Li a sinopse e a história pareceu-me interessante, para além de ser de autoria japonesa (ando meio obcecada com literatura japonesa desde há uns tempos para cá), então decidi comprá-lo. Aya is a piano genius, well, she was, until she ran away from the stage and vanished; will Makun, tall and talented in every way, bring her back? The narrator, soon established as Elliot Chase, then zooms out to address the reader directly, introducing the players—most importantly movie star Lana Farrar.

Onda's rich descriptions capture often elusive topics—music and longing—and bring the classical repertoire to vivid life. Honeybees and Distant Thunder is Onda’s third book to be translated into English, this time with Haruki Murakami veteran Philip Gabriel taking the reins. She beautifully conveys the transcendent power of classical music in all its emotive, psychological, and visceral glory. While moving smoothly among multiple points of view, Onda concentrates on four of the more unusual contestants. Mas senti-me tomada e levada ao céu por este livro, que descreve um concurso internacional de piano no Japão, a partir do ponto de vista de alguns membros do júri e também dos concorrentes (cada um com os seus bloqueios, medos ou inseguranças a ultrapassar) mas sobretudo a afinidade entre a música e a natureza e a forma como a música nos pode fazer sentir, em contacto connosco próprios, com os outros e com a nossa história.

NB: Some text from the original Japanese displaying programme details has been omitted from the translation and is due to be reinserted. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. This isn’t a cutthroat read about intrigue at a competition or even exactly suspenseful, it’s almost restful and idyllic. Beloved in Japan, Riku Onda immerses us in the world of music—from piano masterpieces to the buzz of bees and the rumble of thunder—which crescendos to a surprising ending in this rich and vibrant novel. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three students will experience some of the most joyous - and painful - moments of their lives.

While music is something that can be understood by all, it can be hard to pin down and put into words. Fiquei muito comovida com esta característica do livro e dei por mim a chorar ao ler algumas partes, não de tristeza porque não é um livro triste, mas de felicidade por eles, por tudo o que alcançaram ao longo das 2 semanas. Over the course of two feverish weeks, three friends will experience some of the most joyous - and painful - moments of their lives. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.It’s a cut-throat and terrifying industry, and unless you come from a wealthy household, it would be difficult to begin and continue playing. Hotjar sets this cookie to know whether a user is included in the data sampling defined by the site's pageview limit. I've had the advance copy for a while, I'll admit, and never felt hugely drawn to read it despite my initial interest. Onda’s novel is both about people’s reactions to music and about the skill that it takes to wrest divine truths from notes applied to paper. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Synaesthetic and devout, it locates such meaning in the evolving work of four central talents: Akashi, who at twenty-eight is aging out of being able to consider music as a career path; Jin, untested on the contest circuit, whose gifts rise from somewhere primal and crystalline; and Aya and Masaru, who met music together as children, lost each other, and are delighted to reconnect on Yoshigae’s stage. Jin unnerves everyone from the get-go because he acts like he’s doing whatever he wants, but he ends up doing just that. Round 1 is incredibly longer than the other rounds, and we don’t get the full scope of the romance aspects.Honeybees and Distant Thunder follows the course of a prestigious international piano competition and some of the remarkable pianists who are competing for their own various, deeply felt reasons. I was afraid I would get bored because I knew pretty much nothing about classical music let alone their world, never did I think I’d be so invested in something I have no active passion for. Payments made using National Book Tokens are processed by National Book Tokens Ltd, and you can read their Terms and Conditions here. Driven young people face off at a prestigious Japanese piano competition in this propulsive and poetic novel.