[simpleazon-link asin=”1400030382″ locale=”us”]The Piano Tuner[/simpleazon-link]
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
An atmospheric novel with vivid descriptions that treat all of the senses and bring the settings and time alive to the reader. Enchanting, mysterious characters with mystical tales and visions. This book brings to life a history and a culture that the reader would not otherwise experience. Although deeply immersive, very little action takes place until the end. For some readers this slower pace may not be appealing, but the reader definitely leaves the book having experienced Burma in 1887. The novel reminded me of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as well as the movie Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen. I recommend this read for fans of historical fiction who don’t mind a slower pace as long as there is plenty of atmospheric suspense. The reviews in my book club were decidedly mixed. Some loved it; some hated it; some just didn’t get it, and others, like me, enjoyed it enough for what it was…a story where the setting, Burma, is the main character and anti-imperialism seems to be the presiding theme.
“Discarded keys lined the shelves like rows of dentures” (p. 30).
“…Burma appeared as if from behind a curtain lifted from a stage” (p. 84).
“So much of what I have done is tied to what I will do that at times the truth I have already experienced threatens to vanish with that which I have yet to see” (p. 146).
“I think of the language we use to describe music, and how we are unequipped for the infinity of tones” (p. 251).
“Don’t you know, he asked, that in every piano there lies a song, hidden?” (p. 284).