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Kutze, Stepp'n on Wheat
Alone on a midsummer night, Cat wakes to find a stranger dressed in yellow ‘rat-a-tap, tapping’ his feet. Captivated by the music of Kutze’s steps, Cat resolves to travel abroad and tread wheat alongside this stranger when he becomes an adult. But first, Cat must grow up in the small port town where he lives with his timpanist grandfather and a father obsessed with an unsolved mathematical proof, and which, as part of the series of increasingly surreal events that characterize his life, Cat rescues from a plague of rats by his curious ability to imitate cats’ yowls. The ‘rat-a-tap, tap’ of Kutze’s step echoes through Cat’s life as he matures, moves away from the town to become a musician in the big city and, eventually, journeys further afield, across the sea.
252 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2002
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 4, 2018
"At last, I began to understand them. I began to understand how a single horrible sound can drain the colors from life and blast away the beauty from even the most accomplished music. These are the things that happen in this world."
I also particularly loved this passage - July 8th Scrapbook entry:
"What was peculiar, however, was the encore that followed after the cello concerto. In the midst of a wild applause, the lights were suddenly turned off, enveloping the hall in darkness. The a voice, probably belonging to the young conductor, instructed the audience to take out whichever sound-making item they'd brought with them (personally, I brought a stapler). The darkness was then filled with myriad sounds including cowbells, plates, toy whistles, bicycle bells, air pumps, and even scissors. Once all the noise had subsided, the cellist launched into a pizzicato piece, with each note coming out crystal clear and the rhythm held perfectly steady. I felt as if I could go on listening to it forever, when all of a sudden all the instruments on stage joined in playing loudly, then quietly - all at the same tempo, with the timpani, violin, oboe, horn, and even the meowing of a cat and the squeaking of a toy mouse resounding through the hall to the same constant beat. "
I also particularly loved this passage - July 8th Scrapbook entry:
"What was peculiar, however, was the encore that followed after the cello concerto. In the midst of a wild applause, the lights were suddenly turned off, enveloping the hall in darkness. The a voice, probably belonging to the young conductor, instructed the audience to take out whichever sound-making item they'd brought with them (personally, I brought a stapler). The darkness was then filled with myriad sounds including cowbells, plates, toy whistles, bicycle bells, air pumps, and even scissors. Once all the noise had subsided, the cellist launched into a pizzicato piece, with each note coming out crystal clear and the rhythm held perfectly steady. I felt as if I could go on listening to it forever, when all of a sudden all the instruments on stage joined in playing loudly, then quietly - all at the same tempo, with the timpani, violin, oboe, horn, and even the meowing of a cat and the squeaking of a toy mouse resounding through the hall to the same constant beat. "
May 26, 2014
Beautifully written. Since I'm no more than a music listener I couldn't quite understand all the compassion with which the musical topic was emphasized in this novel. Still a very nice read!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews