The Noise of Time

The Noise of Time is a novel by British author Julian Barnes, first published in 2016. Beginning in 1936, it focuses on the life of real-life Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, who runs afoul of powerful Soviet leader Stalin with his latest opera. Only a stroke of luck saves his life, and the book chronicles his life as he seeks to avoid the forces of despotism only for it to find him time and again, in New York City in 1948 and back in Russia in 1960. However, against the tapestry of a ruthless totalitarian regime Dmitri maintains his identity, his values, and his passion for art. Exploring themes of destiny, power, courage, and the ability of virtues such as art, music, love, and family to resist oppression, The Noise of Time was highly acclaimed and was named one of the best books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Noise of Time is a fictionalized version of the real life of Dmitrievich Shostakovich. The first section begins in 1936, as Dmitri returns to his apartment building and reminisces about his life. He is in a panic, convinced that government forces are soon to come and take him away. His latest opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, has aroused the ire of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin, due to a mishap where the musicians played louder than expected in the section where Stalin was seated. He thinks back to his parents, and his troubled youth where he dealt with poor physical health. He has suffered much adversity in his life, and although he is successful now, his work remains controversial. Although he is advised to repent for his opera, he instead has his patron write to Stalin asking for his opinion of the opera to be revisited. The opera had been popular and well-received until it was condemned in the Pravda, and then public opinion turned harshly against it. Many people have now labeled him an enemy of the people. Dmitri winds up swept up in an elaborate plot that supposedly is plotting to assassinate Stalin, and he is questioned about his involvement. However, he is cleared and the actual conspirators are executed. Dmitri works composing music for a patriotic movie to regain the favor of the government, and it is wildly successful.

The second section picks up twelve years later, as Dmitri is part of a cultural delegation sent by the Russian government to New York, as part of warming relations. He thinks back fondly to his past visits to America, when he was treated well by American fans of the arts. Although he had hoped to avoid too much scrutiny on his visit, the government intends for him to give a big patriotic speech, and he feels he’s being used as a puppet. He feels ill at ease with the USSR’s determined patriotic optimism, finding it out of step with natural Russian pessimism. He thinks of his wife, Nita, and his children Galya and Maxim back home. Although he has been forgiven for the sin of Lady Macbeth, the government won’t allow it to be forgotten and teaches it in schools as a cautionary tale of what he was before he was used for the government’s purposes. It’s only when the government wishes to use him as an ambassador that they cease banning many of his operas. While on the plane, he reflects upon his time in America, and hates that he was forced to denounce one of his idols, Igor Stravinsky. He’s going along to get along, knowing that it is not just his own fate the government holds in its hands, but his family’s as well. He is humiliated by the way he is being used, but knows he has no choice.



The final segment of the book begins in 1960. Nikita Khrushchev is now the leader of the Soviet Union, and some of Stalin’s violence towards his own citizens has abated. He thinks back on the Stalin era, and is amazed at how he survived. He was trained in how to be a Soviet propagandist by a tutor named Comrade Troshin, a true believer. However, he remained skeptical, and notes that while Khrushchev is less overly cruel, the government is still widely invasive and maintains great control over its citizens’ lives. His wife has since died, and he entered a brief second marriage that ended in divorce. He is approached by the Communist party and asked to join them, and a leading figure named Pyotr Pospelov makes a personal appeal to him. Worn down after years of resistance, Dmitri agrees. Although he gains a lot in terms of party perks and privileges, he is devastated and feels like a traitor to his own principles. His operas fall back into favor, and he marries a young woman barely older than his daughter. He is used by the government to lend gravitas to various proclamations and editorials. After another twelve-year time jump, he expects to die, as every twelve years bad luck seems to befall him. He reminisces on his life, expecting the next catastrophe to befall him, but nothing comes for him. He hopes that his work, and the few genuine connections he made over the years, will outlive him.

Julian Barnes is a critically-acclaimed British novelist. In addition to winning for The Sense of an Ending, he has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize three times, for Flaubert’s Parrot; England, England; and Arthur & George. Over a nearly-forty-year career, he has written sixteen novels, three short-story collections, and an array of non-fiction works ranging from memoirs to cooking journalism. In 2004 he became a Commandeur of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is politically active, particularly in the issue of assisted dying, and released his latest novel in 2018.