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Summary: Mozart quartet
Review: I loved this book. To a reader in Los Angeles, I think the Mozart played is the 1st of the Haydn quartets,K387 in G
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Summary: Artful,in the best sense of the word.
Review: I would think, a reader to enjoy this book thorougly, needs to enjoy classic music, and have some exposure to the richness of small ensemble playing. Having satisfied these elements the reader is in for a special treat. Vikram Seth, an author new to me, is a magician with language; its economy, its color, its precision.The story he tells is small, but not trivial.His description of time and place are masterful. His characters, though unsympathetic, ring true, and the piece has balance. A much more rewarding read then, say, "A Man In Full" by far.
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Summary: What a big yawn!
Review: Boring, boring, boring...the best part of this read was the jacket fla
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Summary: Peaceful, soothing and beautiful
Review: Do not compare this to a suitable boy. Recieve it as just another novel and you would not be dissappointed. After reading this i couldn't stop playing the piano. For those of us who hate scales, this book makes you love it!!!!! Captures, the empathy(not sure if that's the correct word?????), relationshp between the musicians. I found my self nodding when reading the bits about the rehearsals for that is exactly what i find my self doing/feeling when playing my duets. It's a gorgeous book, captures the music very well. Beautiful descriptions, however the romance get's momentous. Nevertheless the descriptions of vienna, venice and london are yet again well captured.
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Summary: A rarity: good fiction about classical music
Review: "An Equal Music" fills a huge space: why has there been no good fiction about 'classical' music. "Dr. Faustus" is about it (there's Josef Skvorecky's "Dvorak in Love" but it's historically inaccurate and dull at its best). Yes, there's a drug-store novel dimension to the love story, but it rises well above the soap genre because the characters are all so well defined, and the approach to music so intelligent and sensitive.I teach a course at the post-secondary level called "Literature for Music Students"--finally, there's a novel I can use without feeling embarrassed (as I did with Frank Conroy's watery "Body and Soul"). I particularly liked the ending: I tried to figure how Seth would conclude after dropping his protagonist about as low as he could. The ending had to be either disastrous (suicide?) or sentimental. It's neither, and it's excellent. Bravo, Seth.
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Summary: Wonderfully composed.
Review: Vikram Seth's latest novel takes the reader into a world of music that is sheer heaven. Seth is a brilliant storyteller.
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Summary: An exquisitely written book
Review: This is by far the best book I have read since The English Patient, much better than Amsterdam. I finished reading the book during a three-day business trip, by staying up late on two nights. Since returning home, I have listened to some of the music described in the book, and it brought me a deeper understanding the moods Seth tried to convey. By the way, I would appreciate it if somebody can let me know which Mozart string quartet was played at the Wigmore Hall concert.
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Summary: Unfinished......
Review: The title, book cover and authors previous history suggested an interesting read however it fails on all parts and seems rushed/unfinished especially the final part. Vikram Seth never seems to grow the characters as the book proceeds and hence you are left with an overwelming feeling of "is that it" when it finally ends.
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Summary: Musicians will appreciate this
Review: When sections of the book are taken out and quoted Seth does seem to end up sounding like Barbara Cartland, but as a musician I greatly loved the accuracy of musical detail as well as the way he invoked the delicacy of quartet interactions; I do not recall ever having read another description of musicians in fiction that was so true to life. If you like music at all, read it.
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Summary: A Novel About the Love of Music and the Music of Love
Review: This is an exquisitely written novel that tells the tale of the passion a violinist feels for his music, and for the woman he lost ten years earlier and who now re-enters his life. It's set evocatively in London, Vienna and Venice and the reader can smell and hear those cities and feel the pavement beneath their feet. I have never read such a beautiful description of music caught in words, and of the intricate and fragile process of creating music. This is a highly intelligent and lyrical novel to savor slowly. I didn't want it to end. And best of all the ending is 'real' not hackneyed.
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