Reviews

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

Only show reviews with written explanations

needilup's review against another edition

5.0

Fantastic book, gripping from page 1. A great depth of characters. Although you knew the inevitable ending, it was still so beautifully written that I felt satisfied with the ending.

sebarose's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Clearly a first novel. Wouldn't think a second would get published.

ajkhn's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This was a really fun adventure book in a lot of ways. It's a great premise, and the British Empire in Burma is a great setting. The only reason it's "missing" a star is that the characters besides Edgar and Katherine are all fairly wooden. Carroll is at least able to play it off as mysterious, but Khin Myo doesn't really serve as anything but an object for Edgar. Her relationship with Edgar never really gets into believability, which is a huge hitch for the book to progress as it does.
It's a fun book and I enjoyed reading it, it just never seemed to move past the "entertainment" level as it tried to do.

anniefox's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Beautifully written. Always a plus. But not when the writing itself takes the place of a forward moving plot. The atmosphere of setting will stay with me, but the story, as it was, lacked an emotional hook, and took too long to unfold.

alexrafinski's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous informative medium-paced

4.25

I read this after reading the brilliant North Woods by the same author. The Piano Tuner was written around 20 years earlier and is a very different book. It is enjoyable to read and I certainly came away with a bit more knowledge of Burma (as it was then called). The book is based on quite a strange premise - that a leading army doctor/captain in Burma asked for a grand piano to be delivered and then needed someone to tune it. I was hoping that that had actually happened in real life, but the author's note at the end suggests that it hadn't. So I still wonder where that idea came from! The book follows the journey of the tuner as he leave London and sails for Burma, and then eventually leaves Rangoon for the distant outpost where the captain and his piano is waiting. There are some lovely descriptive passages and the story seems strangely believable.

idicalini's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

The writing in this novel is very evocative, as long as it stays away from these dream-like paragraphs that don't make it clear who's talking. Those parts were very annoying and I kind of skipped through them. But the descriptions of the journey to Burma, the jungle, the flowers, the smells... all those were very good, and my favourite part of the story. As for the rest - characters, plot - I thought both were a bit weak. The characters are not really fleshed out, and the plot leaves many things unclear. Perhaps a less lazy reader than myself would have a better grasp than I do on the plot, though.