R3: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

Released: 2016

Genre: Biographical and Historical Recount

Number of Pages: 180

Julian Barnes is one of the more revered and celebrated modern authors in UK literature, with a collection of works that stretch back to the 1980s. After winning the Booker Prize with The Sense of an Ending in 2011, Barnes returns to the historical setting with a book that came with a glowing recommendation on the store shelf. I was intrigued by its setting and started reading.

The Noise of Time is a deeply internal character study of one Dmitri Shostakovich, a resonant music composer and pianist in the Soviet Union. Taking place across three separate time periods, 1937, 1948 and 1960, the book divides itself into three sections. The third person perspective relays the action entirely from Shostakovich’s perspective and the reader learns just about everything there is to know about him; his family ties, political machinations and a seemingly endless commitment to writing music. Inside his mind, Dmitri has a number of feelings spinning around; regret, thoughtfulness and reminiscence and all of these have a part to play in Barnes’ account.

The real life Dmitri Shostakovich, pictured in 1950

The symphonies and other quartets written by Shostakovich play a key role in the story as he highlights its enduring qualities, something that can last far beyond regimes, leaders and historical events. Even as time rolls on, there are some things that endure, and this is the central theme of The Noise of Time; the changing tides of history and one man’s slow but meaningful reflection on all of it. The consistent references to music are also juxtaposed against power and influence; throughout his time in the Soviet Union, Dmitri was pressed, often forced to produce music that reflected the overwhelming nationalism of his country while simultaneously watching some of his best work be torn down in the name of Stalin and his government. Despite not relying much on direct action, the novel still creates a great feeling of foreboding tension; you wonder what will become of the central composer if he steps out of line in the face of tyranny. It also makes it all the more evident that his music will live on long after the fall of the Soviet Union which is referenced in an afterword at the end of the book. It’s clear that Barnes carried out a ton of research when writing about Dmitri Shostakovich and it shows throughout the three sections.

Recommended?

Your enjoyment of The Noise of Time will depend on how much you enjoy contained stories that focus on a single individual and the deep reflective undertones that comprise the biographical genre. Other characters are only mentioned and the historical context that grounds the story is mostly a backdrop illustration, rather than a direct part of the action. Yet by choosing to focus exclusively on one individual, the descriptions and recounts reach a vivid peak; by the end of the novel, you feel as if you know this man personally and fully sympathise with his struggles at the hands of the Soviet Union, his achievements in music overshadowed by an often-brutal regime.