, we are following the accordion forward through about 100 years. But each of these chapters focuses on the people around the accordion, and less on the accordion. The people have adventures, the accordion does not. In some of the chapters, the accordion barely makes an appearance. I think Proulx had a very interesting idea here, but could not quite flesh it out. Vreeland's similar idea works so much better IMO.

I listened to this on Hoopla, and there was accordion music sprinkled between some chapters, other chapter breaks were such dead silence that I thought it had paused itself. I'm not sure if there are issues with the Hoopla audio book (it also thought it was 45 minutes longer than it was), or if my download didn't work quite right. 3 stars because of the accordion music, the book itself is 2.5 stars for me--middling.

My 100th book of 2019! ( )

4.5 Stars ( )

oh boy... this is a tough one to rate. i adore annie proulx, and her writing is so good. but, man, did this book draaaaag for me, and i am not totally sure why. the book is a series of connected short stories, with the common denominator being an accordion. each character who ends up with the little green accordion is well portrayed by proulx, and some of the settings are very vividly created. and yet, i found it so clunky and disjointed. i never got into a good flow with this, and it feels like i've been reading this book for months and months. it was a clever idea to base these stories around the travels of the accordion, and the lives into which it landed. i wish i enjoyed reading it so much more than i did. 4-stars for the writing. 2-stars for the stories. ( )

> Par celiatas (Le Livre de Poche) : Le tour du monde en 80 livres...
À la fin du XIXe siècle, un Sicilien débarque à La Nouvelle-Orléans, accompagné de son fils et d'un magnifique accordéon. Passant de main en main, l'instrument devient le héros du livre. Il accompagne les tribulations des émigrants : Allemands du Middle West, Polonais de Chicago, Norvégiens du Minnesota... Tous ces miséreux de l'Europe gagnés par le rêve du Nouveau Monde sont les personnages d'un roman-fleuve grandiose comme une épopée.
Annie Proulx nous conte l'Amérique avec une vigueur et une puissance dignes de Steinbeck ou de Dos Passos.

National Book Award et prix Pulitzer.

> Tant d'ambition et de talent, une imagination aussi proliférante, montrés par un auteur qui se veut démiurge omniscient, laissent pantois. --Christophe Mercier, Le Point