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| The love story of a girl and her violin |
I received Gone from Blogging for Books (a fun program that involves free books and a place to talk about them) in exchange for this review.
In her surprising, intimate memoir, Gone, Min Kym composes a story which layers in skillful harmony her experience as a musical prodigy, her life as a world class soloist, and her deep connection to a one-of-a-kind violin.
As a child prodigy, Kym grew up navigating the complex combination of support, mentorship, and pressure that she received from the adults around her. She reflects thoughtfully and openly on the results of these attentions, gratefully acknowledging her parents’ and teachers’ dedication and influence but also grappling with her sense of not having a childhood or an identity beyond her musical ability.
However, as early as age six, Kym also had an overwhelming desire to play music, specifically violin. Throughout years of intense practice, competition, and performance, her love of music remained overwhelming. This love reached a peak when she found “her violin”: the Stradivarius instrument that she intended to play for the rest of her life. In lyrical passages, Kym describes the merging of identities that made the violin feel like a part of her, her voice.
Then the violin was gone, stolen from her in a café. Kym narrates her process of longing and grieving and her pain in a shattered identity. Looking back, though, she is also able to describe her own growth as she drew the pieces of her life—musician, daughter, individual—together into a stronger, deeper melody.
As a writer, Kym relies heavily on matter-of-fact descriptions to tell her story. Without hiding her feelings, she nonetheless indicates only broadly the frustrations and struggles of her daily life. It is for her love affair with music that she saves the emotional passages of her memoir, articulating with vibrancy and tenderness the deep passion for music that she shares with musicians throughout history.