The Lost Stradivarius

Rating 4/5This book tells the story about John, a young violinist, studying at Oxford college around the 1840s. One day during his practice sessions he notices that every time when he plays this one piece “the Gagliarda” the wicker chair in his apartment seems to creak. Later, he could swear that somebody whom he perceives to possess a “sleek smile” of malevolent nature sits on this chair listening intently to him. Some months later, John finally finds an old Stradivarius violin in his dorm room. This special violin is thereupon his object of obsession and we learn in the course of this novel how obsessions can lead to fatal consequences. It is no secret that The lost Stradivarius is a ghost story which definitely has some scary moments. There was one scene that really stood out to me as really scary in a psychological way: SpoilerIt was in the later parts of the story where at midnight John's wife Constance hears the faint tune of a violin and when she goes out to see where it came from, it turns out that it is her husband playing the Gagliarda over and over in front of the picture of Adrian Temple. This scene gave me the creeps and reminded me immensely of Stephen Kings the Shining where Jack Torrence typed over and over (All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy), which was a great scene. This book does, however, have its weak points. The worst part is the ending. It is not very good as it seems to be a bit too far fetched. If I wrote the book I would have left out the last chapter (the epilog) and rather left the ending open. This would have further motivated the reader to think for himself and to ask if we could trust Johns statements. Something I also found a bit frustrating, which could however be a sign of the time this novel was published, is the instant forgiveness of the actions of John. For real, he treats his wife, his sister and everybody around him like literal shit, yet everybody is so keen to forgive him in an instant. I do not like this at all. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would definitively recommend it. I think the theme of obsession and how it changes the character of a person is excellently described. How the object in question is taking over all of a persons character, thoughts and plans and how resulting from this relationships with people can change. This psychological horror is something I miss in many modern Horror stories. Some books that this one reminds me of:Regarding obsession: [b:The Shining 11588 The Shining Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353277730l/11588.SY75.jpg 849585], [b:Needful Things 107291 Needful Things Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1315767817l/107291.SY75.jpg 1812101], [b:Frankenstein: The 1818 Text 35031085 Frankenstein The 1818 Text Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631088473l/35031085.SY75.jpg 4836639], [b:Moby-Dick or, the Whale 153747 Moby-Dick or, the Whale Herman Melville https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327940656l/153747.SY75.jpg 2409320]Regarding the corruption through art: [b:The Picture of Dorian Gray 5297 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546103428l/5297.SY75.jpg 1858012]