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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
I'm honestly not sure what I think of the Piano Teacher. I finished it a couple of months ago and I just can't figure it out. Erika teaches piano in a conservatory in Vienna, and she's a cruel and exacting teacher with little respect for her pupils. By the time you figure out she's a teacher though, you've already met her mother - a controlling brute who manages every aspect of her daughter's life. When Erika can, she escapes to porn shows and public parks known for "indecency," watching others engage in relationships of the kind her mother will never let her have. When one of her older pupils makes it his mission to take her to bed, Erika becomes consumed with the relationship, the bizarre ideas she has about sex from her nighttime wanderings, and it all ends very badly.
I'm not sure if it's because a lot of the so called perversions described earlier in the novel are actually pretty acceptable these days, or because a lot of the trouble Erika has with Walter we recognise now in young people who've grown up with easy access to porn of all kinds, but I wasn't as shocked as many seem to have been by this book. Every relationship in this novel is torn and misshapen, and it's difficult to plough through the darkness when there's nobody there to hold a light. A tough read, I imagine ferocious and unconventional in its time. But not one I think I would go back to.
I'm not sure if it's because a lot of the so called perversions described earlier in the novel are actually pretty acceptable these days, or because a lot of the trouble Erika has with Walter we recognise now in young people who've grown up with easy access to porn of all kinds, but I wasn't as shocked as many seem to have been by this book. Every relationship in this novel is torn and misshapen, and it's difficult to plough through the darkness when there's nobody there to hold a light. A tough read, I imagine ferocious and unconventional in its time. But not one I think I would go back to.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[bc:The Piano Teacher|764953|The Piano Teacher|Elfriede Jelinek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327932142s/764953.jpg|2179325] This is a book that depends on the inner life of the characters and the terrible dynamic between them to drive the story, and the writer’s language to sustain that hurtling energy. For all its very voyeuristic aspects, I don’t quite get how it could succeed as a movie. And I won’t find out because I think it would be awful to watch, despite how much I admire this book, and despite how fetching Isabelle Huppert looks on the cover of my copy.
I read [bc:Wonderful, Wonderful Times|301834|Wonderful, Wonderful Times|Elfriede Jelinek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442090279s/301834.jpg|292898] a year ago and it was similar in its deep bleakness. The writing was also excellent but I didn’t like it half as much as The PianoTeacher, mostly because I managed to feel a cake crumb of sympathy and understanding for the twisted main character in the latter, Erica Kohut. The characters in WWT seemed too remote.
Until I had finished I didn’t realize that The Piano Teacher was semi-autobiographical. Elfriede Jelinek lived alone with her mother, her father died in an asylum, she graduated from the Vienna school of music, and obviously has as much trouble navigating the manifest world as Erica Kohut, Jelinek having been unable to leave her apartment to collect the Nobel Prize for Literature because of a generous anxiety level.
This book is not for the weak-stomached or those who like their books uplifting. Nothing uplifting in here! Just the way I like it.
I read [bc:Wonderful, Wonderful Times|301834|Wonderful, Wonderful Times|Elfriede Jelinek|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1442090279s/301834.jpg|292898] a year ago and it was similar in its deep bleakness. The writing was also excellent but I didn’t like it half as much as The PianoTeacher, mostly because I managed to feel a cake crumb of sympathy and understanding for the twisted main character in the latter, Erica Kohut. The characters in WWT seemed too remote.
Until I had finished I didn’t realize that The Piano Teacher was semi-autobiographical. Elfriede Jelinek lived alone with her mother, her father died in an asylum, she graduated from the Vienna school of music, and obviously has as much trouble navigating the manifest world as Erica Kohut, Jelinek having been unable to leave her apartment to collect the Nobel Prize for Literature because of a generous anxiety level.
This book is not for the weak-stomached or those who like their books uplifting. Nothing uplifting in here! Just the way I like it.
Erika, la protagonista de esta historia tiene una relación muy tóxica amor/odio con su madre por lo que lo que conoce como amor no es nada sano. El libro se centra en esta relación y en cómo impacta en la vida de Erika.
Cuando en su vida aparece un estudiante que comienza a interesarse sexualmente en ella es cuando la historia comienza a tomar vuelo hasta llegar a una explosión de violencia en la que Erika siempre es la víctima, tanto de la madre como del estudiante, sin embargo, lo más interesante es la manera en la que llega a acomodarse en ese lugar de víctima a raíz de lo que ella entiende por amor.
La narrativa es difícil y muy distinta a lo que había leído anteriormente, plagada de una atmósfera de locura y divagaciones a cada instante. Esto es lo que me pareció más difícil de esta lectura, sin embargo, al terminar el libro y apreciarse en conjunto es entendible este estilo y forma de narrar e, inclusive, es algo que aporta mucho a las sensaciones que provoca esta lectura, en donde la incomodidad, sin duda, es la que predomina por encima del asco, la desesperación y la indignación que se sienten en muchas escenas.
Reconozco que de haberlo leído sola mi calificación sería menor, sin embargo, el comentarlo en conjunto con otras lectoras me permitió digerirlo y apreciarlo al máximo.
Cuando en su vida aparece un estudiante que comienza a interesarse sexualmente en ella es cuando la historia comienza a tomar vuelo hasta llegar a una explosión de violencia en la que Erika siempre es la víctima, tanto de la madre como del estudiante, sin embargo, lo más interesante es la manera en la que llega a acomodarse en ese lugar de víctima a raíz de lo que ella entiende por amor.
La narrativa es difícil y muy distinta a lo que había leído anteriormente, plagada de una atmósfera de locura y divagaciones a cada instante. Esto es lo que me pareció más difícil de esta lectura, sin embargo, al terminar el libro y apreciarse en conjunto es entendible este estilo y forma de narrar e, inclusive, es algo que aporta mucho a las sensaciones que provoca esta lectura, en donde la incomodidad, sin duda, es la que predomina por encima del asco, la desesperación y la indignación que se sienten en muchas escenas.
Reconozco que de haberlo leído sola mi calificación sería menor, sin embargo, el comentarlo en conjunto con otras lectoras me permitió digerirlo y apreciarlo al máximo.
I was expecting this to be dark...but I didn't think it would be that dark. The Piano Teacher is an incredibly unsexy story of--well, not of love so much as the struggle for absolute control. NYT Book Review accurately called it "an exploration of fascism, not so much in the political sense as in the personal." 38-year-old Erika is a highly repressed piano player/instructor ruled by her emotionally shriveled and manipulative mother. Erika's external shell of a highly cultured artist hides her internal perversions, and highbrow conservatory recitals mingle with images of Vienna's vulgar underworld. When one of her teenage students begins to flirt with her, little does he realize what he's getting himself into.
The demented subject matter alone will turn many people off, so readers who prefer sentimentality and escapism should stay away. However, the writing (even in translation) is poetic and image-rich, the story slow-burning yet gripping, and ultimately mind-bending. The student-teacher affair seems to raise the most eyebrows, but I found the dysfunctional mother-daughter dynamic more disturbing (the less said here, the better). I haven't yet seen the film, but I'd be interested to see how this was adapted--after I've recovered from (and forgotten) the novel, that is.
In lieu of a conclusion, I'll borrow a quote from page 222 that seems like a fitting summary: this book "rips apart lovers and binds together things that the writer keeps separate. The mind twists and turns as it sees fit."
The demented subject matter alone will turn many people off, so readers who prefer sentimentality and escapism should stay away. However, the writing (even in translation) is poetic and image-rich, the story slow-burning yet gripping, and ultimately mind-bending. The student-teacher affair seems to raise the most eyebrows, but I found the dysfunctional mother-daughter dynamic more disturbing (the less said here, the better). I haven't yet seen the film, but I'd be interested to see how this was adapted--after I've recovered from (and forgotten) the novel, that is.
In lieu of a conclusion, I'll borrow a quote from page 222 that seems like a fitting summary: this book "rips apart lovers and binds together things that the writer keeps separate. The mind twists and turns as it sees fit."
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Real rating 1.8 stars
This book is a dark disturbing story about a depressed young woman and her controlling, deranged (there is really no there word to describe her) mother. Erika self-harms. Her outlook on life is very negative and she is nasty and always wants to be in control. Unsurprisingly, her relationship with both her mother and Walter erupts into violence. She is both a victim and a perpetrator.
The subject matter of this book is so heavy that I could only read a few pages at a time. Erika's situation is so desperate, so desolate that it felt suffocating. In addition, the non-linear timeline, use of obscure metaphors and difficult subject matter made for a very difficult, shocking and challenging read. If that was Jelinek's intention, she was entirely successful but I won't be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon.
This book is a dark disturbing story about a depressed young woman and her controlling, deranged (there is really no there word to describe her) mother. Erika self-harms. Her outlook on life is very negative and she is nasty and always wants to be in control. Unsurprisingly, her relationship with both her mother and Walter erupts into violence. She is both a victim and a perpetrator.
The subject matter of this book is so heavy that I could only read a few pages at a time. Erika's situation is so desperate, so desolate that it felt suffocating. In addition, the non-linear timeline, use of obscure metaphors and difficult subject matter made for a very difficult, shocking and challenging read. If that was Jelinek's intention, she was entirely successful but I won't be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced