I have been looking for another good biography about Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840). Nicolo Paganini was a brilliant violinist and composer that was and still is very underappreciated. His violin compositions especially the 24 Caprices are very beautiful but technically complex and extremely difficult to play even for the most talented of muscians. He lived a fascinating but troubled life as did many of the great muscians and artists of his time. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled onto this book about his life. However, I was sorely dissapointed by this book.
The reason I was disappointed by this book was because I was expecting a biography. The book is not what I would consider a biography. It is more of a fictional account with some truthful elements. It is very wordy and could be condensed down to about half of the length. Several paragraphs go off on wild tangents that don't really make any sense and don't really fit in with the story. It starts out in more modern times (think 1920s) and the storyline there is basically garbage and not intresting in the least. Then it does jump backwards in time to discuss Paganini's life. I have read as much as I can find on Paganini's life and there was some truthful elements to the details of his life but I felt the author took many liberties and embellished many of the details.
My recommendation: Skip this one. There are much better, more well written, and more truthful accounts about Niccolo Paganini's life out there.
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