Rating: 
Summary: Magical, fascinating, dazzling!
Review: Please read this book slowly, take your time. Savour every minute of reading and every single page of the book!In 1886 the piano tuner Edgar Drake is summoned to a remote military outpost in the Shan States to tune an 1840 Erard piano. The piano to be tuned belongs to the somewhat eccentric Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll. Carroll was granted the piano itself as well as to have it tuned by a specialist by the British War Office, because his efforts of bringing peace to that region have proven invaluable to the British Crown. During this fabulously narrated tale the reader is taken on Drake's journey to Burma, via France, the coasts of Africa, Bombay, Allahabad and Benares to the Bay of Bengal and finally to the fictional place of Mae Lwin. The author has found a marvellous way to depict Drake's 5,000 mile-journey to Mae Lwin, the wonders of nature, the way of life in the colonies as well as the mysteries of human nature. Besides dwelling on beauty he points out the differences between Burman and English culture and in a subtle, yet very impressive way the intrusion of the colonial masters into the spirits and lives of their colonial subjects (e.g. setting up military headquarters right next to a pagoda). The coaction between the characters of Edgar Drake, Dr. Anthony Carroll and Khin Myo is stunning and exceptional. The story of the "Man with one story" as well as the little poem about the lotus-eaters have captivated me. I didn't want to finish this book. If I had been in Mae Lwin, I wouldn't have wanted to leave it either. I can nearly guarantee you that you will become a lotus-eater too, once you have started reading this book (you will understand this reference then as well). Result: 5 stars are more than justified for this astonishing debut-novel of such a young man!
Rating: 
Summary: INEXCUSABLY POOR
Review: We can all name books that have little or no intrinsic worth, yet succeeded because they were published at the right time. At certain junctures, readers will be so ready for a new book to appear in a particular genre that they WANT to like it, and will therefore see worth in it that does not really exist. Mason's book is a case in point. It is so poor that one cannot help but conclude that timing is the crucial factor in it success. Here are a few examples from its long list of flaws. ---No character uses contractions in his or her speech. Instead of using "I'm," "would've," or "shouldn't," for example (as English speakers do in real life) the characters invariably say "I am," "would have," and "should not." When this factor appears several times, it is irritating. When an entire novel filled with it,it becomes a travesty. ---The dialogue itself is sluggish, pedestrian, mechanical, and immature, as though it were written by a junior high school student. It is also overloaded with sophomoric bombast that does nothing to advance the story. Within the first few pages, this element becomes intensely irritating. Indeed, in many places the quality level of the dialogue seems appropriate to a children's book. ---The author apparently took no time to read and correct his own manuscript before he sent it off for publication, as evidenced by its numerous clumsy contradictions. Example: on page 51 of the hard cover edition, a ship's captain tells the main protagonist that the ship's passengers are, "usually bores." On the next page, the same captain tells the same protagonist that the same passengers are an "extraordinary lot."
---"The Piano Tuner" displays one of the hallmarks of third-rate writing: rather than take the extra effort to artistically encapsulate pivotal facts and figures in a few critical phrases of dialogue, Mason repeatedly stops and gives us dry textbook expositions that can run on for many boring pages each time. This is a cheap and lazy cop-out. I'm not saying this book doesn't merit its hype. I'm saying it doesn't merit publication. Period. Really, it's that bad. Fortunately I got it from the public library.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: I'm amazed by the harsh criticism of this wonderful first novel. I found this an enthralling read, one that captivates from the first page.
Rating:
Summary: Failure
Review: Great idea ruined by bad writing, weak characters and narrative that doesn't cast a spell over the readers (or at least one of them). It will be up to the others to judge, my impression though is that the author didn't do enough research while working on this book. The language is supposed to be 19th-century British English. The characters, however, seem to be speaking the pompous version of modern American ("Good to see you, Mr. Drake"). The characters are not believable, their presentation lacks observation and those little details that make them come alive. Several story elements (The Man of One Story), while potentially crucial and intriguing, seem to be too sketchy and under-developed. All in all, a disappointment. This could have been one of those epic stories that one wants to read over and over. Thankfully, the author seems to have enough imagination and talent to be able to overcome a lack of skill in his future endeavours.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointing Read
Review: The title and synopsis promised so much more than was delivered by the text. Essentially, the author's knowledge of Burma and its colonial past is so shallow and his ability to weave personalities into a story-line with credibility is so weak that you become more annoyed with each chapter. The opportunities to insert historical fact are too contrived and out of place. It is a wonder that this book made it through the editorial process of a major publishing house. I give it two stars: one for the author's determination to see his project reach print and the other because it elicited such a reaction from me.
Rating: 
Summary: Need to look beneath the surface
Review: After finishing this book I eagerly read all 45 reviews here to see what others thought of the book. Many thought it was slow: and it is, but in my mind worth slowing down for. Many didn't like the "Man with 1 Story": I found him essential, if a little artifically inserted. The pace of the ending I did not care for: it too suddenly picked up and then stopped. However- In my opinion, this book is an exploration of life, and of what's right and worthwhile and vulgar, set in the context of a 19th century travelogue. The main character is (somewhat disturbingly at times) effeminant - I saw that as the author's way of portraying someone vastly out of his element. Edgar had a very comfortable, and contented, life - but his horizons, and view of what occured beyond his horizons, was very constricted. The Man-With-One-Story is key: recall how Carrol also had heard the story, but it was very different. I think the author is putting up for inspection the idea that each of us may be a Person-With-One-Story. The obvious question is: "What is yours?" Edgar had dreams, but did he know his story before he left England? I think the Burman theater and puppet shows were an important piece as well - in them Edgar begins to appreciate beauty in a context he never before even knew existed. The monkey shooting incident was the counterpoint to this: selfish exploitation of foreign contexts. It would be easy to be dissapointed with Carrol, when he finally arrives on the stage. But IMO, he is not meant to stand on his own - he is mostly just another device to lead Edgar on his journey. He is larger than life, but shallow. The end leaves the travelogue style, and becomes sureal. The reader is not sure what is real and what is just in Edgar's mind - it is the final synthesis of the journey and all of it's peices. But it is not light and happy and airy - it is grimy and may in fact reflect reality more than a Grishamesque ending. I would welcome other thoughts regarding this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Book
Review: Simply put, this is a beautiful book by a talented author. I don't know what he's doing in medical school, but my personal advice to him would be to devote his full time to writing. The plot was creative and the writing evoked a mood in me that captured Burma as I experienced it. I live in Thailand and have traveled in Burma (now, sometimes, "Myanmar"). I was initially attracted to the book by the story's locale, but ended up being enthralled by the endlessly creative plot, the suspense, and the pure beauty of the writing, a cross, maybe, between Conrad and Maugham. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a good story and also wants to feel that he is reading something of literary worth.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: This was a pretty good book. I enjoyed the imagery... it was very real and I found myself in the jungles of Burma. It was a little boring at times, perhaps because I am female and could not appreciate some of the military scenes. It ended quite differently than I imagined. There was unnecessary information, like "the man with one story" - it added nothing to the story at all and so I asked myself "okay, now what?" I enjoyed the poetic prose type of writing and the imagery, but the story lacked plot or excitement. Definately not a page turner or " just one more chapter and then I will go to bed" kind of book.
Rating:
Summary: Why all the hype?
Review: The words lyrical, poetic, seductive, and adventurous, tantalize the potential buyer of this book from the reviews on the dust jacket. As a reader, however, the words pedestrian, derivative, pedantic, mawkish, amateurish, and tepid come to mind. It became clear early on (as another reviewer points out) that this is the author's travelogue to Asia dressed up as rehashed Joseph Conrad. (Or maybe just "Apocalypse Now" without the Wagner and helicopters?) Daniel Mason handles the problems of novelistic form without skill, grace, or imagination. His prose meanders along with careless sameness. The narrative is so encumbered with descriptive detail that one wonders if Mr. Mason needed to relieve himself of all the accumulated arcana of undergraduate elective classes and SAT prep courses. Yet, I'm SURE it will be a movie. And it will be a beautiful one. I've taken such an aggressively negative stance against this book that I have to ask myself why. I'm not a reviewer. Who will care what a classical musician from New York City thinks of this much-touted book? AH! There's the rub: it is a book. Published by Knopf! One for which I paid $... ($... for the poor Canadians). No one warned me. So, I'm warning you. If you love good writing and a compelling story, don't buy this book. In fact, the one good thing that has come from my encounter with "The Piano Tuner" is that I am going to reread "The Heart of Darkness." Save yourself the $... and join me.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfying
Review: As a fan of both historical fiction and lierature set in the Far East, I pounced on this novel with great anticipation. And, on the whole, I was not disappointed. Mason has done his research; the book is full of accurate details evoking 19th century London as well as the jungles of Burma. His style is not unlike the sound of waves lapping at the shore--slow, soothing, inexorable. From several foreshadowing comments, I did expect a bit more action, a bit earlier on, but the denouement, when it came, was effective and not unsatisfying.
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