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merrysociopath's review
4.0
Recensione completa qui: http://ilsociopatico.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/recensione-a-small-price-to-pay-for-birdsong-di-k-j-parker/
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong è una storia tipicamente parkeriana, ambientata in un universo secondario (che rimanda, per alcuni elementi, tipo la menzione del Sole Invincibile, all’impero romano o bizantino, mentre per altri, tipo la burocrazia e le royalties, a un mondo rinascimentale – e mi piace pensare che la storia sia ambientata in un universo che è la somma di questi due) in cui tuttavia non c’è traccia di elementi fantasy come la magia, caratterizzata da una morale in scala di grigi e con sottotesti tragici. È notevole la caratterizzazione dei personaggi e il modo in cui è affrontato il tema della passione.
E poi è gratis, che cosa volete di più?
A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong è una storia tipicamente parkeriana, ambientata in un universo secondario (che rimanda, per alcuni elementi, tipo la menzione del Sole Invincibile, all’impero romano o bizantino, mentre per altri, tipo la burocrazia e le royalties, a un mondo rinascimentale – e mi piace pensare che la storia sia ambientata in un universo che è la somma di questi due) in cui tuttavia non c’è traccia di elementi fantasy come la magia, caratterizzata da una morale in scala di grigi e con sottotesti tragici. È notevole la caratterizzazione dei personaggi e il modo in cui è affrontato il tema della passione.
E poi è gratis, che cosa volete di più?
thegreekie's review
3.0
Plot (Story / Pacing / Ending): 4/5
Characters (Characters / Development): 4/5
Writing (Prose / Dialogue / Style): 3/5
Other (Enjoyment / Read Pace / Worldbuilding / Etc): 3/5
Characters (Characters / Development): 4/5
Writing (Prose / Dialogue / Style): 3/5
Other (Enjoyment / Read Pace / Worldbuilding / Etc): 3/5
scottishben's review
3.0
Like The Sun and I this is a fantasy that is in a secondary world that seems very similar to our world of history but having this as "fantasy" enables the author to play free and easy with stuff (such as having two well known composers who do not exist).
Its a fun, rye read. Not convinced by the idea that great art is created by not caring about the art which is kind of the way the story plays out but that doesnt stop the story being fun and it is good to have a story with intrigue and excitement that is not just about a sword for hire or a typical fantasy hero.
Its a fun, rye read. Not convinced by the idea that great art is created by not caring about the art which is kind of the way the story plays out but that doesnt stop the story being fun and it is good to have a story with intrigue and excitement that is not just about a sword for hire or a typical fantasy hero.
arkron's review
5.0
From my blog:
The story draw me in from the first line and didn't let go: Given the first scene in the prison when the genius musician Subtilius waited for his last hour without finishing his best piece of music, I catched Iron Maiden's Hallowed be thy Name as an earworm (although the music is completely different).
As setting, Parker gives us an alternate baroquian world, touching the idea of Mozart (impersonated by Subtilius) vs. Salieri (by the unnamed narrator) but develops it in a completely different form.
The unnamed narrator is a renowned assistant professor who knows all about symphonic structure but misses the genius "wings" of his student Subtilius. The story explores the reason for this failure: it is all about letting go your sorrows, in this case mostly worrying about money:
like a duke scattering coins to the crowd from a balcony. Of course, the old duke used to have the coins heated in a brazier first. I still have little white scars on my fingertips.
This is one sample where Parker's narration is executed masterfully: the little picture of burned fingers when he grabbed hot coins signing him forever. This worrying about money drives the next impulse in the wonderful exposition: Subtilius escapes the prison and asks his teacher for help with a symphony written in his style only enormously better, and ready for selling. Is it plagiarism when the creator asks for it, and how does the co-creation of teacher and student work? By accepting this positively perverted piece of work, he took mental wounds, just like the physical wounds when he grabbed the coins, and similarly, it will hurt forever. It was true, that he wasn't able to produce such a work at that time, but nevertheless, it hurt. Subtilius exactly knows how to manipulate his teacher, just like every child knows how to find his parents' sensitive wounds. Manipulative, cruel, murderous, but at the same time ingenious. This exchange, and the question how artists set free their creative wings, drive the story.
There is one interesting moral discussion, which stayed with me quite long: is the live of an unimportant person less worth than a creative masterpiece made for millenia? The characters in the story find different answers.
Parker escapes the easy twists, finds better turnings in the course of the plot, and comes to a great ending which picks up the story's title.
A clever tale with twists, an innovative background focusing on music, complex development of characters, a lovely narration with may little wow-effects. Just don't expect any action scenes.
I highly recommend this masterpiece, also as an introduction to Parker's work!
The story draw me in from the first line and didn't let go: Given the first scene in the prison when the genius musician Subtilius waited for his last hour without finishing his best piece of music, I catched Iron Maiden's Hallowed be thy Name as an earworm (although the music is completely different).
As setting, Parker gives us an alternate baroquian world, touching the idea of Mozart (impersonated by Subtilius) vs. Salieri (by the unnamed narrator) but develops it in a completely different form.
The unnamed narrator is a renowned assistant professor who knows all about symphonic structure but misses the genius "wings" of his student Subtilius. The story explores the reason for this failure: it is all about letting go your sorrows, in this case mostly worrying about money:
like a duke scattering coins to the crowd from a balcony. Of course, the old duke used to have the coins heated in a brazier first. I still have little white scars on my fingertips.
This is one sample where Parker's narration is executed masterfully: the little picture of burned fingers when he grabbed hot coins signing him forever. This worrying about money drives the next impulse in the wonderful exposition: Subtilius escapes the prison and asks his teacher for help with a symphony written in his style only enormously better, and ready for selling. Is it plagiarism when the creator asks for it, and how does the co-creation of teacher and student work? By accepting this positively perverted piece of work, he took mental wounds, just like the physical wounds when he grabbed the coins, and similarly, it will hurt forever. It was true, that he wasn't able to produce such a work at that time, but nevertheless, it hurt. Subtilius exactly knows how to manipulate his teacher, just like every child knows how to find his parents' sensitive wounds. Manipulative, cruel, murderous, but at the same time ingenious. This exchange, and the question how artists set free their creative wings, drive the story.
There is one interesting moral discussion, which stayed with me quite long: is the live of an unimportant person less worth than a creative masterpiece made for millenia? The characters in the story find different answers.
Parker escapes the easy twists, finds better turnings in the course of the plot, and comes to a great ending which picks up the story's title.
A clever tale with twists, an innovative background focusing on music, complex development of characters, a lovely narration with may little wow-effects. Just don't expect any action scenes.
I highly recommend this masterpiece, also as an introduction to Parker's work!
alarra's review
4.0
I love KJ Parker's clever and twisty tales of obsessions in this universe, the futility of competition, and the loneliness of winning with near-sociopathic protagonists who desperately grasp at their chances to win, to gain their desire.
And A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong is possibly my favourite of the lot, with a less talented teacher taking the opportunity steal for himself a fantastic piece of music composed by his talented but wayward student for the glory of it, or so it seems. I love long cons and this one constructs its revenge so well.
And A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong is possibly my favourite of the lot, with a less talented teacher taking the opportunity steal for himself a fantastic piece of music composed by his talented but wayward student for the glory of it, or so it seems. I love long cons and this one constructs its revenge so well.
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