A review by avalydia
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

3.0

I started this book on January 1st, and I had an incredibly hard time getting into it - in fact, I think it precipitated the reading slump I've been in all year. It didn't help that it was a gift from a work colleague whose opinion I value, so I would feel guilty for not reading it, and then I would avoid reading it, feel more guilty, etc.

I don't think I touched it for a few months, and then I picked it back up again because I knew I needed to finish it. Slowly, I worked my way through, and gradually it got more interesting. Then, around the halfway point, I was hooked, and I read the rest in just a couple more sittings.

That said, it's hard to describe how I feel about this book. I don't think I would read it again. The writing was fine, good even. The main character was fine, the setting was interesting, and there was a lot of intrigue towards the end. But the whole ~white man goes on a journey to a foreign land, admires the locals/loses himself and of course

Spoiler

falls in love with an "exotic" woman

~ plot is so overdone, and such a white male thing to write.

Another main character, the doctor, Anthony Carroll, was built up as this almost mythical man and then fell flat (to me, anyway). Khin Myo was just there

Spoiler

to cause ~sensual~ tension, not to actually have thoughts and dreams of her own

.

Overall, it was fine, and towards the end very riveting, but it's not going to make my favorites list.