<![CDATA[The Piano Teacher]]>

false <![CDATA[The Piano Teacher]]>

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In the sweeping tradition of The English Patient, a gripping tale of love and betrayal set in war-torn Hong Kong In 1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival. Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the Japanese—in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of terrible betrayals. Ten years later, Claire Pendleton comes to Hong Kong and is hired by the wealthy Chen family as their daughter’s piano teacher. A provincial English newlywed, Claire is seduced by the heady social life of the expatriate community. At one of its elegant cocktail parties, she meets Will, to whom she is instantly attracted—but as their affair intensifies, Claire discovers that Will’s enigmatic persona hides a devastating past. As she begins to understand the true nature of the world she has entered, and long-buried secrets start to emerge, Claire learns that sometimes the price of survival is love.

3810543

2008

The Piano Teacher

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4 5 false false Wed Jan 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 20 08:17:58 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 07 21:46:48 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 3 false false Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 17 14:20:37 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 19:06:54 -0800 2008 The Piano Teacher explores how lives in Hong Kong in the 1950s was affected by the Japanese invasion of the Bri...more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 20 05:44:21 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 12:40:39 -0800 2009
I really enjoyed the 1940's story line of Will and Trudy during...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 07:44:21 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 07:44:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Dec 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 03:48:52 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 16:41:33 -0800 2008
The Piano Teacher, strictly speaking, doesn't have a lot to do with piano teaching. In fact, Claire (the piano teacher) sometimes feels like she's only there to tell the story of Will and Trudy and to tie up the loose ends for th...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 16 13:36:48 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 13:40:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Apr 02 07:50:07 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 09:26:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sun Mar 22 17:04:57 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 17:14:34 -0700 2009 bookshelves: read (edit)
status: Read in March, 2009, read count: 1
review: The cover of this book, The Piano Teacher, is its saving grace. It is a novel that attempts to provide some insights into conditions in Hong Kong prior to, during, and after World War II. It ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 17:54:15 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 11 18:19:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 15 12:57:53 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 12:58:57 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 16:46:53 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 17:35:42 -0700 2009
This w...more...]]> 0 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 07:37:18 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 07:38:12 -0700 2009
Clara and her husband come from England to 1953 Hong Kong because of her husband’s new job. They are newly married and this is a new country. Clara decides t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 07:24:55 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 07:40:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 16:39:39 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 16:54:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 13:38:06 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 16:20:06 -0700 2009
On one hand, learning a bit more about what happened in Hong Kong and to the British, Americans and others caught there after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was fascinating. I guess I was always so caught up in what was taking place in Germany and surrounding countrie...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 05 10:02:04 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 10:02:04 -0800 2009 Most critics expressed surprise that a debut novel could be as compelling and self-assured as The Piano Teacher. Lee's flawed, colorful characters, although initially unlikeable, increasingly endear themselves to readers as the secrets of the past unfold, and her vivid descriptions of Hong Kong evok...

more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Dec 11 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 10:14:41 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 12:44:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 13:26:46 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 17:39:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Aug 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 23:15:19 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 23:21:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 11:56:32 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 07:32:02 -0800 2009
I enjoyed this book quite a bit despite it's sad ending. If you think about it, though, you realize that there's no way the main characters ...more...]]>