Reviews

• Moving and enjoyable read

  This novel won the prestigious Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Canadian version of the Booker, in 2014 and weaves fact and fiction to tell the life story of Lev Sergeyvich Termen, otherwise known as Leon Termen or Dr Theremin; scientist, inventor, spy and prisoner. So when I saw it was on the Kindle deal list I had to buy it. It's wonderful. The book begins in Russia, where Termen invents the theremin – an electrical instrument, played by moving your arms around in the air and disturbing the current. It is a time of revolution and Termen is very successful. He begins to tour – Russian, then Europe and finally America – where “the Russian Edison,” is admired. New York in the 1920’s is, of course, a time of prohibition and looseness. Termen is very unaware. Termen’s attention is taken by a girl, Clara Reisenburg who he falls in love with. Because of this bubble, he fails to notice the 1929 crash, fails to take care of business and is not aware of the tensions building around him. This fabulous debut novel takes us from science institutes, through fame and back to Russia, where – as expected – the knock comes in the middle of the night. Through gulags and prisons, Termen pours his heart onto the page and at the centre of everything, is his love for Clara. This is a moving and enjoyable read.

• Arrived at last.

  Good description, good communication. The mail took longer than expected, but that is out of anybody's control. Recommended seller!

• Brilliant and original prose - Highly recommended.

  This novel just won the prestigious Giller Prize and I can see why. The novel is about a real life Russian scientist who in the invented, among many other things, the Theremin, an early electronic musical instrument - a very cool device named after its inventor. Indeed, classical music is at the core of much of this novel, as is unrequited love, life in New York in the 1920's, espionage, murder, and the Russian Gulag Solzhenitsyn style. I found the first part of the novel boring, frankly, but the second half was quite riveting. I sometimes found it difficult to relate to the main character - smart but dumb pretty much sums him up - and, indeed, most of the characters, some of them historical, were not drawn all that sharply. I don't think it detracts from the novel, however, since all the empathy is directed almost solely toward the main character. There is, in addition, a great deal of research that went into this novel, not only in time and place, but also with respect to a host of historical characters, Russian scientists mostly. Many will find that very interesting. I did but only to a point. It was the author's prose that won me over. I found it absolutely amazing, stunning even in originality and pace, particularly when the main was reflecting back or describing his feelings. I don't know why the author felt the need to take a historical character and turn his life around and twist it up for the sake of fiction. A fictional character based on that real life individual would have accomplished all that was needed in my opinion. However, it's not the story itself that's so important but how it's told that makes it a winner. To me, the prose and the author's ability to describe the inner despair of the main character in a brilliant fashion is what makes this novel very good, if not great. Highly recommended.

• Loved this book!

  The writing pulled me in and it was a joy to read. The writing style is natural and free flowing. All of the description is believable and so it enables the reader to get immersed in the story, and what a story!

• Longing for the most beautiful ever harmony

  "Us Conductors" by Sean Michaels is a wonderful book which will heal you from everything except love and longing. Become a theremin yourself - and feel what the sound of tenderness is like.

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