#frog music

[241cookies]

So. Which one of you fuckers is gonna make music out of these frogs?

[emilytakesphoto]

i only listen to real music

[screwyouandrew]

[korva-the-raven]

Frogs in the creek at sundown. Sound on.

[fromthelibrary]

I’ve finally managed to finish reading Emma Donoghue’s Frog Music, the last book I borrowed before the library shut down. It took a long time for me to work my way through it, not because of any flaw in the book itself, but because it was just sometimes a bit much for the mental space I’ve been in while stuck inside. 

I was hoping that this would be a fast paced ride through an Old West type of setting, as Blanche tries to stay one step ahead of a killer and find justice for her friend. It’s not quite that. Instead it’s an incredibly detailed portrait of San Francisco as an overly crowded, cobbled together city, where citizens live practically on top of each other in grime and squalor, but use the anonymity of the city to reinvent themselves, to live their lives in ways that would be impossible anywhere else. Meanwhile, the city is being slowly suffocated under an unrelenting heatwave and a smallpox epidemic. The details about smallpox, and the way people were handling the epidemic, was among the reasons I found this a bit much to read right now. 

The timeline jumps back and forth; beginning at the moment of the shooting and then skipping backwards and forwards in time to explain how Blanche met and befriended Jenny Bonnet, at the same time that we see Blanche struggling to do justice for her friend and do what’s right for her son. While Jenny is charming and likable from the beginning, Blanche comes across as unpleasant in the beginning and becomes more sympathetic as the story goes on. Arthur and Ernest on the other hand, enter the scene as a lazy, vain, but seemingly harmless pair, so much so that you wonder how Blanche could suspect Arthur of being the killer, and then become increasingly despicable as you learn more about them and the narrative surrounding the shooting unravels. 

As for the mystery elements of the story, that comes across as slightly underplayed compared to Blanche’s struggle to survive and save her son. It felt to me that Blanche stumbled upon the truth of the crime not so much through investigation as by accident. 

I want to recommend this book to anyone who loves vividly written historical fiction and particularly historical fiction written about real people and events. Especially since in this case, it’s a novel about people who have been ignored by traditional historical narratives. If you’re interested in the history of music or dance, this might also hold a special interest for you. That said, please be aware that this book contains graphic descriptions of severe illness and injury, violence, child abuse and neglect, sex, and sexual assault, as well as some pretty severe racist, sexist and homophobic language

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Fiction Set in 19th Century America The Best Bad Thing by Karina Carrasco The Whale by Mark Beauregard Frog Music by Emma Donoghue Bittersweet by Nevada Barr Patience & Sarah by Isabel Miller

[thegraceofebonee]

I don't understand these frog posts, but I thought I'd contribute with this masterpiece. 🐸

[therobinsonwayoflife]