#257 The Singing Woman- Rebecca Makkai
I have seen Rebecca Makkai’s short stories printed in
several Best American series, but they have finally been published as a
collection called Music for Wartime. Her work is poignant, emotional, and
written with an original voice, important and powerful.
This first piece isn’t truly a short story, but as we see
sometimes with themed collections, the book begins with a statement of purpose;
It’s a elegy, a lament, a psalm. Like an amuse bouche before a great meal, this
one bite of prose sets the tone for what’s to come.
A composer crosses enemy lines during a slaughter, hoping to
capture on record a dying music. He find the last three singers. “He lived with
them for a week and recorded…their songs, of which they were the world’s last
three singers. A song of lamentation, a song of mourning, a song of protest and
despair. They had forgotten the song for weddings.”
If that’s what we are to expect from Makkai, I think I’m
going to enjoy this book.
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