The Piano Tuner: A Novel

An interesting plot: In the late 1800s an English piano tuner, Edgar Drake, is called upon by his country to travel to Burma during a time of upheaval to tune the piano of an eccentric military surgeon. It is an interesting tale of how the surgeon ended up with the piano, why it was important to have Drake make the trip, and how the trip progresses. The first half of the book, seeing the world from the eyes of someone who hadn't traveled before, was interesting particularly if you like descriptions of scenery. After he got to Burma the point of it all became muddier and muddier. At the end, I was not sure what was real and what wasn't. The conclusion was so disconnected from anything I might have expected, it was less a surprise than a let down. Having read other glowing reviews of the book, I can only speak for myself. I guess I just didn't "get it."

I've been to the parts of Myanmar that are the setting for this story -- albeit more than 100 years later. It seems that many things haven't changed that much -- the NE section of the country is still remote and tumultuous at times.Having a sense of the setting made this a wonderful, atmospheric read, but I think it has much wider appeal for those who love well-written stories, full of adventure, intrigue and wonderfully drawn characters. I recommend it highly!

No doubt it is a solid novel, but it does not reach the level of “The Winter Soldier”. Even after one gets used to the bizarre punctuation, there are too many peculiar-foreign names to brake the prosody of the author’s usual, elegant phrasing. Nonetheless, the author is masterful in his descriptions of landscape and environment. Once I knew a person who had been stationed in Burma during the 1950’s and would not stop feeling a longing for it; after reading this novel it became clear why he so yearned.

Spmehow I missed this wonderful epic story when it came out 15 years ago. Its grip on the time and space is astonishingly accurate for anyone who has spent time in the tropics. It echoes Joseph Conrad, but has a wonderful voice of its own. And the author still in medical school at the time? Well, bowl me over. I couldn’t put it down and strongly recommend you pick it up. It will do your heart good. Thank you for writing it.

Beautiful imagery about a time I never lived in, and a place I'll probably never see. But I *could* see it through this author's pen. A read that stays with you for days...

“The Piano Tuner” (2002) was Daniel Mason’s first novel. I don’t know how I missed it until now (I ADORED 2018’s “The Winter Soldier”) but I’m glad I finally got to it because it’s wonderful.In 1886, Edgar Drake, the eponymous Piano Tuner, is been summoned to Burma to tune a rare piano owned by an enigmatic surgeon. What follows is a gripping tale of Edgar’s adventures and miss-adventures and the fascinating characters he meets along his journey deep into Asia.Daniel Mason is an incredibly talented writer; his prose is both beautiful and completely captivating.

Adored this novel and cannot believe it was the authors first book. The detail was incredible and for a young man to write this good is unreal. It has a few twists to it and the ending had me jumping off my seat. Yes I cried after reading it having felt the lead character was a real living person the writing was so true to life.

A travel book. A history book. A story book. A book of dreams.1886. British Empire. Senior officer in Burma (a military surgeon named Carroll) requires a piano and is granted an Erard. After a while, the Erard needs tuning. The war office hires the services of a piano tuner for 3 months, for a year's pay. The hired man is Edgar Drake. He accepts for the love of music and country, though it means leaving his loving wife alone for so long.The novel was published in 2002 and is Mr. Mason's first. Surprisingly, he is American. Not surprisingly, Werner Herzog is reported to film the story. His kind of story. My kind too, though I am not always with Herzog.The introduction to the task doesn't convince. The war office writes a letter to Edgar Drake and tells him all. So unlikely. Then Drake is interviewed by the colonel in charge, and the over-communication continues. Imagine: a colonial military old-timer takes a complete outsider, a mere civilian, whom he has never met before, into his confidence and talks freely about the problems of another colonel in a critical position ... Why would a piano tuner, even under the specific circumstances, be briefed on military matters? This would strictly have been a need to know case.When we are with Drake and his world, all is well for now. He is a normal man with a normal life. That will change.After a month and two chapters of travel preparations, Drake sets off. He writes lovely travel letters to his wife. All that he sees is new to him. He chats with the ship captain who likes to gossip. A fellow passenger, a deaf Arab, tells him a story straight out of Arabian Nights. Drake reads the colonel's paper on Shan history. He learns that the region is in rebellion against British rule. One wonders why a piano tuner is a good person to invite just now. On the other hand, Drake sympathizes with the colonel. He sees commonalities.He is puzzled because nobody has thought of giving him specific info about the piano that he is supposed to cure. He writes a short history of the Erard pianos, from which we learn how special the piano in question is likely to be.Drake arrives in Burma after 3 chapters of most diverse text and information. In Rangoon, Drake is beset by the contradiction of colonial luxuries and native poverty. He joins a tragic tiger hunt with Cheney style results. Drake is clearly not cut out for being part of a master race. The memory of that incident haunts him on his inland journey.From fellow passengers on the river boat to Mandalay, he learns many stories about the colonel, who turns out to be a hero among common soldiers.A man without darkness in his heart. That doesn't necessarily endear him to his peers in the officer class, of course.Half way through the book, Drake is nearly stuck in Mandalay. The Shan region is restless. Go on or not? He proceeds in an unofficial small group, and now the adventure starts.. Drake finds himself siding with an outsider, an outcast from his caste system.Enough. Go for it. Ignore the mediocre reviews. When a book hits a head and it sounds empty, it need not be the book's fault.

This novel starts promisingly, but descends into a selection of history text books, technical manuals and barely related anecdotes. The fact that the author chooses a most improbable sequence of events as his device for displaying his esoteric knowledge could have been forgiven, as some parts were riveting, and his often poetic use of English delightful, had there been an ultimate point in this long, unwieldy story, but the end is a total cop-out, leaving the reader frustrated and unsatisfied. He gets full marks, however, for originality.

A story of a piano tuner in the late 19th century who is commissioned to go to Burma, inexplicably, to tune a particular grand piano that happens to be his speciality. The journey to Burma takes an awfully long time and is peopled with highly unlikely characters including several decidedly eccentric British army officers. As a whole, the book is well written and the story carries you along but ultimately it is such an improbable story that you finish up being irritated by it. And, unless, you are truly fascinated by piano tuning, there is one chapter that you could well live without. As a novel, it is definitely different but in the end doesn't tell you much about Burma itself and feels rather unsatisfactory in the end. Read it quickly and it would go on holiday with you quite reasonably.

Difficult to read as kept changing style throughout. The interminable conversations did nothing to lift the book. The way they were written was confusing too with both sides written one after another with no differentiation so it was hard to keep track of who was speaking. I was looking forward to the tuning of the piano but lost the will to live long before he even got to see it.

Poetic in firm and rich with music, culture and discovery. I enjoyed this book as I entered a new environment.

I read this while travelling in Myanmar and found that it enhanced my experience of the country. The descriptions are great and the story compelling. It explores some of the emotions we experience when travelling somewhere very different from home and, as such, will chime with many readers.