Die Unvollendete

by Michel Faber, Hans-Ulrich Möhring (Übersetzer)

The Courage Consort, possibly the seventh best-known a cappella vocal ensemble in Britain, are given two weeks in a Belgian chateau to rehearse their latest commission, the monstrously complicated Partitum Mutante. But can the piece be performed? Does it matter that its composer is a maniac best known for attacking his wife with a stiletto shoe at the baggage reclaim of Milan airport? Can the five members of the Consort endure their own sexual tensions and wildly differing temperaments? And what is the inhuman voice that calls out to them from the woods at night? The esoteric world of avant-garde classical music is the unlikely setting for a story of rare power - perhaps the most moving Michel Faber has yet written.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Novella, Literature, Contemporary

122 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Michel Faber (born 13 April 1960) is a Dutch writer of English-language fiction.

Faber was born in The Hague, The Netherlands. He and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1967. He attended primary and secondary school in the Melbourne suburbs of Boronia and Bayswater, then attended the University of Melbourne, studying Dutch, philosophy, rhetoric, English language (a course involving translation and criticism of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts) and English literature. He graduated in 1980. He worked as a cleaner and at various other casual jobs, before training as a nurse at Marrickville and Western Suburbs hospitals in Sydney. He nursed until the mid-1990s. In 1993 he, his second wife and family emigrated to Scotland, where they still reside.

Reviews

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's technically good. And I do mean that. Everything is present and correct that you would want from a literary novella. There's even a strange, unsatisfying ending.
And yet, maybe I'm just running out of patience with male authors here, I was so over the misogyny by the end of the first page. The endless sexualising of the only three women, the predictable lingering considerations of breasts, the descriptions of an 8-week postpartum woman's stomach as toned. The word 'breasts' showing up on literally the first page. I am exhausted by pretending that this is not a problem that the vast majority of male authors seem to have, and I am exhausted by pretending that being unable to write 50% of the population doesn't make you a bad writer.

[Caleb Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought a copy of the single novella "The Courage Consort" having read and loved The Crimson Petal and White and heard rave reviews of Under The Skin. It was a short but interesting mock psychological Gothic tale of a vocal quintet rehearsing in a out of the way Belgian Chateau for the world premiere of some ghastly modernist piece. The Soprano hears strange noises in the woods - a symptom of her own fragile mental state surely? The disintegration of her mind and self into depression mirrors the disintegration of the group as a whole, until literally the heart of one of it's members and the group as a whole stops.

[Catherine Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The blurb on the back says it's a devastating portrayal of a woman on the verge of madness, but I found the character , Catherine, to be possibly the sanest person in the ensemble. Perhaps that says more about me than the book. I enjoyed this novella, Faber never disappoints. His observations of people together, their quirks and fears and foibles all resonate immediately, it's like, yes I know someone exactly like that. He's very good at weaving a story out of very little, and in this story not much happens but there a lot going on.

[Aynur Aslanova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Saçma ötesi bir kitap.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michel Faber mi sta piacendo molto.
Due libri letti e due ottime impressioni.
Un modo di scrivere scorrevole che invoglia a continuare la lettura.
Uno schema abbastanza classico per questo romanzo breve, ma un buon risultato senza dubbio è stato raggiunto.
Nel blog ulteriori dettagli: http://ferdori.wordpress.com/2010/09/...

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non so perché ma sono rimasta un po' delusa da questo libretto... Pensavo sarebbe stato più bello, non so neanch'io come spiegarmi. Mi è piaciuto ma pensavo che, visto la sua brevità, sarebbe stato qualcosa di indimenticabile ma invece non è così.

[Elif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the characters in this one!

English: https://elifthereader.com/books/the-c...
Türkçe: https://kitaplikkedisi.com/kitaplar/c...

[Dawn With-whippet · Rating 4 out of 5]

short novel about relationships in confined spaces and how people react differently to isolation .
A story of the benefits of nature and female friendship

[Thomas Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really quick one to review because it is so short that saying much would utterly spoil it.

A group of singers are given a space to rehearse a difficult piece of music for an upcoming performance at a festival. Thereafter it is really just an exploration of their relationships with each other and the occasional eerie cries that come in the middle of the night.

I really liked the book for its exploration of the relationships, but the plot was just... well, there wasn’t one. It was just a strange book. Elegantly written. Skilfully drawn environment and atmosphere. Characters pretty well fleshed out, with a few exceptions.

I think this would have worked as a short story, could have been boiled down and condensed into a much tighter space for a much more successful pop.

Still, I’d recommend this if you’ve got a spare three hours to kill and have an interest in music.

[Neil Fulwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mordant satire on art, pretentiousness, collaboration, rivalry, depression and banality. At 120 pages, it could have done with either narrowing its focus and being shorter, or being twice as long and giving its thematic touchstones more room to breathe. Though there’s much to enjoy here, it remains the work of a writer overly in thrall to his own cleverness.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

trigger warning
mental illness, depression, suicidal ideation

[Meg Onthemove Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way that Faber's style of writing seems to change so much from novel to novel - in this novella there is always the sense that something is just out of reach and out of sight, of secrets and people's inner nuances left unexplored.

Whilst his more gothic and horror tales tend to be more descriptive, this is an interesting and understated tale. And very elegant for it. The subject matter of an unperformable piece of modern music and a singing group attempting to perform it with all the anxieties, egos and insecurities exposed was well written and beautifully observed, having seen this so frequently in real life the nuances spoke to me.

The potential of the chateau and cry in the night was under written and a recurring Faber theme, we wait for something to happen with this, only to be drawn in a totally different and totally unexpected direction. Not seeing the ending coming a mile off an absolute pleasure.

[Stephen Roe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving it three stars, but that's not to say it's without some almost perfect qualities. The prose and descriptiveness within is outstanding, and the pace of the novella utterly perfect, right up to (and through) the denouement (one which I really didn't predict, either). It left me wanting a little more character depth and detail, wondering if in fact the tale could have been stretched and lengthened, contributing further to the intensity and discomfort of the five singers, holed up remotely in rural Belgium. Saying that, no sentence went to waste and was impeccably sculpted - I guess I was just hoping for a little more, especially as a couple of the plot twists were merely curve balls and didn't come to fruition, remaining unsolved and - arguably - unnecessary.

[Chrystyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Courage Consort by Michel Faber - Very Good

Difficult to find what to say about this book. It is, of course, Michel Faber so therefore it is a beautifully written and interesting book but, unlike so much of his other work, nothing much happens.

The Courage Consort are an a cappella group heading off to a Belgian Chateau to rehearse a difficult new piece. Written in the voice of Catherine, a lot of the thread is about her problems and her personal growth. There are the interactions of and with the others in the group, but that's about it. A lot about personal discovery, but not a lot of 'story'.

Regardless, a lovely little book and a very quick read. Really glad I read it.

[Niki E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faber must have some experience with classical music and small professional groups because his descriptions were spot-on, both technically and in the group’s dynamics. The challenges of conquering a new, technically difficult piece of music you dislike is something I understand and I could empathize with their struggles.
However, I’m not convinced that a group of only 5 pro singers who have spent so many years performing and touring together would know so little about the basics of each other’s lives. That just doesn’t ring true; you can’t spend all those hours at the pub and on buses only talking about acoustics.
This was a compelling short read for me and something I’d recommend to friends with similar niche choral & literary interests.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

What to say, what to say. The Courage Consort is a somewhat disfunctional choir group that retreats to a castle in Belgium to practice a complicated avant-garde musical piece. Focus is on the relationships between the characters, and Faber manages to present these in an adequately interesting way.

I do however feel that there are a lot of loose ends. Some interesting characteristics are brought forward, but are never really developed throughout the story. This leaves the reader with a novella that could have been so much more than just a novella. Which is a pity.

[Han Whiteoak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting. Michel Faber writes beautifully.

A group of singers meet in an isolated house to practice for an upcoming performance. It becomes increasingly clear that the piece they've agreed to perform is terrible. The point of view moves (very smoothly!) between all the characters, but the main focus is on Catherine, the suicidal wife of the group's leader. The plot isn't as gripping as that of Under the Skin (brilliant book by the same author) but every character is well-developed and it's a funny and enjoyable read.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alchimie. Le alchimie della musica che fondono cinque voci in un coro a cappella che è più e diverso dalla somma delle singole voci, e le alchimie delle interazioni reciproche tra cinque persone che si ritrovano quasi in isolamento per portare la propria arte alla perfezione, e che torneranno alla vita di ogni giorno totalmente cambiate dall'esperienza.
Bellissimo romanzo breve di Faber che rispolvera per l'occasione la bravura mostrata in Il petalo cremisi e il bianco.

[Noreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short novel, this story is engaging and entertaining. The point of view is third person omniscient, which is very controlled and well-done in such a short time. The story is about a musical group that goes to Belgium to rehearse for a concert. They all stay in one house and all have their various problems.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know. I love this author. and even though i've read this book, i keep forgetting that i have read it, pick it up again, and get flustered because i discover i've read it before. so i guess that means it's not that good. because even as i write this, i can't tell you what the novella's about. or the stories.

[Terry Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short book but I loved it, was totally drawn in by it. Woke up early one morning and couldn't get back to sleep and decided to start this. Read 70 pages before I got up and finished the rest when I went to bed that night.You could really imagine being in that remote chateau surrounded by forest.Very atmospheric and great characters.

[John Carlsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

En kör på fem personer ska samlas på ett slott i två veckor för att repetera ett körstycke som ska framföras live. Stycket är krävande och det visar sig att samvaron också är krävande för de inblandade. Konflikter uppstår och till slut blir vistelsen ett psykologiskt drama. Mycket intressant historia i ett lagom format.

[dreamwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kein Buch, das ich gerne weitergelesen hätte. Und doch, die bedrückende Melancholie einiger stiller Passagen hatte ihren Charme.
War es das Thema oder der Ton, das mir die Lektüre vor allem am Anfang qualvoll belanglos erscheinen ließ?
Es war nichts. Nichts, was bleibt, was unendlich schade ist.

[Simona Moschini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Insulsa storiella senza nerbo e senza suspence che, se voleva essere un omaggio alla musica, non riesce nemmeno in questo. Davvero trascurabile.
L'unico che Faber poteva anche risparmiarsi di pubblicare.

[Antos73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nei racconti Faber non delude mai.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, no memory of this, for shame

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

2002

[Cliodhna Ni Ghadhra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Dagmar was alright, the rest were dull. Entirely lifeless. Entirely unsubtle.

[Ximena Iglesias · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novella wasn't quite what I was expecting. Although well written, I was left wanting to know more about the characters.

[Nadia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non mi è piaciuto, ma soprattutto non ho capito l'autore dove voleva andare a parare con questa breve storia.