Reviews

An Equal Music by Vikram Seth

sneharatakonda's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Michael Holme cannot think of a world without classical music, is part of a successful quartet as a violinist and is seeing someone. However, his break up with Julia 10 years ago continues to dog him, along with the memories of the time they spent together in Vienna. In the present day, he runs into Julia once again in London and discovers that she is married and has a small child. The two of them become connected once again, and this is threatened when Julia reveals her life-changing secret to him.

Michael and Julia have had the kind of love that people sing ballads for, with all its insecurities and moments, with the beautiful and the tender thoughts. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, and it shows that Seth is a poet first and foremost.

What ruins it for me is TONS of classical music references in the entire book. The technical language of playing a cello or a violin or a viola is not something I am in anyway familiar with, and that feeling of confusion lasted throughout the book. I also did not like the characterization of Michael since I have never really liked broody, selfish characters. Also, the secret reveal in itself was built up as this earth shattering thing and it turned out to be a damp squid in my eyes. Not for me, but maybe more for classical music aficionados 

teebea's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

hannahws's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I adore this book. Yes, the main character is an annoying, whiny wet blanket, and I wouldn’t wish his miserable, lonely life on my worst enemy, but Vikram Seth does  an incredible job at drawing out the emotion and plaintive atmosphere. I adore this book for its wordplay

claireattempts's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jessalynn_librarian's review against another edition

4.0

Warning: reading this book will make you want to hear all the music they talk about. The story really conveys the feel of the music, and the life of a musician - but it's also one of those books where the main character gets slightly obsessive, and you go along for the ride. And you start to feel slightly crazy as a result. At one point, a secret was revealed about one character (you knew something was coming but you didn't know what) and I actually went back and reread several chapters to find all the clues that I knew were there. A good, engrossing read for when you want a grown-up story - or one that's absorbed in the world of chamber music.

sheeprustler's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

slrsmith's review against another edition

2.0

The writing was quite good, which was probably why I persevered with this one. For this novel to be a success, for me, it needed better character development. Perhaps it was a victim of its first person narration in that we can inevitably get caught up in arguments over how well we can ever really know other people, even those we love. However, I found even the narrator to be lacking in character development. I got little sense of his motivations, and his emotional reactions often left me somewhat mystified. The whole package just came off as a shallow melodrama. It reminded me of being a teenager and meditating on the mystery of the emotional life of boys as a species seperate from girls. If I'd read this book then I'd have been none the wiser. I think 2 stars is fair: it was ok. Perhaps it earns an extra 1/2 star in that the quality of writing was high enough that I actually kept reading, because normally I would not bother to finish a book like this.

jackieeh's review against another edition

3.0

One of the reviewers described this book as "tense." I couldn't have come up with a better word myself. This book is about music and love. It is not a thriller. If I were to come across a thriller this tense I wouldn't know what to do with myself.
The music was great. The love story not so much. I would have been perfectly happy to read a book about a string quartet and their dynamics without all the adultery and long-lost-flame hoo hah. Not that this wasn't well-written. Or, you know, tense. But still.
I left this one in France, too, even though it was in pretty good condition. It just struck me as a really unhappy (not necessarily sad, just depressed) book and I really don't need to own a copy.

dominique_cs's review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

extremesalsaing's review against another edition

2.0

I even question giving this book as much as 2 stars. This is an adequate but Unimpressive character study about professional musicians and the lives they lead, but is cancerous plagued by a main character so supremely and wholly unlikable that I cannot fathom why Vikram Seth wrote him that way. He doesn't gain anything or change, not really. He is only barely more infantile at the end of the book than at the beginning. The entire main plot of this book is technically serviceable, but serves no real purpose. If I hadn't been reading this for a class, I wouldn't have been able to get more than a third of the way through.