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Title: The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, Graeme Malcolm ISBN: 0-7393-0202-7 Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.73 (88 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Magical Trip to Burma!
Comment: In 1886, expert piano tuner Edgar Drake receives an unusual request from Her Majesty's War Office to service a rare grand piano in a remote area of the Burmese Army's division. Surgeon-Major Carroll heads a post of strategic interest to Britain there, and the government has reluctantly agreed to deliver a grand piano to him or risk his threat of resignation. Thus Drake's services are requested and his adventure to Burma begins. As Drake leaves his wife behind, he sets out on his long journey that lasts for months. The reader begins to wonder if he will ever reach his destination. We are rewarded after this long beginning and journey in the second half of the book, with a story that is filled with beautiful descriptions of exotic pre-colonial Burma, its people, and their dramatic history. After Drake finally meets Major Carroll, and finally tunes the piano, the story picks up at a fast pace that will keep you glued to your seats. Drake finds himself more involved than he ever expected in Major Carroll's affairs. When Drake meets a new love interest, Khin Myo, both of them set out on an adventure that is quite surprising, and we are soon rewarded with an unexpected climax to this stunning novel.
I truly enjoyed Mason's debut historical novel. It's a beautifully written story that will take you away to a time when things were so much simpler. It's a great travelogue, and a peaceful way to spend a few hours relaxing. I know I am now definitely a fan of Mason's writing, and look forward to his next endeavor. "The Piano Tuner" is quite an achievement!
Joe Hanssen
Rating: 4
Summary: An unusual story, rich in detail from another time and place
Comment: It's difficult to believe that this is the author's first novel!
In the 1880s, Edward Drake, a quiet piano tuner who often loses himself in a trance as he works, gets called by the English army to repair a piano deep in the jungles of Burma. Leaving his wife behind, he sets out on the long journey--so long that halfway into the book, I wondered if he would ever reach his destination.In Mandalay, he meets Khin Myo, a beautiful Burmese woman who is to be his servant and companion.
Drake and Khin Myo do finally reach Mae Lwin, the remote village in the Shan Hills where a strange army doctor named Anthony Carroll has been living. It was the doctor who requested the piano be sent there--a costly and difficult effort--as part of his efforts to negotiate peacefully with the warring factions, using music and medicine.
Drake quickly repairs the damaged piano, but finds reasons to stay in the village long after he is needed. He does not want to go back to the dreariness of London life, and so he stays, in awe of the doctor, and tempted by Mae Lwin. He is now caught in another trance.
Finally, he must leave the village, and he is forced to wake from his dream. He is confronted with questions about who Dr Carroll and Khin Myo really are, and what his role really was.
There are a few parts that could have been cut from the beginning, in my opinion. For example, the tiger hunt, and "the man with one story." But I thoroughly enjoyed the many details of life in Mandalay and Mae Lwin. The author displays a thorough knowledge of the time and the culture. But the book is more than a travelogue; it's a unique story with emotional depth and believable, distinguishable characters.
Rating: 3
Summary: enjoyable
Comment: I found this book to be a good read and an impressive first novel - all the more so considering the author wrote it while in medical school. He did a great job of establishing and maintaining the feel of 19th century british burma. The characterizations were good too, with many of the characters classically romantic. My only two complaints are 1) the ending was rather abrupt, and seemed rushed, as if he ran out of steam and 2) occasionally he employed a sort of stream-of-consciousness/run-on-sentence style that was jarring, difficult to follow, and did not match the high level of craftmanship of the rest of the book.
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Title: Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides ISBN: 0312422156 Publisher: Picador USA Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi ISBN: 081297106X Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Three Junes by JULIA GLASS ISBN: 0385721420 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 22 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Life of Pi by Yann Martel ISBN: 0156027321 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Namesake : A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri ISBN: 0395927218 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 16 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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