---
product_id: 33752081
title: "The Gustav Sonata: A Novel"
brand: "w w norton company"
price: "$117013"
currency: COP
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 22
category: "Book"
url: https://www.desertcart.co/products/33752081-the-gustav-sonata-a-novel
store_origin: CO
region: Colombia
---

# The Gustav Sonata: A Novel

**Brand:** w w norton company
**Price:** $117013
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Gustav Sonata: A Novel by w w norton company
- **How much does it cost?** $117013 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

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## Images

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A Sonata Slightly Out of Tune
  

*by A***T on Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018*

This award winning novel by an award winning author, is rather disappointing.The author cleverly divides the story into three parts, like the movements of a piano sonata.  Unfortunately, the parts are not in chronological order.  The main character Gustav is beginning kindergarten in part one, but then in part two Gustav's future parents meet for the first time. In part three, Gustav is in his late fifties. Huge chunks of Gustav's life are missing resulting in a disjointed and weak development of this main character.Certainly a friendship between two people from kindergarten throughout adulthood is a deep and abiding one.  Yet, the relationship as portrayed in this novel is extremely lopsided: whatever Anton demands, Gustav obligingly agrees to even leaving the town Gustav grew up in and loves and selling the successful business he has so painstakingly built. The author does not adequately explain Gustav's compliance to Anton's demands.  How very unrealistic!This reviewer finds Tremain's writing pedestrian.  Even her descriptions of idyllic Davos, come off as flat.  Her frequent use of scatological language and sexual incidents seem inappropriate in parts one and two given both the time (1940's) and place (rural Switzerland).  The bravery and morality of the Swiss assistant police chief, upon whose real life Gustav's father is based,  is unfortunately denigrated by both the language and behavior of the fictional father, Erich Perle.Finally, the issue of the neutrally of Switzerland during WWII, is a serious one. The Swiss fear a German invasion. The novel discusses how many Jews sought refuge in Switzerland until the borders were closed to them resulting in the deportation and death of many German Jews.  It would have added to the heroism of Erich Perle, if some of the characters, particularly the Zwiebels who are Jewish, discuss that by taking no side, Switzerland actually caused the deaths of many.  The author lost an opportunity to inform an audience of readers who might not have ever considered the role a non-neutral Switzerland might have played.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Interesting characters, another great read from this author
  

*by S***T on Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2017*

This author has an amazing ability to cover a wide range of subjects and never disappoints. Unlike so many stories, here there is a small cast, so characters develop more fully, though Gustav is unquestionably the protagonist. I agree with one reviewer that unlike the people in the story, the prose is fairly simple but that does not detract. It covers a wide range of subjects and I was left wondering why so much store was placed in the symbolism of Gustav's childhood toy train in the publicity blurb when there is so much more that is relevant. My only real disappointment was that I felt the end came too fast. Everything unravels just a little too quickly. As so often when reviewing a book, it would be churlish to say what happens but I had predicted the outcome about half way through. Rose Tremaine spends much effort to describe the tortured relationship between Gustav and his mother, such alienation of a parent towards their child a more common cause of discord today than ever. The parallel theme to Gustav's life story of Switzerland's treatment of Jewish refugees and the country's neutrality during WWII are mercifully treated with balanced sensitivity, never overwhelming the main theme. I say mercifully because this reader now shies away from the subject of what happened to Jewish people during this period of history as it has been written about and filmed so extensively.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    A beautiful book, well worth reading.
  

*by Y***R on Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2018*

I enjoyed this book very much. It is a  well told and very well written story. It is restrained and precise. The book is sensitive but not sentimental or treacly. The characters are  believable, some familiar and some less so, yet all  play their parts in the unfolding drama. The reader may guess some of the future but our characters are clueless.Gustav is a particularly special character as we follow him from his early childhood and backtracking to fill in the spaces, he enters our hearts. I constantly felt a need to protect him and shield him.The music in the book is a particularly important element. As in many books with a musical title or subtext, in this book the music becomes a tool, an entity of many facets. Often the music is not soothing or pleasant, it grates on the reader (myself ), because of the obsessive desire Anton’s parents and Anton have for his life as a professional musician. All the well known pieces which he plays throughout the book often filled me with dread and anticipated disaster. I could hear the music in my head. Some of the pieces well known, but i was unable to enjoy or feel the music. The only time i was soothed and completely engulfed by the music was when Anton played the “Gustav Sonata” , there was no music other than what i could make up, but it was the first time i sensed that the music was not a prelude to tragedy.

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*Product available on Desertcart Colombia*
*Store origin: CO*
*Last updated: 2026-03-03*