What effect did having the violin narrate portions of the story have on your reading experience? How did it change your relationship to the instrument?
It made the story more mythical for me and less realistic. I think my relationship to the instrument became more distant. Sometimes I felt like I was reading a fairy tale. I might have appreciated the history of the journey of the violin more without the violin being a narrator. I do have mixed feelings about this however since I also found the violin’s voice touching. (Still thinking about this aspect of the book!) The Violin Maker’s Secret was a good read for me, but I would not look for other stories with this feature.
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I thought that the violin as a narrator added to the magic of the violin and it’s/her power.
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It helped with understanding of the violin’s history. I didn’t have a relationship with the violin.
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I thought it was a bit silly at first but then became used to her comments!
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It enhanced the story for me by embodying the instrument with the spirit of the woman that the violin maker lost.
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I thought it was weird , then I realized it kind of helped tell the story.
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I really liked these chapters. It made the violin come alive and be another character. The reader got to know another side of the story and understand what was happening to the violin. The passages connected the time line of the violin.
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I enjoyed the magical aspect of this novel. I never thought of it as the violin, I always thought of her as Clara.
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I enjoyed the narrative as I felt the violin became the voice of Clara. The violin helped me understand the people who were entrusted with it’s care through the ages.
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I enjoyed the violin’s narration. It made you understand how special and important this violin was.
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I loved the magical aspect of the novel. It shows the importance of the violin and how the history is embedded to it - the violin experienced all the people who were connected to it.
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It gave the instrument a personality. In this story we see the violin less as an object and more as an active participant in the narrative. Acts as a keeper of memory.
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It was my favorite part of the book. I thought the entire book could have been from the violin’s point of view.
Like Shirl, I felt this part of the story read almost as a fairy tale. It could have been an entire book by itself and I would have enjoyed it. Sometimes I was not happy to be going back and forth from past to present. Having so much magical realism in a story which also included inappropriate behavior toward a young woman did not always work for me.
I realize that it was a good way to tell the historical part of the story but I didn’t really like it.
The violin being personified added to the richness of the story. Each chapter narrated by the violin gave us a glimpse into the birth and the history of the instrument. It also created a tension of how did this beautiful instrument survive all these fates in order to end up in Devlin, Walter and Gabrielle’s hands.
I really enjoyed the refreshing perspective of the violin’s voice. It gave a new dimension to the life of music and how it plays a role in our lives.
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I liked learning about the violin’s history, and the violin’s perspective of each owner. It helped me understand that the life of the violin was long and varied.
If just came across as trying too hard to be creative, and I just found the violin chapters to be a waste of time.