Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Use this Topic to discuss books you are reading or that fit the 10th Scavenger Hunt task.

Task 10: Read a book that mentions an actual musical composition (either instrumental and/or vocal).

Would The Tin Drum by Günter Grass work?

Female authors - A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan or Jazz by Toni Morrison

Rose wrote: "Would The Tin Drum by Günter Grass work?"

I've read it and don't recall any musical compositions being mentioned.

The Kreutzer Sonata seems like the most obvious choice.

Alec wrote: "The Kreutzer Sonata seems like the most obvious choice."

Composed by Beethoven, dedicated to a master violinist of his day.
This novella is available as an e-audiobook at Librivox.org, read by a volunteer. I think Amazon also has it as a free kindle ebook, “The Kreutzer Sonata & Other Stories”.
I wanted to read this some day anyway, so I will probably go with this.

I think Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell mentions some compositions; not sure if they are real or fictional, it's been a while since I read it.

Feel like I have to go with The Christmas Oratorio unless I read another book with a reference in it first.

The Master and Margarita mentions the opera Eugene Onegin

Doctor Faustus?

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski has a couple measures of sheet music as one of the "clues".

Alec wrote: "The Kreutzer Sonata seems like the most obvious choice."

The Radetzky March is another obvious choice

Amanda wrote: "Feel like I have to go with The Christmas Oratorio unless I read another book with a reference in it first."


Think I'm actually going to go with The Ground Beneath Her Feet. The titular song is written within the book, and was later recorded by U2.

Far From the Madding Crowd -- the hymn "Lead, Kindly Light."

The Razor's Edge mentions the opera Berenice

The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal has "...the famous Signora P——— sang that once-popular aria by Cimarosa: Quelle pupille tenere!" which according to the notes likely refers to the real life opera singer Giuditta Pasta singing that real life aria.

Against the Grain by Joris-Karl Huysmans references the Te Deum by (possibly) Saint Hilary

Steppenwolf mentions a few actual compositions. I will be going with Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Odd one - Gravity’s Rainbow mentions “Wozzeck”

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides mentions about a dozen rock and roll songs.

Read the Grapes of Wrath where some songs are mentioned such as Ten cent cotton and forty cent meat. Does it count or did it have to be classical?

Perfectly OK. Nothing says it has to be Classical.

Would Nick Hornsby “High Fidelity “ be ok for this one?

Pequita wrote: "Would Nick Hornsby “High Fidelity “ be ok for this one?"

It's not on the list, so unfortunately no.

Thank you I’m new to this challenge- so all books have to be in the list ?

Is there a quick way to check what’s in the list?

Try here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

The Engineer of Human Souls has many German, Czech, and Soviet folk songs.

Never Let Me Go may be a sneaky contender, as well. The song referenced in the title only existed as lyrics in the book, but was set to music in 2010 for the movie adaptation.

I’m reading Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, which refers to the Scottish song The Flowers of the Forest several times, including its musical notation.

I'm reading The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro which features a lot of music.
The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr by E.T.A. Hoffmann which I read a few weeks ago would also work here.

In Aaron's Rod the main character is a flautist and plays classical compositions throughout the book. A few are mentioned specifically by name.

I finished reading Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry. There is so much music throughout the book that I gave up keeping track of all it. The book mentions a Schubert quintet, “Blue Moon”, Wooden Heart" by Elvis, “Fly me to the Moon”, “Tea for Two”, “Green, Green Grass of Home”, “The Great Waltz”, Love is a Many Splendored Thing”, Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier, Sarasate’s Zapateado, and much, much more. One character plays the violin for a symphony orchestra and most of the pieces she plays are named.

I read Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter. Music is referred to continuously throughout the book. Some examples are 'The Ride of the Valkyries', 'Habanera' from Carmen, 'Onegin' and 'Fidelio' by Beethoven.

Embers by Sandor Marai mentions Chopin's Polonaise-Fantaisie.

I'm reading 1Q84 for this one. Janáček's Sinfonietta is featured heavily throughout.

Just finished The Kreutzer Sonata, so the composition is named in the title (a concerto by Beethoven).

A Bend in the River mentions "Barbara Allen" by Joan Baez.

Middlemarch mentions various folk songs.

H(A)PPY mentions the music of Agustin Barrios in the Author's note as well as later on.

I also chose the February book club pick: Embers by Sándor Márai which mentions a piece by Chopin. This book, despite most of it being one long monologue, was gripping and I read it very fast. I highly recommend using it for this challenge!

I'm listening to A Clockwork Orange for one of the other tasks, but it contains reference to many compositions if anyone's still looking for inspiration.