The Noise of Time

AcompactmasterpiecededicatedtotheRussiancomposerDmitriShostakovich：JulianBarnes’sfirstnovelsincehisbest-selling，ManBookerPrize–winningTheSenseofanEnding.In1936，Shostakovich，justthirty，fearsforhislivelihoodandhislife.Stalin，hithertoadistantfigure，hastakenasuddeninterestinhisworkanddenouncedhislatestopera.Now，certainhewillbeexiledtoSiberia(or，morelikely，executedonthespot)，Shostakovichreflectsonhispredicament，hispersonalhistory，hisparents，variouswomenandwives，hischildren—andallwhoarestillalivethemselveshanginthebalanceofhisfate.AndthoughastrokeofluckpreventshimfrombecomingyetanothercasualtyoftheGreatTerror，fordecadestocomehewillbeheldfastunderthethumbofdespotism：madetorepresentSovietvaluesataculturalconferenceinNewYorkCity，forcedintojoiningthePartyandcompelled，constantly，toweighappeasingthoseinpoweragainsttheintegrityofhismusic.BarneselegantlyguidesusthroughthetrajectoryofShostakovich’scareer，atthesametimeilluminatingthetumultuousevolutionoftheSovietUnion.Theresultisbothastunningportraitofarelentlesslyfascinatingmanandabrilliantexplorationofthemeaningofartanditsplaceinsociety.