Arshak Benlian will interview Glenn next week for The One in the Many podcast. Announcing the forthcoming interview to his listeners, Arshak said,

Throughout history human kind has developed stories to depict our lives, but also to inspire and shape our identity. We love stories, we love the history of the stories, but most of all, we love the energy we discover in us when we are curious to find out what will happen next in the story, will justice be served, will good prevail over evil, will love blossom and root itself in posterity, we wonder and love to find out what will happen in our life, in the lives of the people near and dear.

 

Last year I was fortunate and privileged to read a story full of excitement and wonder, triumph and disaster, bliss and damnation. I was fully engrossed in the text and didn’t want to interrupt the flow of the story.

 

Variations on a Noble Theme by Glenn Daniel Marcus is the story I’d like to share with you as celebration of the New Year. 

 

To celebrate this riveting and soon to be classic story, I’m honored to announce that I’ll interview Glenn Marcus, the author of Variations on a Noble Theme at the end of January. …

 

Variations on a Noble Theme is a masterpiece of integration, it shows the sufficiency of craftsmanship and the necessity of art, it develops into an opera of delicate balance between work and play, it is youthful and eternal to man. 

 

Ray Cole, former President of of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries, writes,

Glenn Daniel Marcus is that rare author whose first novel is a masterpiece. That alone does not place him in Harper Lee’s league. What does so qualify him is that his protagonist, Josef, is at least the equal of Lee’s Atticus.

The novel’s conflict unfolds during the Enlightenment, an era that Marcus has meticulously researched, enabling him to give readers insights into its power and its customs. But what won my heart were the personalities and characters of the story’s three heroic youths, each a master musician. I admire them for their cleverness and integrity (the novel’s theme), as well as feel warmly about them–especially Josef, the trio’s leader.

When a child, Josef sets out to master the cello. All of the myriad strivings and conflicts that follow center on his struggle to be true to his vow. Though of noble birth, his resolve leads him to live as a commoner—a brave step, as he was then subject to the cruelty of many of the nobles.

A key feature of Variations on a Noble Theme is that it is romantic in the classical sense that events turn on the trio’s deeply held values. This is just one more feature that makes Variations on a Noble Theme a must read for all.

Patty Holmes–“Student of Life; Voice, Yoga & Breathing Coach”–writes,

Variations on a Noble Theme is just one of THOSE books.

I know I am being drawn in and deeply touched by a book when I start underlining entire paragraphs and taking screenshots of pages of quotations. I can’t help myself. I do this because the words are powerfully reminding me of the wholeness of who I am.

From the very first page, this book captured my interest and my heart; the simplicity of the writing style might trick you at first, so prepare yourself to be delighted by depths of insight and understanding. The author has that rare ability to tell a multi-layered story; this one of the human mind and heart, of music and musicians, of philosophy over the ages, and more. And it is beyond entertaining.

It is a story that continually reveals to us the courage it takes to live a life of integrity and the rewards that come when we honor that integrity. It sings of the power of music to remind us of the Beauty that is always there, if we resolve to keep our focus. And it reminds us of the magic of human friendship and love.

Variations on a Noble Theme is one of THOSE books that will touch you, inspire you and leave you a better human being for having read it. Glenn Daniel Marcus invites us to enter an extraordinary world and l am so glad I did.

PS: I can totally see this book as a really cool movie as well!