Customer Reviews
Journey into the heart of, er, blast; I've forgotten! 
2008-07-23
Oh how worthy an enterprise and how promising a beginning! Yet, how many worthy enterprises have begun well only to run out of ideas and, ultimately, steam? If the preposterousness of the initial premise doesn't put you off - the British Army sending a piano tuner to the far reaches of empire - in this case, the road to Mandalay - just to comply with the eccentric caprice of a supposedly indispensable martinet - then you do get some enjoyment from the first hundred or so pages. However, suspicions begin to set in when, for example, our hero tuner meets, during one stage of his mammoth journey, a bizarre `native' who relates to him, what the reader supposes to be a portentous tale only for this to prove to have been something of a `red herring'! So the first signs of irritation become apparent and as our Marlow-like hero penetrates further into the unknown, along the Irrawaddy, a la, Heart of Darkness, he eventually meets his Kurtz who turns out to be something of a bore! The one hope the reader has is that the enigmatic guide, a beautiful Burmese woman, for whom Drake, the tuner, develops an infatuation, actually becomes his lover, simply to make the story more interesting.
Ultimately nothing of any interest does develop, not even the dreary Drake and the prose, initially, quite commanding and sure, becomes, along with the `story', merely turgid and ultimately, extremely irritating.
Apparently, it's to be turned into a film to be directed by, wait for it....yes, so, so predictably by Werner Herzog!
Let me tell you a story.... 
2008-06-15
"Let me tell you a story" the old man said. "What is the story about?" replied the boy, his eyes bright with anticipation. "A book" said the old man as he settled into his favorite chair. "Is it a good book?" asked the boy. "Listen to the story, then you can decide yourself." And so he began, "There was a writer who loved words, and he loved to put them together into beautiful sentences. His words made the world of old Burma come alive. Spice scents fill the air, flowers glow like beacons, insects sing in the humid, fertile wet-lands. He decided in order to describe this hypnotic place someone from far away would have to view it for the first time. The traveler's reactions would give him an opportunity to write in rich detail about it. This made the man very happy." "So far I quite like this book" smiled the boy. But the old man held up his hand and continued,"And because the feeling of the place was so magical to the writer, he wove fantasies, strange tales, and many dreams into his book." "I like those things" said the boy, "but baba, what is the book about?" "Here is where the problems lie", sighed the man. "The writer made up a very strange circumstance to allow his traveler to reach Burma. It is a circumstance that would never happen, and even as you read his beautiful sentences, you know this." "Well then, what of the traveler?" asked the boy, "will I love him, or hate him, or find him an interesting human being?" "I'm afraid not" sighed the man, "He is almost bloodless in his interaction with the world. As an observer, he is first rate, but that is all. He is a tool to allow the writer to express his lovely words. One thing the traveler does very well though, is he falls into deep reverie, almost a trance, often. Other times he dozes, even in the midst of historical meetings. And when he is in either of these half-waking states, wonderful things happen. Candles glow golden against crimson silks, chopped peppers the color of ox-blood sit pungently in bowls, and bright water courses down beautiful tanned arms of Burmese women" "Well then, is the book well put together?" the youngster asked. "There are many strange things in the make-up of this book" the man replied, "A piano is carried on a journey, by six strong men who find it arduous. Yet, a man and 3 young boys are able to easily lift the piano off a raft while it floats on a river. Quotation marks come and go. Often entire conversations take place without them. I wondered if this was done on purpose to catch the reader off guard, to make one feel off-kilter." "Hmmmm" pondered the boy, "so far you have told me many things about this book, but you did not tell me if you enjoyed it." "I suspended the need for a believable plot or deep characterizations, so yes, I enjoyed reading it" replied the man "but not as much, I suspect, as the author enjoyed writing it."
Needs a little tuning 2008-06-04
You know, I'm not sure what to say about this book. The premise intriqued me--a London piano tuner who specializes in Erard pianos is summoned by the army to go to Burma to tune and fix a piano belonging to a key soldier/doctor in England's army.
The author has done his research--he just as easily talks about tuning techniques and the history of the Erard piano as he does the history of Burma.
Of course, he lived in Burma.
The book takes a while to get into. It has long histories of Burma disguised as letters and preparation papers for the piano tuner. And the piano tuner responds to these by writing his own letter of the history of the Erard.
To be honest, I never figured out why those were necessary.
The language at times his initimate with the piano tuner and other times distant. I think it begins distant and moves closer and closer to him.
Once the tuner gets to Burma (which takes a while and is full of extraneous but at times beautiful stories), the story picks up. That's when I got into it. The piano tuner is swept up by the beauty of Burma--the country and the culture--and by the politics. Unknowingly he becomes involved in espionage? salvation? council? with the eccentric soldier/doctor who has managed peace with the locals through medicine and music, much to the chagrin of officers who wish to use the war for their own ambitions.
The book shows the confusion of war, the messiness not in the blood shed but in the policies.
But that is not its main point.
I don't think. It's about the piano tuner's journey, what he learns about himself in the process. He's completely in love with his wife, who encourages him to go on this journey, but he falls in love with a local beauty. I never understood this.
While we're at it: another thing I didn't understand--he seems perfectly content, but there are a couple of places when he has this attitude of "get the hell outta Dodge." I know better than anyone these contradicting feelings, but Mason never pulled it off, I didn't feel. I didn't get why he really left.
There are moments of beauty, and, as I said, once the tuner gets to Burma, you get more into his head, but I don't think I'd recommend this book. I enjoyed it for the most part. Nothing really new--the old romantic books (not as in love romance but as in sentimentality).
The Piano Tuner 
2008-05-18
In October 1886, Edgar Drake receives an odd telegram from the British War Offices. The telegram contains a request that he leave his wife in London to travel the jungles of Burma, where he'd find an Erard grand piano that is in need of repairing. The piano belongs to an army surgeon major by the name of Anthony Carroll, whose eccentric peacemaking techniques include music, poetry, and medicine. As Drake travels through Europe, the Red Sea, India, and into Burma, Drake meets all sorts of people and learns of their stories.
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason is a wonderful novel. Although slow to get through in the beginning, it starts to pick up when the journey begins. Each new cultural experience Drake encounters draws in the reader with the desire to know more. If you are looking for a book that you can't put down, one that is adventurous and touching at the same time, The Piano Turner is an excellent choice.
A Good Read 
2008-05-18
Feels like Apocolypse Now in some ways. A good book with vivid imagery and character descriptions...it drew me in and I wanted to see where the story went.
The Piano Tuner: A Unique Journey 2008-04-07
In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design. From this irresistible beginning,
The Piano Tuner launches its protagonist into a world of seductive loveliness and nightmarish intrigue. And as he follows Drake’s journey, Mason dazzles readers with his erudition, moves them with his vibrantly rendered characters, and enmeshes them in the unbreakable spell of his storytelling.
The Piano Tuner 2008-03-14
What would you do if you were asked to come to a foreign country, far away, to tune a piano? "Edgar Drake, Piano Tuner, Erards-a-Specialty, put the letter down on his desk. An 1840 grand is beautiful, he thought, and folded the letter gently and slid it into his coat pocket. And Burma is far." On page 7 of The Piano Tuner, this was the thought of the piano-loving man, Edgar Drake, who decided to travel across the ocean to fix a rare piano.
This novel, by Daniel Mason, shares the adventure of Edgar Drake in 1886 from London as he travels across vast lands and waters to peaceful, yet oftentimes filled with danger, jungles in Burma where he meets the bizarre, but important man known as Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll along with many other characters who will captivate the minds of readers. What Edgar does not know is that there is more to his mission than he or anyone else may have thought.
The Piano Tuner is one of the most exciting and intricate historical fiction books that I have read. I was surprised at how the peaceful piano tuner was absolutely focused on tuning the piano that he was not aware of his surroundings. An example of this is written on page 214. "Nor did he notice that he had observers, three little boys who watched him through slats in the bamboo wall." The theme of the novel is music and how it brings peace. "I would like you to play for the sawbwa, Mr. Drake." "...There is much at stake, Mr. Drake." On page 243, Doctor Carroll asked Edgar to play the piano to hopefully bring harmony between different nations. The important characters are obviously Edgar Drake with Doctor Carroll, but also, there is Khin Myo, who helps and accompanies Edgar when he is alone. Edgar has a trusting relationship with Doctor Carroll. On page 300, Edgar says, "I have told you what I know, Doctor Carroll was a great man." Even when Edgar was defying an important man, he trusted Doctor Carroll with all of his heart. Khin Myo is a Burmese woman who Edgar frequently sees in visions or illusions with a parasol that she always carries around. "Around her, the air wavers, splitting her body, separating, spinning. And then she too disappears. Now only the sun and the parasol remain." This is one of the times Edgar imagines seeing Khin Myo on page 312. Overall, this amazing novel is well-written and is suitable for young adults as the story may drag at points and has an extensive amount of challenging words. The Piano Tuner is an exceptional way to appreciate music in all aspects of life.
A Mesmerizing Tale of Exotic Adventure and Personal Transformation 2008-01-30
"The Piano Tuner," by Daniel Mason, is a mysterious and mesmerizing tale of adventure set in the jungles of 19th-century Burma at the height of the Shan Rebellion. At the center of the story is the a most unlikely hero, Edgar Drake, a gentle-mannered London piano-tuner who specializes in repairing Erard grand pianos. Drake lives a narrow life of bland contentment. He has rarely been outside his neighborhood, much less the greater city of London. He is a man of twin devotions--to his wife and career; both apparently suit his temperament in all respects. He possesses but one singular passion, and that is for music, in particular, the well-ordered tones of a Bach fugue. But all this will soon change.
Edgar's serene life is shattered by a letter from the British War Office requesting that he travel urgently to the far-flung Shan States, deep in the jungles of Burma, to tune an Erard grand piano. The piano is in the possession of Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, a legendary military strategist currently playing a key role in the Burmese theater of war. Edgar's mission is described as being of the uppermost importance. Not long ago, the Surgeon-Major threatened to resign his post if the War Office did not immediately send him a grand piano. They did--naturally with enormous difficulty and at great human and monetary cost. Now the piano is out of tune, and the native tribesmen are restless. Carroll is a mysterious and eccentric fellow. Apparently, he has been using the piano to pacify the savages.
Edgar is enthralled with the idea that music might be used as an instrument of peace. Without hesitation, he agrees to go--to serve the Crown, his passion for the Erard grand, and for Bach.
Naturally, the journey becomes the story, and it is impossible to put this book down until one finds out what becomes of Edgar as he ventures ever deeper into strange and exotic realms. The journey emerges as a tale of transformation. Edgar slowly changes as he experiences the exotic allure of the Burmese countryside, its vibrant colors, warm-hearted people, and strange customs. The dull piano tuner opens himself to life and is reborn. But he is also swept up in dangerous personal, military, and political intrigues that he does not understand and lead to his undoing.
Mason is a master storyteller. His prose is spot-on perfect for the task at hand--haunting, slow, precise, and lyrical. "The Piano Tuner" has become a well-deserved international bestseller, translated now into 29 languages. Recently the London Royal Opera House staged an opera based on the book.
I highly recommend this novel as well as Mason's second novel, "A Far Country," which was published in mid-2007. I read "A Far Country" first, and came to this, his debut novel, only after falling in love with his second. Both are haunting stories of people discovering themselves in strange new surroundings. "The Piano Tuner" tells the story of a civilized man's adventures in a primitive land while "A Far Country" tells the story of a primitive young woman's slow transformation and growth in the civilized world. Both are spellbinding.
Incredibly, Mason managed to write both novels while still attending medical school. He is working on his third novel and it is unclear which will come first: the completion of his medical training or the completion of his next novel. What is clear is that Mason plans to devote his life equally to medicine and writing.
Loved it, loved it!! 2007-10-23
The year is 1886 and Edgar Drake has just received an extraordinary request from the British War Office - to travel to the jungles of Burma for the purpose of tuning a piano. "Mr. Drake, your skills and experience commend you to this mission of extreme importance." The combination of flattery and the chance to see a part of the world he never would have seen otherwise, Edgar decides to accept the commission. After discussing the situation with his wife, Katherine, and taking about a month to get his affairs in order, Edgar leaves his London home to journey to Burma.
This first novel from medical student Daniel Mason is broken into two books. The first illustrates Edgar's receiving and accepting the commission, and then traveling to the village of Mae Lwin, in Burma (in the first pages of the book, there is a map so readers can orient themselves). After weeks of traveling and experiencing some wonders of Burma, Edgar arrives to the edge of the village where he finally meets Surgeon-Major Anthony J. Carroll, owner of the Erard grand piano, and described by the war office as a " `soldier' attempting to become more of a `poet' ", believing that peace can be achieved through music.
In book two, we follow Edgar as he is introduced to the life of the people and the work of Doctor Carroll. In the beginning he is eager to tune the piano and head back home to his wife. But, through different interruptions and a bout of malaria, Edgar remains for nearly three months. During this time, he gets to know Doctor Carroll and many people of the village. He, too, begins to see Doctor Carroll more as a poet than a soldier, a man who wants peace with the people of Burma without the force of guns. However, the war office wants soldiers in charge of their forts, and this is where the final conflict comes in.
I absolutely loved this book. Mason's writing is so engaging, his descriptions so vivid, it felt as though I, too, were in Burma with Edgar. At every spare moment I would pick up my book and read, wanting to know how Edgar was getting along and wondering when (and if) he would go back to London. It is a beautifully written story in which the characters are sure to remain with the reader long after the last page is turned.
Shimmering novel of war and discontent. 2007-10-10
Another book I've thoroughly enjoyed, eschewing other books and opportunities to read it in only two days.
Edgar Drake, a British piano tuner, is commissioned by the War Office to travel into the heart of India's jungle in order to repair an eclectic Surgeon's piano.
_
That was my original review of this novel. It doesn't even begin to cover what I want to say, so I'm expounding on my original thoughts.
True, Edgar Drake is a thin man commissioned by the London military for service in the heart of India. He chooses to leave his wife for the duration of one year in order to make a fair sum of money doing what he does best, repairing and tuning an Erard piano, in which he specializes.
The brilliance and nuances of Daniel Mason's book come through in each passage. He describles the cultures in India, the towns, the way the British react to the Indian people and vice versa. I can't even tell you how simply and movingly he captures the inner workings of the main characters, their thoughts and longings, their cunning and secrets. So many levels wrap themselves around you as you read this novel. You are in a different world as you move through it and as it moves through you. You will be changed at the end. If you aren't, I wonder who you were that cannot be touched by this story.
Personally, I was most moved by Drake's description of how he tuned the Erard. You'll forgive the pun, I hope, but it did strike a chord in me that relates to my own life and directions and choices.
However, it is not an easy story to read. You want to discover a clear hero and there is none. You want an obvious villian. Again, not going to find it. It is a complex story, rich with life and history of another country.
Do read it. And then share it with as many people as you can find.
