Stuart Kelly

Ghosts from the past: Beethoven’s Assassins, by Andrew Crumey, reviewed

Structured around interlocking stories, the novel is a moving depiction of illness and death – but quantum physics, telepathy and time travel make for cerebral fun as well

Andrew Crumey. [Courtesy of Andrew Crumey] 
issue 01 July 2023

In an uncanny way, Andrew Crumey’s Beethoven’s Assassins reminded me of Vanity Fair. It has no epigraphs, but both these quotes nudged into my mind: ‘Come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out’; and ‘The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face’.

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