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Summary: Daniel Mason's Odyssey
Review: One of the novel's epigrams is taken from Plutarch:"Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord." That is exactly the plan of the book. The piano tuner's voyage to meet the elusive Dr. Carroll simmering mysteries in the heat of the Burmese jungle is reminiscent of the journey in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". The lovingly detailled account of the art of the piano tuner is analogous to Melville's romance with whaling practices in "Moby Dick". Mr. Mason's writing lingers over sensuous detail like the touch of two sets of hands on the same ivory keys.He also knows how to suggest a grippingly good story. At the end of one chapter he hints "...when a man disappears, we cling to anything he left behind." The best novel I've read this year. Like cinnamon and coconut perfume clings to the air, the story resonates after reading.
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Summary: A Magical Trip to Burma!
Review: 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
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Summary: Thoroughly engaging.
Review: I didn't know this was Mason's first novel until I tried to find others he has written. Anyone who understands the discipline and magic of music, who has an appreciation for history and culture, who remembers the sexual tension between a man and a woman, and who has the patience to let this story unfold will find this book seductive and engaging. I found myself idenfying with the characters in this book as I had when I first read The Catcher in the Rye, The Child Buyer and To Kill a Mockingbird, vastly different books from The Piano Tuner and each other, but similar with respect to the exploration of inner motivation, purpose and understanding of self in a world to big and dynamic to ever truly know. Mason's ability to step back and allow dialog and letters tell the story in thier full detail was like eavesdropping on a secret conversation while reading a diary -- a delightful, if guilty, pleasure.
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Summary: if i don't think of the word 'pretentious'
Review: I did enjoy this book, though i prefered the second half to the first. The prose are beautiful and it's done with a lot of respect to a very lush culture. I'm half-thai, half-european and was honestly put to shame by the practicing of a language so close to what should be, literally, my mother tongue. The premis was a lil weak, a piano tuner sent to an officer of her majesty's army in a remote area of south-east asia -to tune a piano?! Heh, right, ok. Then again, the King of Siam (now Thailand) offered to send Abraham Lincoln elephants to help his war effort *shrug* so stranger things have happened.
I'll look forward to more disease in your next book Daniel. *grin* A nice job for a first work.
Oh, and i love the coverart.
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Summary: A wonderful journey
Review: I must say that this is the first book I've ever bought based solely on the reviews. At times, the plot can be a little arduous and slow to develop, but you'd hardly notice because of the beautiful story. Mr. Mason's writing is wonderfully descriptive and seductively transports you back to 19th century Burma.
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Summary: Heart of Lightness
Review: Halfway through this book it dawned on me: The Piano Tuner is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness through rose-colored glasses. I immediately went to the trade reviews to see who else had caught on, but not one mentioned it. In fact Mason's writing is quite nice, almost poetic, but you'd best like it because the story unfolds slowly. And the tale is so strange it must be true. The author treats us to an unlikely protagnist, Edgar Drake, piano tuner, commissioned by the British War Office to tune a very special piano in the heart of the Burmese jungle. Unlike Conrad's Kurtz, the goal of Drake's journey up the atmospheric Salween river, Doctor Anthony Carrol (a piano-lover and medical doctor in the British Army), wins his natives with kindness rather than horror. Mason gives us a surprising twist for an ending, but I'm not sure it fits his story all that well.
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Summary: Why all the criticism? Just enjoy the story!
Review: I thought this was a beautifully written fantastic story! I really don't understand all the harsh criticism. Give the author a break! If you love stories full of travel, adventure and mystery, I would recommend this book. I think as a first time author, Daniel Mason did an amazing job.
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Summary: Sophomoric Underachiever
Review: The sad thing about this book is the obvious poor quality of writing and how opposite it reads to the hype it has received. I am shocked that the blatant errors throughout (a long and tedious read for me) were not corrected by an editor. I am afraid that this book is another in the long line of 'who knows who' books and if this keeps up we will all become illiterate eventually. The author has written something very common and done before, and all the other things that the agents usually reject from writers. I read it to try to find a reason for its big pedigree and found that it is the writer who has that, and a good solid list of family connections. As an English major, and a lover of literature and quality writing, I seriously think he should stick to biology!
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Summary: a response to the 1 out 5 review
Review: It is true that this novel is slow and dreamy and I thoroughly loved it from cover to cover. There certainly is not the action of Clancy so don't look here for that. I hope that there will be more in another novel to follow. I found this book brought flavors to my senses, those dreamy scents that I find lacking in most other writers I have read.
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Summary: Predictable, stereotypical
Review: Lacked originality in depiction of characters and description of the geography/region. A boring, forgettable book.
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