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Half-blood Blues
eBook - 2011
The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe and never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black. Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero's bandmate and the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there's more to the journey than he thought.
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Publisher:
Toronto :, Thomas Allen Publishers,, [2011]
ISBN:
9780887629587
088762958X
0887627412
9780887627415
0886194563
9780886194567
088762958X
0887627412
9780887627415
0886194563
9780886194567
Branch Call Number:
DOWNLOADABLE E-BOOK
Characteristics:
1 online resource
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Add a Summary"Berlin, 1939. The Hot-Time Swingers, a popular German American jazz band, have been forbidden to play live because the Nazis have banned their 'degenerate music.' After escaping to Paris, where they meet Louis Armstrong, the band's brilliant young trumpet-player, Hieronymus Falk, is arrested in a café by the Gestapo. It is June 1940. He is never heard from again. He is twenty years old, a German citizen. And he is black. Berlin, 1992. Falk, now a jazz legend, is the subject of a celebratory documentary. Two of the original Hot-Time Swingers American band members, Sid Griffiths and Chip Jones, are invited to attend the film's premier in Berlin. As they return to the landscape of their past friendships, rivalries, loves and betrayals, Sid, the only witness to Falk's disappearance who has always refused to speak about what happened, is forced to break his silence. Sid recreates the lost world of Berlin's pre-war smoky bars, and the salons of Paris, telling his vibrant and suspenseful story in German American slang. Half-Blood Blues is a novel about music and race, love and loyalty, and marks the arrival of an extraordinarily 'gifted storyteller' (The Toronto Star)"-
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Add a CommentI loved this book. The ending came together a bit fast and neatly tied up, but other than that I loved the book. It reminded me of my time in Paris over one winter and also all the jazz I go hear in Greenwich Village when I lived in New York.
Phenomenal book. Loved every page of it. Thank you Esi. :)
Wonderful description of the times from that real-time awareness. Great characters and language of the people.
Recommended, especially for the music scene in pre-WWII Berlin and Paris.
7 out of 10. Enjoyed it, but the ending felt a little rushed since the whole story was about finding the guy
Amazing book! A wonderful treat to read. I learned more about jazz as well as the persecution of African heritage people by Germans in ww2. The dialect really grew on me. Very engrossing!
This book did not engage me much at all. At the beginning I had to acclimatize my ear to the dialect and wrap my head around the many jazz references. This led to some skipping of pages. Throughout the whole narrative I felt more for Chip, the friend, than I did for Sid the narrator (maybe I was supposed to). At times the transition from WWII Germany and France to modern day Poland was a bit awkward and I lost the rhythm of the tale. It was an interesting premise and I had some thoughts as to the outcome, but the real ending left me just a bit hanging - a big lead-up to what I thought was a fizzle.
The lives and the passion of being a musician and in the arts - blacks suffering during the Nazi occupations
I was disappointed. I expected this book to be more interesting -it's topic should be super interesting- and yet I found it lacking. It had a lull in the middle that made it hard to get through...
It took me a while to warm up to this novel, but after I did, I found the story fascinating and moving. The author does a terrific job of depicting a time and place. The friendship between the musicians is moving and I liked that Louis Armstrong was included as a character. The dialogue is some of the most inventive and witty I have ever read. I loved the voices in this book. As for being a Canada Reads contender, I'm not sure how this is a book that will "change Canada." It will be interesting to see how it's defended, because I don't think this book will inspire social change.