At the risk of showing my age, last night I saw Peter Gabriel in concert. I've been a fan ever since I bought his solo album So in 1986. It was back in the day when I bought cassettes using the money I earned from my part-time job as a "checkout chick". I played it so much I stretched the tape. But honestly, it got me through my last two years of secondary school and has a really special spot in my heart. It would definitely make my Desert Island Discs.
Last night's gig at the O2 arena here in London was a bit different though. No drums, no guitars. The two-hour set was performed with a full-scale orchestra: the sound was goose-bump inducing and much more exciting and visceral than I ever could have possibly imagined.
What's this got to do with books, I hear you say? Well, it got me thinking. Music is one of my great loves. I inherited a love of 60s music from my parents (think the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Byrds and so on), but my generation encompassed the tail end of punk, 80s electro pop, Australian pub rock and Brit pop. (Funnily enough, somewhere along the line I also developed an interest in Irish folk music, which mirrors my interest in Irish literature.)
Before the advent of digital music, I amassed a huge collection of CDs. And, as luck would have it, when I met Mr Reading Matters, otherwise known as Other Half, more than 10 years ago I discovered his collection looked remarkably similar to mine. We'd grown up on two different sides of the world but shared the same (good) taste in music!
Given that my other great love is books, you could understand why I might want to marry up both interests, but do you think I have ever read a really cracking novel about music? Umm, no.
I read Iain Banks' Espedair Street about 20 years ago knowing it was about a bass player in a rock'n'roll band. But it didn't seem to ring true. Maybe because I couldn't hear the music, it all seemed a bit lame.
I read Ann Patchett's Bel Canto, about an opera singer held hostage, and hated it.
I did, however, very much love Claire Kilroy's Tenderwire, a literary thriller about a violinist caught up in the criminal underworld. But that book was less about music and more about crime.
So this is where I ask for your help. Can you recommend any novels where music plays a key role? I'd love to hear your suggestions...
