Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: This a truly excellent book about an episode in a violinist's life. For a more dtailed synopsis, there are other reviews, but my interest lies in clearing up one thing:
I can see how other reviewers thought that Michael Holme's descent into a self-pitying tailspin could get annoying, and somewhat unrealistic. After all, why would a professional violinist who has "made it" give it all up and act in such an immature fashion?
The fact is, the I myself had that criticism to level at this book, until I had to deal with a similar situation. Oh, that's not to say that I fell in love with a married, deaf, concet pianist, but what I am saying is that it is perhaps an affliction of violinists to be fall into a self-pitying tailspin when faced with this sort of loss. Whether Michael will eventually snap out of it is something not covered in the book, but the thought processes, feelings, and progression is, to my mind, spot on. That, in and of itself, earns this book 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite masterpiece on love and music
Review: Few books have made the lasting impact of this one; we have given this to at least twenty friends and each has loved it thoroughly and differently. As with a great work of music, it is difficult to describe or encompass its content or meaning in mere words. Reading this novel with an open mind can subtly and beautifully alter your perspective on music and lifelong love. As one friend put it, the landscape of the novel and its characters evoke a passion and sensibility that can live with you for a long time afterward.
Rating: 
Summary: A Misfire
Review: As a former professional violist, I purchased this book with enormous enthusiasm, expecting an accurate and sympathetic depiction of the chamber music subculture. Instead, it consisted of a long-winded and uninspired account of a relationship between the second violinist and his lost-long lady-love, a married sex godess/pianist with major hearing deficits, an apparent composite of Demi Moore and Beethoven. For those readers interested in this subculture, I advise against reading this silly and distorted novel. Rather, spend your money on tickets to live performances of serious classical musicians.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: An Equal Music is a beautiful, serious novel, one that you have to devote some time and focus to, but it will be time and focus well spent. It is a novel to be savored and enjoyed. The novel focuses on Michael, a professional violinist in his mid-thirties who is still dwelling on Julia, a love he lost by his own foolishness ten years ago. He is a member of a critically acclaimed, if not completely financially successful string quartet and has a rather strained, yet still loving relationship with his father. He's having an affair with one of his students who is 15 years his junior. That is essentially his life. Music, and memories of Julia, rule his world. One day, after a performance, Julia, who he hasn't seen or spoken with in ten years, appears backstage and she re-enters his life again. She is married, with a young son, but Michael soon discovers she is hiding a devastating secret. This novel is beautifully written and reminds me in some ways of the novels of A.S. Byatt. My only complaint is that the relationship between Michael and Julia at times does not ring true. Other than that, a wonderful novel. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Seth captures the music in a character's fugue states
Review: This wonderful book about musicians, obsessions and sacrifice is especially compelling because the rhythms of the prose are evocative of music. One character's mental"fugue" states are intricately woven and staccato, just as in a musical fugue. Other passages are slower, more undulating, as if line notes have given the direction "lento". To read this book is to enjoy, in the rhythm and tone of the words, music-- not in the sense of seeing notes and bars on a page, but in the sense of feeling a compelling and beautiful auditory experience. I hope that others will concentrate not only on the plot, character develoment and settings but will also enjoy the actual sensory experience of reading this wonderfully written book.
Rating:
Summary: The pain of being second fiddle...
Review: Michael Holme is a man haunted by the past... it's been ten years since, in a rash fit of artistically motivated egotism he willfully left the love of his life, Julia McNicholl, and moved from Venice to London.
Now, as second violinist with the Maggiore Quartet, Michael leads a relatively routine performer's life: constant rehearsals, a decent bachelor pad, not quite enough money to own a car, an early morning weekly swim in a dingy river, a borrowed violin, and a half-hearted relationship with a woman that is like cheap wine compared to the champagne he has left behind.
Every day, he thinks of Julia, but his repeated attempts to contact her have proved futile... it is as though she has vanished from the face of the earth. One day Michael is riding the bus, and he sees Julia in another bus, travelling in the same direction... for that moment his world has stopped turning, and she is but five feet from him. As one might expect, he is frantic. This chance sighting begins the process of re-acquaintance, but the real reunion of these two souls is fraught with many unexpected obstacles. Julia herself is a musician, a concert pianist. And, in the intervening years (the lost decade) she has not exactly been sitting around pining away for Michael. She has moved on with her life in many significant ways, and this revelation causes no end of new pain and frustration for Michael. And for her. I do not want to say any more about the storyline from this point on, because any comments can only spoil things for anyone that is even now reaching for the book.
Pick it up. It's actually quite good... Seth does a fine job with a theme that I would summarize in these words:
When it comes to intense personal relationships, we can re-visit history, but we cannot re-write it.
Both of these characters are torn, torn by feelings past and present, and both are forced to learn heart-rending lessons about themselves. Vikram Seth is not kidding when he says "Music to me is dearer even than speech."
There is a LOT of music (musical jargon, musical theory etc.) in An Equal Music. But it was not incomprehensible or overwhelming for a reader like myself, even though I know diddly-squat about music theory. Just roll with it (I say) and stick around for the relevant twists in the realistically bittersweet rather than happily-ever-after ending.
Rating:
Summary: Book Club Material
Review: Our Book Club found this to be one of the best for group discussion mostly because everyone had reacted so differently to the reading. This review is not really about the book, but about the music. All of us are involved in music in one way or another and were eager to listen to the pieces rehearsed and played in the book. THERE IS A COMPANION CD WHICH HAS ALL THE MUSIC!! We did not find this out until several of us looked up the individual selections on a myriad of CD's. Then one of us discovered the "An Equal Music" CD in which Vikram Seth himself has gathered all the pieces. It should be marketed with the book! It is of highest quality and has been played over and over. Both book and CD can stand alone, but together they make a dream package.
Rating:
Summary: Equal to Boredom
Review: Classical music, romance--sounded divine. With the premise of the novel, I thought surely it would be placed on my list of great literary loves, hence I bought the hardcover. Not so. Not even close. In 30 years of reading, this is the first book I've not been able to complete. The writing is so tedious, it's almost painful to consume one page. Attempts to discipline myself & meander through to its entirety were unsuccessful. Suffered through 1/3 & decided to re-read Romeo & Juliet to ease my agony. The story went nowhere & very, oh so very slowly! On the plus side, the cover of the book is visually pleasing so it remains on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful but frustrating
Review: As anyone familiar with Seth's work might expect, this is a beautifully-written novel, brimming with lyrical but easy-to-read prose, well-realised backdrops and a convincingly evoked world. In the case of _An Equal Music_ the latter is both internal and external - that of making music, and coping with other musicians. The central love story plot is pretty straightforward. More complex (and interesting) are the characters caught up in this plot, particularly the central pair of Michael and Julia. Julia is a poignant creation whose world is thrown into very believable turmoil by the return to her life of her lost love Michael. Michael, meanwhile, has the role of narrator - but Seth skilfully ensures that, even at the end, Michael retains some of his mysteries. Unfortunately, Michael also proves to be the weak link. While for much of the novel his quest for Julia makes compelling reading, the final 80 pages or so sink into a mire of self-pitying introspection which after a while becomes simply tedious. For this reader, at least, Michael squandered his accumulated sympathy by his actions towards the end. Those with more patience, however, may get more from this book.
Rating:
Summary: A symphony that is to be heard and felt
Review: Art and Literature are alleged as two of the most sublime aspects of civilisation. A fusion of these sounds magical, nevertheless it is a challenging task to convey the nuances of one using the other as a medium as Mr. Seth has endeavoured to do in 'An Equal Music'. Portraying the universal nature of human emotions in a humane manner that attracts attention and induces a reader's genuine interest in the characters has been a distinctive feature of Mr.Seth's style of writing. If a comparison to his other novels is to be made on this basis, it is exactly where 'An Equal Music' would pale. And understandably so. A blended tale of love and music, it manages to convey, but fails to communicate. Michael, the main protagonist and narrator is a depressed violinist leading a melancholy life. He is benumbed by the tragedies of failure in musical ambitions and love, which reflects on all his relationships. His team-mates of the Maggiore quartet, his not-so-promising students, his mentors and family consisting of his father and aunt are the background of his morbid existence. His thoughts and dreams centre on music and memories of Julia MacNicholl, a beautiful pianist who studied music with him in Vienna, estranged from him for over ten years. Julia symbolises the essence of Michael's music. Michael had broken up with her when he was unable to cope with music studies under his strict and demanding mentor, a decision that he repents for the rest of his life. Having resolved himself to a life of playing second fiddle (literally) with a borrowed violin, there is little else in Michael's world other than music. Julia suddenly surfaces again in Michael's life, and though she has several constraints including her marriage and family, she starts meeting Michael secretly and agrees to tour Vienna with his quartet. In a chance encounter with Julia's son Luke, Michael realises that Julia is slowly going deaf - A shock that causes him to have a nervous breakdown while performing on the tour. Unable to compromise between her love for Michael and their music and her affection for her family, Julia decides to leave Vienna and Michael. The last straw of Michael's peace and probably his sanity dangles precariously in balance when his neighbour and benefactor Mrs.Formby passes away, and he is persuaded to return her violin. From here, the story goes on through a series of maudlin chimes and sentimental sighs towards an expected ending. The prose is beautifully conceived, well presented and poetic, but somehow fails to endorse the story in the right direction. Besides a melange of sorrowful musings, the only focal point in Michael's life (And the novel) is music - Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Bach and Hayden among others could almost pass off as characters. Values and feelings do not actually clash - They are merely accepted and analysed by the characters with a nonchalant air. Even the humour is dark and ironic, woven between intense emotional wordplay. The same theme has been handled masterfully in much greater depth by Graham Greene in 'The End of the Affair'. The finest parts of 'An Equal Music' are then, the sections describing the complex and exhilarating process of making music. Michael comes alive as a person only when he is involved with music - Hearing, playing or even thinking about it. The way the Maggiore rehearses moving from the initial stage towards perfection with the emotions of the musicians pouring out, matching the notes they strum, expresses a trance-like state that can be almost experienced by the reader. 'An Equal Music' can be described more as a beautiful symphony that is to be heard and felt rather than a novel to be read.
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