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    The Ensemble: A Novel
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    The Ensemble: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Ensemble: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    The Ensemble: A Novel

    Written by Aja Gabel

    Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The addictive novel about four young friends navigating the cutthroat world of classical music and their complex relationships with each other, as ambition, passion, and love intertwine over the course of their lives.

    Jana. Brit. Daniel. Henry. They would never have been friends if they hadn't needed each other. They would never have found each other except for the art which drew them together. They would never have become family without their love for the music, for each other.

    Brit is the second violinist, a beautiful and quiet orphan; on the viola is Henry, a prodigy who's always had it easy; the cellist is Daniel, the oldest and an angry skeptic who sleeps around; and on first violin is Jana, their flinty, resilient leader. Together, they are the Van Ness Quartet. After the group's youthful, rocky start, they experience devastating failure and wild success, heartbreak and marriage, triumph and loss, betrayal and enduring loyalty. They are always tied to each other—by career, by the intensity of their art, by the secrets they carry, by choosing each other over and over again.

    Following these four unforgettable characters, Aja Gabel's debut novel gives a riveting look into the high-stakes, cutthroat world of musicians, and of lives made in concert. The story of Brit and Henry and Daniel and Jana, The Ensemble is a heart-skipping portrait of ambition, friendship, and the tenderness of youth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 15, 2018
    ISBN9780525528364
    Unavailable
    The Ensemble: A Novel

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    Reviews for The Ensemble

    3.5/5

    77 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I loved the writing in this one, but sometimes struggle to connect with the characters. It follows the lives of a string quartet over two decades. It reminded me a little bit of The Interestings. Henry is the prodigy who rarely worries about anything. Daniel is poor, a ladies man and very defensive and aggressive about his background. Jana is the driving force in the group. She's had to fight for everything she has after growing up with a flighty mother. Brit is an orphan who falls for Daniel despite how that complicates the quartet. “The inadequacy of human mourning was part of the horror...Music solved the inadequacy with extra human expression, if only temporarily.”
    • 1/5
      The book follows the lives of four close, very talented, very well trained members of a string quartet who met in music school and decided that they would be more successful if they joined together. The book follows the quartet they formed. It travels through the years as they study, perform and love each other and others. The book follows their relationships with each other and new lovers as they grow and mature. I found it really hard to get into it. I was not interested in their sex lives. They seemed like driven characters with shallow values other than ambition. I did not feel any attachment to the characters, each of whom seemed obsessed with their self-serving side, a selfish side, a jealous side. I did not find any likeable.Jana sleeps her way to the top, even to coerce a judge into choosing she and her friends as the winners. She cheats and keeps it secret, justifies the behavior to herself. She does not want the group to break up. She does not want to become a music teacher. Both of her parents are dead. Brit is somewhat jealous of Jana. She is not as secure or driven in the same way. Jana is sometimes subtly cruel to her. Henry is the prodigy of the group. He is also rich. Daniel and Jana had financial issues. Daniel and Brit had a relationship with each other and others. Jana had a relationship with Henry and others. Henry was pretty much the only one with an intact family. Jana parents had died. The relationships between the characters soon became stale for me. This one pined for that one, this one slept with that one, etc. They were sometimes unkind to each other, as well. They seemed to sometimes characters screw up their lives and the lives of each other without really thinking about the consequences of their behavior. They just acted out and then cried over the spilt milk. The narrator’s voice seemed to either drone or over interpret. Often, I simply zoned out or even fell asleep during the audio. I could not finish it. I read about ¼ of the book and gave up.
    • 4/5
      A character focused book that will appeal to people who enjoy understanding what makes people tick more than what happens to them. Clearly this will either be enjoyed by a reader or thought to be an utter waste of time. I really liked it!
    • 4/5
      This was an interesting look into the classical musical world and the dedication it takes to make a quartet work as a team. If you’ve read my other reviews, you know that I don’t have much patience for people who “just need to get on with their lives”, but as I pondered the four people in this novel I realize I’ve never had the passion about something, and their passion for music is foremost in their lives.
    • 4/5
      A while back I decided to quit reading most of the summarys posted for books. The reason I stopped doing this is that I felt too much of the book was being given away. I do, however, read the first paragraph of these summarys, just to get a general idea of the book. I was drawn to this one because it stated it was an addictive read, plus it was about music, and seemed a little different from that which I usually read. Surprisingly enough I did find this addictive.The lives of four member of a musical quartet, two men, one a prodigy on the viola, one a cello player and two women violinists. How they came together, their hopes for their careers, how they try to balance having a personal life while maintaining and rising in a career that takes everything. It is divided into four sections, the heading of each section includes a musical score. I looked for these on YouTube and played them as I read along. In the beginning I was quickly taken by two of these members, the other two were more difficult for me to like. One had a giant chip on his shoulder, and one of the woman seemed cold, unbendable, but as I read, as the characters grew along with their careers, matured in their playing and personalities, I embraced all four. I loved how the author marked the passage of time, eighteen years they would play together, knowing each other better in many ways than their partners in life. I enjoyed so much about this book, following these very flawed characters, their love for their music, the difficulties in maintaining a relationship with each other, and lastly how far they progressed emotionally and musically after all those years. "It had to do with time. Time looked different when you were young, and whatever foolishness you engaged in was undiluted-thsre was always the possibility that the next promised moment would carry you somewhere else,always the possibility of more flames, more beats, more life. Time, when you were older,was smethng different, irregular."ARC from Edelweiss.
    • 4/5
      Young talented classical musicians Jana, Brit, Daniel, and Henry form the string quartet at the center of this novel. Friendships, love affairs, marriages, children, success, and failure are explored and considered as the story follows the quartet for 20 years. A look at the world of classical music from the inside.
    • 4/5
      This novel encompasses about 15 years in the lives of a musical ensemble comprised of two young men and women. The author delves into the minds of all of them and it is wonderful to see their evolution over that period of time, personally and professionally. We are also allowed into their personal stories . . . where they came from and who they came from and the lessons learned. I became engaged with all the characters and just loved the story and the prose.
    • 3/5
      The storyline was ok. But there is soooo much narration in this book. And the narration doesn’t always drive the action or develop the characters. It’s like reading Charles Dickens. Not my style of storytelling.
    • 4/5
      It is the story of 4 individuals coming together and forming a quartet. Each character is well developed and unique. I truly enjoyed the relationship they shared among themselves. Which if you are a part of a very intense group you know is not always love. They had so much more between them and love, admiration, jealousy, comradeship, was all part of it. I would recommend this book.
    • 2/5
      I stopped reading about 20% in. As a cellist who loved playing in string quartets, I enjoyed the detailed discussion of music in the book, but that was all I enjoyed. The characters weren't at all likeable or even very relatable. The book is mostly just descriptions of what the characters think as they navigate relationships and potential careers, and I found it tedious and uninteresting. Clearly this book is not for everyone.
    • 1/5
      I don't quite know what to say, I do know that I was bored, the characters were flat, predictable, boring, and not very likable....A quartet, playing together through music school: a podigy violist; a serious violinist; a enabling violist; & an egotistical selfish arse of a cellist.....They grow up together, apart together, back together, highs & lows... and they are flat boring people... I don't quite know what to say, I do know that I was bored, the characters were flat, predictable, boring, and not very likable....A quartet, playing together through music school: Henry, a podigy violist; Jana (who was supposed to be "mean" but she wasn't) a serious violinist; Brit, a enabling violist in love with - Daniel, a mean, jealous, petty, egotistical, selfish arse of a cellist.....They grow up together, apart together, back together, highs & lows... and they are flat boring people... making for a flat boring book.