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There are currently 24 member reviews
for Sounds Like Titanic
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Mamie N. (Kennebunk, ME)
Fake Music???!!!
In the age of fake news why not a story of fake music? Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman, a middling "concert" violinist from West Virginia, is hired on for a national tour with a well-known, yet unnamed, composer. Her musical skills, no matter how good or how bad, make no difference to the orchestra since what she plays isn't heard by the audience. What they hear is simply music played from the composer's cd player.
While this deception forms the basis for the story, there is so much more to the author than this. She arrives in New York as a very naïve, sheltered young woman, her pluck serves her well and her personal growth throughout her story is compelling and makes for a very good read. Thumbs up for the author. Thumbs up for her writing.
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Susan B. (Rutledge, MO)
Intriguing, touching, and deeper than it seems
I found this book a very interesting read. At first I thought it was going to be only a comic novel (and it was quite funny at times), but it ended up also being a reflection on growing up female in a misogynistic culture, as well as touching on regional and class issues. The people she interacts with in her strange music job are odd and fun to read about. In sum, highly enjoyable.
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Diane D. (Blairstown, NJ)
Hard to Believe
It was hard for me to get into this book, possibly because I started reading it during the holidays, but by the middle I had to find out what happened. Even now, that I'm finished, I find it hard to believe this could happen!
Since Jessica is younger than my grandchildren, I may have had a problem connecting with her experiences. I thought, since I played the violin in grade school, it would be interesting to see how she made out. I did understand what she wrote about the different "classes" (though she didn't call them that, exactly) in America, and I could see her confusion in dealing with them in college.
I enjoy reading memoirs, but to me, it read more like a diary, though it jumped around an awful lot. It was interesting to read about the people she interacted with over the years & how they affected her, and I enjoyed reading her thoughts on the different areas of the country she went to & through.
It was good to see what she ended up doing with her life. I won't say more, in order to keep from giving anything away.
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Barb F. (Monmouth, OR)
Good for book clubs
I liked this book, I think it would be an excellent book club read because it brings up a lot of controversial issues –as I read it I found myself really examining my own values.
The main theme is that the author Jessica C Hindman is basically a whistle blower - her purpose is to expose the dishonesty of a famous composer with whom she worked. The book is a diary of all the events and performances that she attends with The Composer. She explains clearly from the beginning that these performances are all fake. She is a fake player of the violin in this orchestra that travels the United States giving fraudulent performances.
Parallel with her judging of The Composer's dishonesty is a display of his ongoing success and popularity in America. The hypocrisy is profound- there is one example after another of his knowingly purposefully cheating his followers (the American public).
The public in turn love the Composer .
The author then segues right into our social system and the hypocrisy that exists regarding race, gender, wealth, privilege, education, etc. She draws a parallel that the audience that loves the fake concerts also loves –or at least tolerates all our social pretenses and empty social talk.
The book is quite a statement of the many social inequitites that are blended into American social structures, and the great public acceptance of these hypocritical values. In exposing the composer she is exposing our own mistruths, and as the audiences (the American public) love his music and we love our social structure – it works very well for those of us who are of the right gender, race, etc.
This book frustrated me at the end because she never exposes the composer. She protects him and thus I think loses credibility, especially when she does expose some other big name performers.
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Vicky R. (Roswell, GA)
Imposters abound
This was an intriguing memoir filled with humor, surprises and inspiration. Not a heavy memoir but filled with substance. I enjoyed this unique storyline and found the author's writing style kept me engrossed until the end.
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Lorri S. (Pompton Lakes, NJ)
Lip sync for your life
Very interesting memoir that deals with the way women have to deal with imposter syndrome and simply existing in the world as a body in a world that often views women as a body first and a sentient being second.
It's funny, we tolerate lipsyncing from pop stars without much complaint, but it never occurred to me that I would need to concern myself with artists "faking" classical music since classical music, I thought, was all about skill. Hindman manages to not denigrate the audience for the music that she "played" while getting across the fraudulent aspects of the Composer's body of work. It would be the easy way out to mock the audience for not knowing any better.
Recommended for people who enjoy light memoir. There are some heavier themes touched upon, but this is not as relentlessly grim as some memoirs can be.
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Bess W. (Marlton, NJ)
The ship is not sinking
Although I don't often read nonfiction I enjoyed this book immensely. Sometimes it was hard to believe it wasn't fiction. Jessica grew up in Appalachia and was instilled with a drive to succeed. Her story is amazing. Faced with buying food, paying tuition and rent the author continues at a job she knows is a scam. She skips back and forth so you know why she is striving to make a go of this job.
I wanted to love the book but just liked it. I am giving it to my granddaughter who is a music major and feel she may like it better than I did.
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