Helpful Score: 9
A thoughtful book. Though there was a hint of the rather annoying "exotic Asian" stereotype, it didn't detract from the good story. The main character is Mr. Everyday Man and you really do feel his excitement and fears as he goes off on an unimaginable adventure. Great book!
Helpful Score: 8
The descriptions are beautiful, the story one of contrast-that of a very ordinary man entering in on something extraordinary by which he is then caught. One feels as if they are in the midst of the jungle with the Shan terrain all around them. And if you appreciate music, you will love being caught in the midst of this musical story.
Helpful Score: 6
This is the enthralling story of an Englishman who travels out to the jungles of Burma, and his subsequent adventures in a different world from what he has known. You will not be able to put this book down!
Helpful Score: 5
A rather melancholy but beautifully written and surprising novel. A pleasure to read.
Helpful Score: 4
I loved this one. Couldn't post it, had to pass it to my friends. About music and the senselessness of war, about beauty and children. Written by a medical student - hope he writes again.
Helpful Score: 3
This is the story of an everyday common Englishman, a simple piano tuner, who gets to do something unusual. He travels into the jungles of Burma to tune a piano because he is an expert in tuning this particular type. He leaves his beloved wife whom he loves so very much. The romantic descriptions of their love is so beautiful and wrapped within the music they both love. Yet as he travels away from her and he takes pen in hand to write about the beauty of the strange new country he is visiting - the flora, the fauna, the people. As the tale unfolds, he becomes unknowingly caught up in local politics and drama that changes life for himself and his wife forever. It's a well written and thoughtful book. I quite liked it.
Helpful Score: 2
This is an excellent book - lyrical and beautifully crafted.
Helpful Score: 2
This book was interesting. It made me want to learn more about Burma. However, I'm a happily ever after person and I did not like the ending of the book. It felt like the story was a build up to something that never quite came.
Helpful Score: 1
Very unusual and a page turner. I really liked it.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book! A very interesting read.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a good book. I was slow to get into it, but then I found that I was hooked. Worth the read.
Helpful Score: 1
Strange setting...Burma in 1886...a piano tuner goes to the jungle...good writing.
Helpful Score: 1
An improbable story of a piano in the jungle that keeps you very interested. Also, a great peek into the Burmese war.
Helpful Score: 1
Very well-written novel that takes place in Burma in the 1880's...enjoy the book for its writing style but expect that it takes awhile to get to the actual piano or you'll lose patience.
Helpful Score: 1
A wonderful story filled with vivid descriptions of far away places and cultures. The main character is a very likable fellow and I found his adventures engrossing. I also learned something about the history of Burma.
I started this book with high expectations and had trouble finishing it. I guess the story is well written, but much too convoluted and descriptive for my taste. A little slow.
I absolutely LOVED this book! Dark, dramatic, and a wonderful story about corruption and humanity, much in the spirit of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." While reading the story, I felt drawn into the jungle and could almost feel the dark and oppressive atmosphere that the characters experienced. This is not a happy feel-good book, and definitely not light reading, but overall a worthwhile read that I highly recommend.
British government hires a piano tuner to travel to Burma to repair a military doctor's piano.
For the first few chapters I wondered why I was reading this novel, as there was little, if any, dialogue. I just couldn't get into it. But I hung on and I'm glad I did.
However, there is no happy ending here. Instead, the end reveals how British government officials used immoral manipulation to further Britain's imperial expansion toward those people and countries it wishes to control for its own profit. I might not have felt this way if I had not also been reading "The Immortal Irishman" by Timothy Egan. That book opens with a description of the seven hundred year "holocaust" England inflicted upon Ireland.
However, there is no happy ending here. Instead, the end reveals how British government officials used immoral manipulation to further Britain's imperial expansion toward those people and countries it wishes to control for its own profit. I might not have felt this way if I had not also been reading "The Immortal Irishman" by Timothy Egan. That book opens with a description of the seven hundred year "holocaust" England inflicted upon Ireland.
This book was great for the person wanting to know about the Berma History and the people that live there. I loved it and think everyone should have to read it before they move on out of high school.
One of the wonders in the book world.
:)zuphoto
One of the wonders in the book world.
:)zuphoto
Voted best book of the year by San Francisco Chronicle and LA Times.
Piano tuner in early 1800s is commissioned by British army to travel to recently conquered but untamed area of Burman to tune a piano. Writing is wonderful, story riveting. I really liked it!
Piano tuner in early 1800s is commissioned by British army to travel to recently conquered but untamed area of Burman to tune a piano. Writing is wonderful, story riveting. I really liked it!
This audiobook was narrated by Graeme Malcolm. He did a really good job. I thought his voice fit prefectly with the drama presented in this story
Story of a piano tuner who goes to India to tune a unique piano for British office stationed there. Very detailed descriptions of piano tuning, music, Indian culture and British rule in India
Do you like historical fiction that takes place in Burma? Then this book is for you.
Enjoyed this book told by a 9 year old that takes place during WWII.
Wow! How to explain this one? So unusual, so beautifully written--so dream-like and wonderful. Read it!
Very similar to Heart of Darkness.
Very interesting fictional tale of an English piano tuner sent to Burma to tune a special piano for a Dr. there with suspicious ties. Great adventure, history, romance, wonderfully written.
This is the story of a man who travels practically to the end of the earth to tune a piano.
In 1886 a shy, middle-aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there repair a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indispensable to the imperial design. From this irresistible beginning, The Piano Tuner launches readers into a world of seductive, vibrantly rendered characters, and enmeshes them in an unbreakable spell of storytelling.
In 1886 a shy middle aged piano tuner named Edgar Drake receives an unusual commission from the British War Office: to travel to the remote jungles of northeast Burma and there reapir a rare piano belonging to an eccentric army surgeon who has proven mysteriously indespensaable to the imperial design. (from the book jacket)
