I just finished The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb. It led me to ruminate about self-definition. It seems to me that what someone values most is what defines that individual. If you value money most, you are going to lead a very different life than someone who places the most value on tranquility or safety.
In the case of someone who is deeply involved with one of the arts, that art is likely to be what that individual values most. It is at the center of this person's existence. She or he will define themselves according to the role they take in the particular art.
Some roles require an object beyond the self. If you are a singer, you require nothing but your voice. Yet a violinist, like the protagonist of The Violin Conspiracy, needs a violin.
The skill with which the violinist plays is important, but the connection that the musician has to the violin may be equally important if not more so. Certainly, a singer performs best when she or he has a personal connection to the song. So the violinist will produce his or her best work with a violin to which he or she feels personally connected.
The protagonist's violin is incredibly valuable. It's a Stradivarius which means that it was made by the legendary luthier Antonius Stradivarius in the 18th century.
Below is a public domain image of Antonius Stradivarius in his workshop examining a violin.
The central character's violin was worth millions of dollars. Yet I felt that to Ray, the protagonist of The Violin Conspiracy, it mattered more that the violin had been his grandmother's and that she had given it to him. He wanted to be worthy of his grandmother's trust.
Some people dismiss an attachment to an object as "sentimental". Sentiment refers to emotion, and some emotions run deeper than others. For many people, there is no deeper emotional attachment than the one to family. It may seem strange to some readers, but for Ray his violin was part of his family.
So you can imagine how Ray felt when it went missing. It's mentioned in this book that musician Yo Yo Ma absentmindedly left his Stradivarius cello in a cab once. (There is an account of Yo Yo Ma's incident here .) There is absolutely no comparison, however, to the deliberate planned theft of Ray's violin in The Violin Conspiracy.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the role of racism in this novel. Ray is an African-American. Black violinists are uncommon. Being unable to afford lessons would tend to exclude many Black families from being able to support children who aspired to be violinists. This is an example of systemic racism. Ray also did meet with prejudice in the process of developing his musical career. There are numerous examples throughout the narrative.
In the Author's Note, Brendan Slocumb mentions that one of the professors he had in college thought that Blacks played Chopin so well because of the "jungle rhythms" in their blood. I wonder what this professor was implying about Chopin, the composer, whose work included "jungle rhythms". Of course, such a statement reflects more poorly on Slocumb's professor than on Chopin.
The Violin Conspiracy reflects very well on Brendan Slocumb. I thought it was excellent. It's the first novel that I've given a grade of A in some time. I didn't read any A rated fiction in 2022.
Oh, and by the way Slocumb is himself a violinist and a music educator. This novel lives and breathes music because Slocumb is the real deal. Go to Brendan Slocumb's website. I guarantee that you will be impressed.
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