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Instruments and Paradise
Oct. 8th, 2025 03:55 pmThe Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable is set in the early 1700s in Venice and charts the life of Anna Maria della Pieta, a young woman abandoned at an orphanage at birth, who grew up to be one of the most celebrated violinists of the age. She was taught by Vivaldi, and the novel fills in the gaps of her story, suggesting she may have had quite an influence on his music.
It took me a while to get into this book, since I didn't like Anna Maria much, especially as an eight-year-old, but also in her later teenage years. She shows unbridled ambition and self-absorption, to the exclusion of all else, and to the detriment of her friendships with other girls in the orphanage.
But the book is well written and vivid in its depiction of 18th century Venice and the world of these girls in particular. It's a fascinating portrait of the orchestra and Vivaldi's involvement with it, though it also has heavy themes of patriarchy, misogyny, abuse of power, marginalisation due to both gender and class, and a very toxic institutional environment.
It was very good, though I'm not sure I really enjoyed it - I was ultimately glad I persevered, though. I initially feared the ending would be too harsh, then that it would be too easy - and it managed to find a balance between the two, which was satisfying.
Paradise Lost by John Milton - in graphic novel form by Pablo Auladell - is an interesting way to tell the story of the fall of Lucifer and the ejection of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. It's not done in an art style that particularly appeals to me, but I really liked how the different realms and allegiances were denoted by text box colour - and some of the full-page spreads were quite spectacular. I enjoyed revisiting some of Milton's poetry and the reading experience as a whole was a good one.
It took me a while to get into this book, since I didn't like Anna Maria much, especially as an eight-year-old, but also in her later teenage years. She shows unbridled ambition and self-absorption, to the exclusion of all else, and to the detriment of her friendships with other girls in the orphanage.
But the book is well written and vivid in its depiction of 18th century Venice and the world of these girls in particular. It's a fascinating portrait of the orchestra and Vivaldi's involvement with it, though it also has heavy themes of patriarchy, misogyny, abuse of power, marginalisation due to both gender and class, and a very toxic institutional environment.
It was very good, though I'm not sure I really enjoyed it - I was ultimately glad I persevered, though. I initially feared the ending would be too harsh, then that it would be too easy - and it managed to find a balance between the two, which was satisfying.
Paradise Lost by John Milton - in graphic novel form by Pablo Auladell - is an interesting way to tell the story of the fall of Lucifer and the ejection of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. It's not done in an art style that particularly appeals to me, but I really liked how the different realms and allegiances were denoted by text box colour - and some of the full-page spreads were quite spectacular. I enjoyed revisiting some of Milton's poetry and the reading experience as a whole was a good one.
