An Equal Music

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming
Review: This is the story of Michael and Julia. He is violinist in a string quartet. She is a gifted pianist. At one level it is the story of their love - lost and re-discovered. There is however far more than that to Vikram Seth's brilliant novel. His characters are so well described that I began to feel their emotions. And it is the emotional intensity that makes this book so remarkable. I have rarely read anything as powerful. I felt a mixture of annoyance with and sympathy for both characters at different times.

This is set against a back-cloth of London, Vienna and Venice. But most of all there is the music. This is central to the novel. There is barely a page in which you cannot hear Schubert, Bach or Beethoven in the background. This is not a comfortable book. But it is unmissable nonetheless.

I recently read Seth's A Suitable Boy. These are probably the two best reads of 2004 - and amongst the best ever.


Rating:
Summary: An artist who conjures real pleasure
Review: Above all else, Mr Seth implies, the purpose of Art, including music, is to provide pleasure and this work of art, this book, gives the reader pleasure first, an understanding of the process that goes into making art (music) second, and third, a story which centres on a lover/musician and his emotional ups and downs as he engages with the glorious and partly deaf pianist Julia who seems to embody the perfect vehicle for making love/music.
Some of the glories of the book is its sheer sensuousness as it engages the reader in a journey into sensual pleasure and shows how one art, reading, can reveal the pleasures of other arts, sounds, colours, fragrances. The impact of sound/art re Janet Cardiff (b.1957), the consciousness of sounds (p.61) the connections between sounds, the importance of the contract between the performer and the audience and the state of both during performance - associations, memories, mood; the importance of silence. The book is rich in such considerations and provides a real understanding of the connection between the humanity of the performers and the making of music and the development of harmony in performance. It is especially engrossing for any music lover for one of the book's instruments -an Ononi violin - is invested with a powerful personification so that the reader begins to feel for its well being and future much as the musician at the centre of the story does. Similarly, readers gain a real appreciation of what music making entails, including the importance of the score as opposed to an interpretation of that score by other musicians. In the end, the book recalls that wonderful saying, if music be the food of love, play on. Mr Seth's command of language makes the reading an easy pleasure. You may purchase a double CD of music accompanying pieces performed by the characters in the novel, one, A Beethoven Quintet, never before recorded on CD. Let's face it. A joy to read and hear.

Rating:
Summary: Borrring
Review: This book came very highly recommended by a musical friend, an elderly auntie who gave it to me as travel reading and called it the best novel ever about music. I was delighted and filled with anticipation. Imagine my surprise when I found myself plodding through a swamp of self-involved whining by a thoroughly unsympatico narrator for whom I could develop no interest nor empathy, and an unconvincing plot. Just when I was starting to wonder what process the author had undergone to acquire the detailed musical ... one can hardly call it "knowledge," because the effect is so arch and stilted, so let's call it a simulation of a musical understanding--I turned to the "About the Author" section and immediately saw why the seams were showing in this story. The musical lore was acquired second-hand for the purpose of writing the story. It does not come across as genuine. Neither do any of the relationships--least of all, the central love story. Perhaps the idea for the novel came from the author's agent.

As for those who rave about the Seth's style, I cannot imagine what they find impressive in this book. I found it heavy and tedious going--in fact, I could not finish the book, even though I had nothing else to read and had to turn to the airline periodical for relief! Why tell this story in the simple present tense, which makes the first-person narrator sound that much more self-involved, self-conscious, and burdened with an overabundance of self-regard? Who in the world says, "I go out, I get on the bus, I see a bird, I drink a coffee," etc.? Such language creates the impression that we are being dragged along in the author's pocket and may be subjected at any minute to his discovery of navel lint, need to blow his nose, etc. Simply telling the story in the past tense would have helped it pick up some steam. There are other simple stylistic issues that should have been fixed by a good copyeditor, such as Seth's use of the reflexive "myself" instead of "me." Vastly overrated by gushing professional reviewers. I wonder why.

Rating:
Summary: Pathetic characters
Review: I loved A Suitable Boy because of its strong interesting characters. The characters in this book were weak pathetic whiners who only inspired contempt. I'd prefer root canal surgery over reading this again.

Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Gripping and Very Musical
Review: An Equal Music by Vikram Seth is story of Michael (a musician) and his love for music and for Julia. He had meet Julia in Vienna twenty years ago when both of them were students and they instantly fell in love with each other. But for Michael, Julia is much more than just a lover '......she became my best teacher, and for this as for everything else I gave my heart into her hand'. And when one day he leaves both Vienna and Julia abruptly, his life after that appears to be shattered and hollow '......I would not have lost Julia. I would not be a drift' and the only thing that keeps him together is his music '......I become the music of the scale, I mute my will, I free my self'.
The story begins with Michael accidentally running into Julia twenty years later in London, and the old passion rekindles between them. Both of them try to relive the years they had lost but it's a short reunion.
I have to admit I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The journey through London, Vienna and Venice has been exquisite. However, it appears as if Seth has primarily written this book to share his passion for music with the readers and the music, its complexity and perplexities comes out to be the main feel of the book and the story between Michael and Julia comes second.
I think people who love music, will simply be ecstatic over this book, but other readers who do not have the same grip over classic music, need not to fear either since its a musical journey where the maestro Seth, will guide them every second of the beat, through the Maggiore Quartet, Beethoven, Schubert...
Although, many sections of this book are simply exquisite to read, but I have to admit I feel almost one fourth of the book is unnecessary simply because it is adding nothing to the plot and without this the flow of the book would have tremendously improved. Maybe next time Seth should take up the painstaking job of reading the first draft himself.
But overall I think it is an amazing book about music, love and despair.