A review by cryptidcucumber
Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time by Natalie Hodges

5.0

Uncommon Measure was a thrill to read. As we walk through Hodges’ past, her anxieties, and her memories we get to view them from different perspectives. She recounts the moments of her past (performance anxiety, her father leaving, her mother’s immigration hardships) and how she felt when they happened. Then she swiftly brings you to how they make her feel now. This is followed by the science of time, as she figures out what these different emotions mean in relation to her past, present, and future. This book is somehow a hopeful reimagining of perceived regrets and fears. The sense that “time is what we make it” is presented in a way that feels achievable, and is backed by science and experience. We are connected to her through this exploration of time, and what it means to be these particles polarizing to the same tune. Even if our perceptions aren’t exactly the same, even if what we have now isn’t what we originally thought it would be, we can find each other through these stretches of time, and improvise the rest.