Ever since I read my first Proulx, I am intrigued with this woman's writing. Annie Proulx has once more proved this in "Accordion Crimes".
The book follows the story of a green accordin, brought to America from Sicily and wandering from one person to the next, from one corner of the country to another.
I know that Proulx' stories are not for everyone. They are wordy and have their lenghts, but I love this. I love how she can find words to describe things other authors would leave out completely and not even consider including in their work.
I also have a special place for this book in my heart, because I wrote a poem about it for school. I put much effort into it and learned even more about the characters than when I only read the book.
Each and every person in this book is unique, has his or her own story and another relationship to the accordion.
You can see, how the country changes within the years, how the people's connectin to simple things like an accordion becomes less important, because money is admittedly important, but not as much as at the beginning of the 20th century.
The relationship between the owners and the instrument is a different one each time, as is their played music.
I have always thought it tough to write about music. Because nobody is able to bring the sound of music to paper. Music is somehting completely different than written words.
Proulx' avoids this by simply not writing about the accordion's sounds but about the accordion itself.
I give 4 of 5 accordions for this book and will happily read another extraordinary story by Proulx.