Ebook485 pages6 hours
Black Love Notes
By Denis Gray
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
Modecai Jefferson is a young, dynamic 1940s jazz musician who carries his piano on his back, hears music every second of the day, and enjoys playing for
his lover and biggest fan in Way City, AlabamaDelores Bonet. To Modecai, he and Delores are like black love notes on a musical page. But all of that is
about to change the day he hears a recording of up-and-coming Harlem jazz trumpeter, Bunny Greensleeves. If he wants to make a name for himself, Modecai
needs to find a way out of Alabama and to the jazz capital of the world.
Bunny, who is driven to overcome his impoverished Mississippi upbringing, desperately wants fame, fortune, and power. Meanwhile after Doloress ex-con boyfriend returns and threatens Modecais life, he heads for New York sooner than expected. After Modecai eventually meets up with Bunny, the two musicians struggle to overcome the obstacles in a city where success is marginal and failure is predictedall while attempting to leave their mark with their dynamic talent and inventive jazz compositions. Now only time will tell if they will ever achieve all their dreams.
Black Love Notes chronicles the journey of two young jazz musicians as they strive for fame and fortune amid a 1940s Harlem where hurt and regrets, crooked deals, and murder lurk in the shadows.
Bunny, who is driven to overcome his impoverished Mississippi upbringing, desperately wants fame, fortune, and power. Meanwhile after Doloress ex-con boyfriend returns and threatens Modecais life, he heads for New York sooner than expected. After Modecai eventually meets up with Bunny, the two musicians struggle to overcome the obstacles in a city where success is marginal and failure is predictedall while attempting to leave their mark with their dynamic talent and inventive jazz compositions. Now only time will tell if they will ever achieve all their dreams.
Black Love Notes chronicles the journey of two young jazz musicians as they strive for fame and fortune amid a 1940s Harlem where hurt and regrets, crooked deals, and murder lurk in the shadows.
Author
Denis Gray
Denis Gray lives in Long Island, NY with his wife Barbara.
Read more from Denis Gray
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Reviews for Black Love Notes
Rating: 3.986214874516877 out of 5 stars
4/5
3,881 ratings65 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My favorite Shakespearean comedy, a miracle.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5" The course of true love never did run smooth."This is one of Shakespeare's most performed comedies and as such probably one of his best known. Consequently I'm not going to going to say anything about the plot. I personally studied this whilst at school as part of an English Literature course and despite my callow years I remember enjoying. However, I haven't read it since.Now, far too many decades later, I read Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Fools and Mortals' which centres around a speculative and fictional première of the play. Having really enjoyed reading that book decided to revisit the original. Once again I found it a highly enjoyable read which made me smile and a piece of true genius.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I've been meaning to catch up on various Shakespeare plays that "everyone" has read, and after finishing a book and having no immediate plans for what to read next, A Midsummer Night's Dream was conveniently waiting for me on my Kindle.In short, I didn't really like reading it much. I can see how it would probably work much better on stage, but read as a book it didn't really do much for me.If I ever get the opportunity to see it on stage I probably will, and I'll be prepared to be pleasantly surprised at how well it can work as a play.That said, I do enjoy poems, and I found the lyrical nature of the dialogue, the rhythm and the rhyme, to be quite fun. But as a story I just didn't really appreciate it as much as I had expected.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Read it in high school. Loved it, it was funny
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A reasonably mild edition of a great play, but one that will be eminently suitable for highschool students and actors.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perfect comedy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Kinda boring.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Was promted to re-read this by reading Neil Gaiman's eponymous Sandman short story. Learned:That my English has gotten a hell of a lot better in the last 11 years. This was the first Shakespeare play I tried to read, and I read it by myself at the time, so I didn't really get it.That I still don't really get the "brilliance" of this particular Sandman story.That I should probably read more Shakespeare.That some of the notes to this edition are utterly useless, and that Reclam can't quite decide what level of audience they're aiming their notes and translations at.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great romantic comedy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Physics of the Impossible: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, Burton Raffel, Harold Bloom Published 2005.
I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the
wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass, if
he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—
there is no man can tell what. Methought I was—and
methought I had—but man is but a patch’d fool, if he
will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man
hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand
is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart
to report, what my dream was.
(4.1.203–212)
(Paraphrase: I had the strangest dream. It is outside of the abilities of mankind to explain it: a man is as foolish as a donkey if he tries to about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there explain the dream of mine. I thought I was – well no one can really say what exactly. I thought I was – and I methought I had, -- but man is but a patched fool, if thought I had – but someone would be an idiot to say what I thought I had).
I remember watching the play for the first time in Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra in 2002 (staged by Rui Mário). Shakespeare has always been an over-riding need for me. I don't have the ability to act, though I do write betimes, but there's nothing like the thrill of a life performance, like the one I watched in 2002.
The rest of this review can be found elsewhere. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Setting: The play is set in Athens, Greece; its main theme being the fickleness of love.Plot: 2 lovers decide to elope, Helena tells her love where they are going. Meanwhile the fairies cause havoc by mixing up loyalties before restoring order in time for Theseus's wedding at which Bottom & Co. perform.Characters: Hermia- loves Lysander; Lysander (protagonist)- loves Hermia; Helena- loves Demetrius; Demetrius- loves Hermia; Oberon- King of Fairies (antagonist); Puck (antagonist) mischevious; Bottom- weaver, actor; Titania- Queen of FairiesSymbols/Allusions: Helena wants to reverse the story of Daphne & Apollo; Cupid's bower, St. Paul's "eye has not seen, ear has not heard, etc."Characteristics: One of Shakespeare's comedies, includes a play within a play.Response: I thought it was light hearted and funny; a relief from the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Midsummer Night's Dream starts off with 4 stoies, but at the end they all come together. There was one with 4 people who were in love. The love got all switched around by fairies. Some of the fairies were fighting over a child. At the end the love got all staightened. They all got married and Oberon a fairy got the child. Everything was good at the end. I liked this book. The book really got my attention. The book was diferent, but reall interesting. i hope to read the book. I encourage most people to read this. If you like different but interesting books you should read this book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a more narrative version of Shakepeare's play. The story is told like any other story not in play form. Shakespeare's stories are meant to be seen not read, so the illustrations in this book help the story come alive. This is one of Shakespeare's most lighthearted tales, and I think the illustrations do it justice.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of my favorite comedies. Significant to me because I've actually been in a love rhombus, as it were; therefore, I can relate some of the characters.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fast and fun. I liked the characters and comedy alike.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Far too contrived for my reading enjoyment. I'm certain that it is charming when performed on stage, but the premise wore thin upon reading. I really had no feel for the characters and cared little for their fate.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hermia's father brings her before Theseus to be judged, as Hermia refuses to marry her father's choice, Demetrius. Instead she loves Lysander, who loves her back. With the threat of death if Hermia doesn't follow her father's wishes, the couple run into the woods, but are pursued by Demetrius and the girl who loves him, Helena. Also in the woods are the King and Queen of the Fairies and their followers. When the King attempts to smooth love's way for the mortals, he makes things much worse.Not one of my favorites from Shakespeare, but I can see where it would be a great choice for the stage. Romance in the forest and fairies would be difficult to resist
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I wish I could have been more fair with my grade for this book. The concept of condensing and rewording Shakespeare's plays into a format that a much younger audience could understand is certainly valuable. This series serves the laudable purpose of introducing the Bard to an elementary age audience, the benefit of which is an even earlier exposure to good literature. I will say that this would be a middle school audience would be too old for this book as they would be ready for the real thing, or at least an unabridged translation. I would also add that the book, understandably so, didn't deal very much in nuance, or interpretations. I know that the main action in the story centers upon the young lovers in the forest, and Titania and her being bewitched to fall for Bottom by Oberon's machinations, however, there are glaring thematic omissions. The biggest of these missteps would have to be the (author's? editors?) decision not to focus upon the forest itself, specifically the fact that this isn't an ordinary forest, but rather a magical realm of fae beings. Instead of presenting the woods as being a separate world (Shakespeare's intent) its presentation was rather mundane. Furthermore, there is something to be said about promoting Puck. In this version, Puck is presented as mixing up the lovers due to carelessness rather than out of the agency of mischief. Still, the book was solid and I would recommend it to elementary classes.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5"The course of true love never did run smooth"; but oh my friends and neighbours, when was love ever "true"? This is the jolly cynic's Romeo and Juliet, with English country faire elements displaced to Theseus's Athens (itself a place that hardly did exist) and the mythological, metaphysical backdrop, the ridiculous-but-still-great-and-terrible Olympians, disinvited from the party in favour of the fairies, magnificent and dreadful but still ridiculous (it sounds like the same thing as the gods but it's actually the opposite): Oberon, equal parts virile intensity and cat-chasing-his-tail; Titania, majestic and intoxicating and yet you also just want to pat her on the head; Puck, with all the mystique of a trickster spirit and all the bathos of a cigar-smoking baby. Lord, what fools these immortals be!They elevate the humans as the humans drag them into the mundane, to the benefit of the action in both cases. Just a quartet of pretty young goofballs bouncing through the sacred groves on a wave of hormonal exuberance, as the rules get mixed up and upside-downed and love-potion-number-nined till it's all reduced to the lowest common denominator. Bucolic rumpus--pratfalls and sex. They seem too quick and alive for the law to catch up with them, and indeed Theseus and Hippolyta do present a fairly mellow or enlightened face on disciplining authority, as the king reassures us that EVEN IF things fall over the precipice and go all two-households-both-alike-in-dignity on us, Hermia can choose forcible cloisterment over death--but is this really such a comfort? We see Demetrius and Lysander play fistfights for laughs and never think about how close either of them is to braining himself on a rock, the other being strung up. Skulking around somewhere in the background is always the deeply unfunny Egeus, the patriarch with filicide in his fist.The estimable Bottom and his bunch of goony players (special shout out to Wall--I see you, Wall!) bring it all home by staging the tragic romance of Pyramus and Thisbe farcically for a bunch of complacent chuckleheads who don't know that they're in a play themselves, and that comedy and tragedy are a mere knife-edge apart. And ever if we manage to keep it light and nobody falls on a dagger, love fades and everyone you know will one day still certainly die. The comic dignity of the man with the donkey's head sums up the message quite nicely: The play's an ass, and it is a matter of life and death that we keep it that way. Laugh at that! No, I mean it!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lyrical and mesmerizing! I got a dramatized audio copy of this book. It really brings this story to life!
A very different love story for the ages. Couplings, love triangles, love quads, and love chases. It is all here. Thank you fantasy forest for all this wonderful chaos. Some parts a whimsical, others near tragic, some comedy. You never know what the next scene will hold.
When just listening to this, it can take a bit to follow the story at first. I had no idea who anyone was and names are not mentioned enough to quickly catch on. The only indication to the setting is the sounds you here. It really is just like listening to a play. They even have a full cast for the audio so each character is voiced by someone new. While it makes it far more enjoyable it just made things take a little longer.
I finally got to learn where several famous quotes and expressions came from. Hearing certain lines brought a smile to my face. Now I just need to read the print version of this book so I can be sure I didn't miss anything. I now have a mental soundtrack to go with it. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still one of my favorites, but I am reminded that some plays can be read and some are better watched. This is one that is better on the stage, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be experienced in some way or another. I got a little twisted up a couple times because some of the names are similar & I wasn't paying complete attention to who was supposed to be reading.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A comedy by Shakespeare on love and marriage. The way he mixes English culture with ancient mythology is brilliant.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I consider this my first Shakespeare: this is the play that made me fall in love with the master. It's a supremely delightful work that never wears thin with time. It's that immortal "O lord, what fools these mortals be" that does me in every time. Humorous and splendidly human despite the fairies dancing across the words.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5As hard as I've tried, I could never quite get into this one. I've read it once and seen it performed twice. Both productions were classy. Still, I found the play tedious.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of my favourite Shakespeare plays, very witty and funny.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Having taken a Shakespeare class in college, I've read, studied and analyzed a number of the bard's plays. This was a sleeper as it turned out to be my favorite. If a book this old can make me laugh, that says something, especially when most television shows today can't make me smirk.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of my favorite Shakespeare tales that give me a new laugh every time. I've re-read it and love the characters of Helena and Hermia more every time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A great story of romance with enough trickery to make it fantastical. He loves her but she loves him, and nothing is ever clear when you're in the middle of it all!
This is an easy-to-read for anyone who is new to Shakespeare, play formats, or both. I highly recommend this for a fun look into romance and the drama that naturally ensues. It seems that we all have our own Fae dictating the rules of our hearts, sometimes. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was on a Shkespeare kick!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's Shakespeare. Wonderful story but I prefer his tragedies.
Book preview
Black Love Notes - Denis Gray
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