Appassionata

I LOVED this book and laughed all the way through! I have no musical talent, but I wanted to run away and join this mad, mad but very lovable underdog orchestra!

I'm a long, long, long time fan of jilly cooper (from her first romance novels of emily, harriet, imogen, bella, lisa and co), and have read all the previous marathon novels (riders, rivals, polo, etc). This book was ticking off one line after another, and I often imagined the shocked faces of the English audience as they read some of her imageries of English pretensioin. I know Cooper has tried with Riders and Rivals to reach the American audience but for some reason she did not catch on. That is because she does not have the dripping sap of the American romance audience, and much too talented and intelligent to grab the Daniel Steele audiences that dominates the American romance industry. Perhaps there is too much romping sex to represent real life, but certainly the American romance genre has such a pretension of virtue in an ill disguised soft porn that one can turn bolemic from throwing up with each turn of the page. I'd say her writing is a nice blend of the pop novels and literary novels like Jane Austen, George Eliott, etc. Keen on human behavior but fast paced and sharp. Great plot. Also, Cooper actually made me appreciate classical music, leaving as romantic and passionate image of classic music as I have for rock music.

This book is excellent! I'm a horse lover and first found Jilly Cooper's "Riders" on a trip to the UK. Since then I've tried to read everything she's written, and I'm seldom disappointed. I know very little about the world of classical music but it didn't matter -- her books are so character-driven that it's them you get wrapped up in, not so much the subject matter. This book gave us a "fix" of our favorite characters from past books, but introduced new characters just as interesting and complex. Other characters on the periphery of previous books (like Flora from "The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous" and Marcus from "Riders") become main characters here, and you have the pleasure of seeing them grow up. You don't need to be a horse fan to love all Jilly's books!

I think by the time we finished passing it around, every girl in the music department at my university had read it. This book is well-researched (I'm a musician and only caught a couple slight errors), and written in a delightful, engaging style. Taken for what it is, "Appassionata" is a lot of fun, particularly the characters and the way Jilly Cooper deftly maneuvers them into and out of one anothers' arms. I'd read another book about the Rutminster Symphony Orchestra anytime!

I first discovered the "Rutshire Chronicles" of Jilly Cooper while studying in Scotland. This fifth volume in the series is just as witty, fast-paced, and hilarious as the first four--with all the sex, snobbery, and drama you could ask for. All the best characters from the earlier books make at least cameo appearances (Rupert, Helen, Taggie, Rannaldini, etc.) and the new ones are great as well. Hardly a horse, but the classical music theme is not the slightest bit boring (despite my total lack of enthusiasm for the genre). Jilly Cooper easily buries Danielle Steele and the like... This book can be read by itself, but even though they are hard to get her I recomend getting ahold of the earlier books (Riders, Rivals, Polo, and The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous). As a final note, the whole Marcus sub-plot is great!