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The Piano Tuner

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 5,412 ratings · 805 reviews

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 its protagoni...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published August 19th 2003 by Vintage (first published 2002)

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Aug 06, 2007 Adriana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must begin this review with a caveat: I cannot write about The Piano Tuner in an unbiased fashion, because I love it more than words can describe. I have read it at least 3 times, and each time I am completely drawn in to the world of Edgar Drake, and 19th century colonial Burma. If I were forced to choose a favorite book, this would be one of the contenders. No novel before or since has spoken to me quite as much as this one has.

The Piano Tuner is the the story of Edgar Drake, a London piano...more I must begin this review with a caveat: I cannot write about The Piano Tuner in an unbiased fashion, because I love it more than words can describe. I have read it at least 3 times, and each time I am completely drawn in to the world of Edgar Drake, and 19th century colonial Burma. If I were forced to choose a favorite book, this would be one of the contenders. No novel before or since has spoken to me quite as much as this one has.

The Piano Tuner is the the story of Edgar Drake, a London piano tuner who specializes in Erard grand pianos. He knows and loves pianos as intimately as if they were alive. This unassuming, quiet, and unadventurous man receives a commission from the British government to travel to colonial Burma to tune an Erard piano located at the outpost of Mae Lwin - a strategically important fort run by Dr. Anthony Carroll. No one knows exactly why Carroll has a grand piano there, but the urgency with which he requests Edgar's services intrigues him, and he decides to leave his wife, and his quiet life behind to travel to Burma. This is only the beginning of the novel - the rest is about Edgar's travels, and his arrival at Mae Lwin - none of which I want to describe, as it is better read for one's self.

Mason tells the story with language so beautiful and expressive that it engages each of the five senses. I saw, smelled, heard, felt, and tasted the sights and sounds of the jungle in such a way that I almost forgot I was experiencing it through the medium of a novel. I was engulfed and swept away into Edgar Drake's world.

Edgar himself is as compelling as the scenery through which he travels. On the surface, he appears to be shy and reserved, but his thoughts reveal a deep curiosity about the people, cultures, and places he encounters, and a developing insight into human nature as experienced through various types of relationships: political, familial, romantic, and colonial. Although Edgar is a middle-aged man, The Piano Tuner is essentially a bildungsroman - Edgar learns more about who he is as he confronts fears and and desires that he never knew he had, and asks questions which he never before realized he wondered about.

Throughout the The Piano Tuner, music remains the main vehicle through which Edgar's travels and his personal transformation is described. Edgar sees everything through his piano tuner's eyes, and this lends a sense of musicality to the novel which is both artistic and technical. He thinks of music as more than just beautiful sounds - he understands that mechanics lie at the root of every note a piano plays. This perspective on music demonstrates an understanding of both its mechanical precision and artistic beauty that turn out to be really one and the same. Mason's prose reflects this: it flows, but is never sloppy; the scenes he sets are imaginative but always realistic.

Overall, The Piano Tuner speaks to me because it represents so many elements in terms of music - it is about discovery, adventure, love, compassion, politics, the natural world, and self-knowldege, all understood through the simple mechanics of a piano. (less)

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Oct 16, 2011 Chrissie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: burma, great-britain, hf, kirkus, art, text-checked, history

I WILL AVOID SPOILERS! My review is less about plot than what happens to my head and my emotions when I read this book.

Finished: Nope I was wrong about how it would end. My guesses were not exactly right and the difference was very important! The end has a surprising twist. As you know this book had wonderful writing. Good story and good ending. This book has just about everything a book can have, but not much humor. Somehow I didn't miss it, maybe b/c rather than being a grim tale,the book was...more

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Jul 14, 2008 Denise rated it 2 of 5 stars

I was going through a box of books that a friend was giving away, and I came across this novel. I was attracted by the title, so I took it home to read.

The pros: There is a bit of history on the technical aspects of the development of piano-making that I found fascinating, and I enjoyed the details about the actual process of repairing and tuning a piano, though anyone not interested in pianos would probably skip that, much like I did most of the boring Burmese history. Also, there are some bea...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those Who Love Modernist Literary Fiction--with an emphasis on Modernist

Shelves: 2012-around-the-world, fiction, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, novels

I love strong historical fiction, especially about far away places, so I thought this novel set in the Victorian Age about an Englishman who travels to colonial Burma would be just the thing I'd love, but this was one story that just wasn't my cuppa. It has gotten rave reviews, including from some friends, and I tried, but I have style issues that stood between the story and me. I could see from the beginning that Mason can write shapely, lyrical prose, but his title character Edgar Drake didn't...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Friederike Knabe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: asia

A piano tuner with a speciality for handling French Erard pianos leaves his beloved wife and quiet, comfortable life in London to embark on a journey of discovery into the furthest corner of Burma. He is called upon to repair the Erard piano belonging to the eccentric physician, Surgeon-Major Anthory Carroll, residing in a jungle outpost near the Siam (now Thai) border. Set in the late eighteen hundreds, during the Third Anglo Burmese War, the journey across oceans and continents is in itself an...more A piano tuner with a speciality for handling French Erard pianos leaves his beloved wife and quiet, comfortable life in London to embark on a journey of discovery into the furthest corner of Burma. He is called upon to repair the Erard piano belonging to the eccentric physician, Surgeon-Major Anthory Carroll, residing in a jungle outpost near the Siam (now Thai) border. Set in the late eighteen hundreds, during the Third Anglo Burmese War, the journey across oceans and continents is in itself an extraordinary adventure for the rather aloof and unassuming Edgar Drake. His journey into Burma's interior and what happens to him there and how he handles himself in this exotic unknown world forms the centre of Daniel Mason's richly imagined external and internal journey. Yes, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness easily comes to mind; although Mason spins his story rather differently and comparisons to Marlow and Kurtz fade quickly.

Traditionally conceived in structure as in narrative flow, this debut novel shines, in particular, for its lush and evocative depiction of the setting, the scenery surrounding the small village of Mae Lwin. In rich poetic prose Mason paints the colours of the jungle, evokes the sounds of the river and the play of sunlight and shade. Edgar is increasingly drawn to the pace and the atmosphere that touches all senses... Tuning the piano is not the only task that waits for him, though. The longer he stays, the more his life becomes interwoven with that of the community, and especially with Carroll and the mysterious Khin Myo. This region of Burma is at different levels a dangerous place where the Doctor reigns supreme: his reputation ascribes him both unusual medical knowledge and skills as well as military and negotiation talents when dealing with the indigenous peoples living in the rebellious Shan States. The British Army in Burma, very reluctantly goes along with the Doctor's role however unusual, until... Their final aims appear to be compatible.

While the novel's central characters are fiction, the historical setting is factually accurate. Mason spent time in Burma to research (as a biologist) into Malaria and his intimate knowledge of the environment is tangible. His description of a malaria patient's delirium is haunting as it is beautiful. The character developments of Edgar and to a lesser degree Carroll leave the reader with some questions. It may have been the intention of the author , yet it does leave the story open to different interpretations. Still, overall I learned much about Burma during this time in history, couched in a dramatic adventure story. Quibbles? Some of the historical details, conveyed through "official briefing papers", read too drawn out for me. Similarly some of the more technical aspects of tuning an Erard piano. (less)

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Oct 08, 2012 Bettie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hardback, one-penny-wonder, paper-read, burma, autumn-2012, library-in-norway, victoriana, colonial-overlords, music, plague-disease, debut, historical-fiction, bettie-s-law-of-excitement-lost

Dedication: For my grandmother, Halina

Quotes:

"Brothers," I said, "o you who have crossed
a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west
to this brief waking time that is left
unto your senses, you must not deny
experience of that which lies beyond
the sun, and all the world that is unpeopled."

Dante, 'Inferno. canto XXVI

Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.

Plutarch

Map

Opening: In the fleeting seconds of final memory, the image that will become Burma is the sun and a woman's parasol.

The back s...more Dedication: For my grandmother, Halina

Quotes:

"Brothers," I said, "o you who have crossed
a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west
to this brief waking time that is left
unto your senses, you must not deny
experience of that which lies beyond
the sun, and all the world that is unpeopled."

Dante, 'Inferno. canto XXVI

Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.

Plutarch

Map

Opening: In the fleeting seconds of final memory, the image that will become Burma is the sun and a woman's parasol.

The back story of British interests in Burma is laid out from page one, within a letter from Col. Fitzgerald of the Burma and East India Division of Military Ops, to Edgar Drake, Piano Tuner.

King Mindon Min

Asylum for the Ragged Poor


I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away".

'Ozymandias' by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Page 24

Page 31. King Thibaw

Shwedagon

Mason's research is too visible so this has a tendency to read like an info dump.

LATER Cannot go on

*crawls across the floor like a waterless person in the middle of the dry Dry DRy DRY DRY Sahara*

Love me some amateur dramatics, brings me back to life!(less)

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Jun 29, 2008 FicusFan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those who aren't passive readers expecting everyhing to be explained.

Shelves: book-groups, fiction, historical-fiction, burma, raj, victorian, read-2008, read-6-08

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. had to read this book for a local book group. I am very pleased because I would never have found it otherwise. I actually want to give it 3.5 stars but Goodreads won't let me.

The book is set in Victorian times, and has a middle class piano tuner sent to the wilds of unsettled Burma, among the Raj, to tune a French Erard piano.

The story is about class, the conflict of cultures, the life patterns that people and societies develop, and how they will ignore reality and cling to the pattern even when...more

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Jul 02, 2007 Eli rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

I was shocked by how poorly written this book was. Maybe I'm missing something. I admit that I abandoned it somewhere just past the halfway point, but it was a bit like leaving a baseball game when a team is up 15 to nil. There wasn't a lot of chance for redemption here. This book read to me exactly like a puppet show, where each voice, and each emotion was just a undisguised projection of the voice of the author. Its as if the characters open their mouths and the exact same voice comes out of e...more

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Sep 22, 2008 Trilby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: england, historical-fiction, mystery, thriller

The plot of this novel attracted me: Drake, a British piano tuner makes a journey to the jungles of Burma aka Myanmar) to tune and voice the Erard of an eccentric British officer. The protagonist is drawn quite sketchily, and I had a hard time seeing him in my mind's eye. We learn little of his inner life, except possibly his mindset while tuning. While there are some clunky devices (interjected book excerpts, notes, letters), the story of the tuner's journey is fascinating. I enjoyed the descri...more

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Jul 05, 2008 Rene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels, book-club-books

Being a pianist, I especially enjoyed this book. I loved the references to various preludes by Bach and the Haydn Sonata Op 50 in D Major (Youtube it!). When I finished the book, I found my WTC (Well-Tempered Clavier) and played Bach's Prelude #4, referenced on p. 248 in the novel. I think I will always remember it. I was a little disappointed in the ending, although, it added to the mysteriousness of the story and the haunting qualities throughout (Please don't let my disappointment keep you fr...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Kelly rated it 1 of 5 stars

It is rare that I stop reading a book before the end. Usually I will read the whole thing and then come to the conclusion that it was a bad book, didn't need to read the book, etc.

I didn't need that long for this one. I have never taken so long to read 100 pages in my entire life. There is just no way that I can recommend this to someone, sorry. It reads like one of those books we hated in high school, and plods along like some 17th century English aristocrat who had to write something to make t...more

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Jun 20, 2007 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have to give Daniel Mason credit -- if memory serves me right, he's a medical student who decided to write a novel after traveling through Southeast Asia -- a true modern-day Renaissance man. I found the subject matter really interesting, almost seducing -- the romantic idea of someone who lives a simple life in London in the early 20th century, who gets to go on an exotic adventure in colonial Britain to repair a piano. But without giving anything away, I found the ending really underwhelming...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Philip rated it 3 of 5 stars

Edgar Drake is a piano tuner and is the principal character of Daniel Mason’s novel. Based in late nineteenth century London, he is also something of a specialist. No doubt he will tune any instrument, but Edgar Drake advertises himself as a specialist the Erard, the brand of piano that Franz Liszt had chosen for its special, perhaps unique qualities. And so, perhaps, Edgar Drake is not just any piano tuner: he is a tuner of Erards, a star performer of sorts, though personally he aspires to no s...more Edgar Drake is a piano tuner and is the principal character of Daniel Mason’s novel. Based in late nineteenth century London, he is also something of a specialist. No doubt he will tune any instrument, but Edgar Drake advertises himself as a specialist the Erard, the brand of piano that Franz Liszt had chosen for its special, perhaps unique qualities. And so, perhaps, Edgar Drake is not just any piano tuner: he is a tuner of Erards, a star performer of sorts, though personally he aspires to no sort of stardom.

He is clearly not short of work. He and his wife, Katherine, live a thoroughly middle-class life from his earnings. They could afford to support a family, but after several years of amorous marriage they have no children. It appears that Erard pianos might just be Edgar Drake’s children, so dearly does he care for their well being, their present and their future, there being no space left for any other concerns.

A letter arrives to disrupt this professional and domestic blissful stability. It’s a request to tune, re-voice and perhaps repair an Erard piano. There is nothing special about that, perhaps, but the letter domes from Surgeon-Major Anthony J. Carroll from his outpost on the very edge of the British Empire, deep in the jungle highlands of Burma. Anthony Carroll, Edgar Drake is told by a gentleman in the War Office, lives in the highlands of the Shan states which span the Burma-Siam border, an area noted for its political and military insecurity. How on earth did an Erard grand piano make its way to such a place? And why? Is it a mere plaything of a serviceman stationed far from home? And why is the request to repair it being handled through official channels? Edgar Drake will be well rewarded if he accepts the commission, but he will be away from home for months and, unfortunately, such a journey is not suitable for a woman.

Well, of course he accepts. Edgar Drake’s journey by steamship via the Mediterranean, Egypt, Arabia and India form the first part of The Piano Tuner. Some of those whom he meets along the way - especially a man who tells every traveller just one tale - play a part in the book’s story, but these roles are revealed much later, and subtly. The true significance of any event or claim by any character in The Piano Tuner in never immediately apparent.

Edgar Drake is hosted by the colonial military during his stays in Rangoon and Mandalay. He is reassured that the official, thoroughly British establishment is behind his venture. But as time passes it becomes clear that the task that he is being asked to accomplish is not considered by anyone with an opinion as being a simple, technical job on a musical instrument. And it is not just the threat of raiding bandits, the trials and tribulations of a river journey, the oppressive climate and threatening diseases, or even a visit to the politically unstable Shan kingdoms on the edge of imperial influence that provide the complication. There is clearly something that Edgar Drake is not being told.

The piano tuner grows ever more frustrated while he waits to start his assignment. When he eventually travels, it is unclear whose support he retains or whose commission he is undertaking. It is then that the place, its beauty, its culture, mysticism and promise begin to bewitch Mr Drake. The more he is exposed to the stimuli of Burmese life, the more he becomes absorbed by his surroundings and obsessed with a task that he does not want to end. Soon he finds himself at the centre of events and relationships he could never have imagined when he first read the letter that explained his commission back in London.

Edgar Drake is very much at the centre of The Piano Tuner’s plot. It is his story, his perceptions and reactions as life reveals itself to him that are described. The book unfolds from his consistent point of view, but Drake’s views are changed by experience and we live through these experiences with him. He becomes a competent, reserved hero who responds to surroundings and experience and is changed by both. The true success of the novel is that the reader feels these same transforming sensations as the story unfolds.
(less)

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Nov 04, 2011 Sorcha added it

Shelves: 2005

On a misty London afternoon in 1886, piano tuner Edgar Drake receives a strange request from the War Office: he must leave his wife, and his quiet life in London, to travel to the jungles of Burma to tune a rare Erard grand piano. The piano belongs to Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, an enigmatic British officer, whose success at making peace in the war-torn Shan States is legendary, but whose unorthodox methods have begun to attract suspicion. So begins the journey of the soft-spoken Edgar across...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: the-piano-tuner, burma, daniel-mason, love, london

In late October, 1886, specialist piano tuner Edgar Drake receives an unusual request from the British War Office. He is asked to leave his quiet life and his wife in London and accept a mission which will lead him through the jungles of Burma to tune a rare Erard grand piano. The piano belongs to Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, an enigmatic British officer, whose success in making peace in the war-torn Shan States is legendary, but, whose unorthodox methods have begun to attract suspicion.

Edgar,...more In late October, 1886, specialist piano tuner Edgar Drake receives an unusual request from the British War Office. He is asked to leave his quiet life and his wife in London and accept a mission which will lead him through the jungles of Burma to tune a rare Erard grand piano. The piano belongs to Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll, an enigmatic British officer, whose success in making peace in the war-torn Shan States is legendary, but, whose unorthodox methods have begun to attract suspicion.

Edgar, the soft spoken lover of music and piano's heads off across Europe, the Red Sea, India and Burma until he finally reaches the Shan States. En route he meets some fascinating characters and during his journey he reads the letters written by the Doctor to the War Office and becomes intrigued by the surgeon before he meets him. He starts to wonder if his life will ever be the same again after this journey which becomes an epic adventure, not least of all when he meets Doctor Carroll in person and sets to work on the piano. As well as falling in love with the country, the piano and the people Edgar also meets a beautiful woman who is mysterious and like no other woman he knows, Khin Myo. His enchantment with Khin Myo makes him hesitate when it is time for him to return to London, after his work is done. He has become forever changed.

This was such a well written book, I felt as if I was with Edgar all the way through his journey, which in many ways only really began when he reached Burma. The descriptions of the Burmese countryside, the breathtaking views and the larger than life characters were masterfully done. I read it in only two sittings and couldn't put it down. Nothing, however, prepared me for the ending which I hadn't expected at all.

The Piano Tuner is the tale of a simple, gentle man who loves his work and who is flattered when considered by the War Office to be the necessary expert required to make this journey to fix the rare Erard piano. He sees the world with a poets vision and is enchanted by all the new and exotic things he encounters along the way. I liked Edgar instantly and didn't want the story to end.The Piano Tuner (less)

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Jan 31, 2013 Stevedutch rated it 3 of 5 stars

Oh how worthy an enterprise and how promising a beginning! Yet, how many worthy enterprises have begun well only to run out of ideas and, ultimately, steam? If the preposterousness of the initial premise doesn’t put you off – the British Army sending a piano tuner to the far reaches of empire – in this case, the road to Mandalay – just to comply with the eccentric caprice of a supposedly indispensable martinet – then you do get some enjoyment from the first hundred or so pages. However, suspicio...more

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Sep 09, 2012 AliceinWonderland rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

- I think this book had a fascinating setting, in a place & time in history where British and Asian colonization was very interesting...
- Mason has a pretty good writing style, but I found his characters wanting..
- I found I did not get a good sense of who Edgar really was besides a quiet, shy piano tuner.
Not the mention the "fabricated" or forced love story between the Burmese woman was lacking in true romance. Though I appreciated the subtle, romantic restraint in the writing, I didn't get...more

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Aug 26, 2012 David Clark rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: summer2012, fiction

Homage painting has a long tradition within art. This purposeful imitation of a teacher or other influential artist has a long and venerable tradition. The word "masterpiece" has origen, in part, from the old practice of an apprentice painter presenting his master with a copy of such quality that the apprentice was allowed to leave the studio and start his own. This homage practice has lost credibility in our modern adulation of innovation and originality. However, no visual artist or writer wil...more Homage painting has a long tradition within art. This purposeful imitation of a teacher or other influential artist has a long and venerable tradition. The word "masterpiece" has origen, in part, from the old practice of an apprentice painter presenting his master with a copy of such quality that the apprentice was allowed to leave the studio and start his own. This homage practice has lost credibility in our modern adulation of innovation and originality. However, no visual artist or writer will actually suggest they create in a vacuum. All of us stand on the shoulders of our predecessors whether or not we are willing acknowledge this debt. Daniel Mason's novel "The Piano Tuner" can best be thought of as journeyman's homage to Joseph Conrad's novella "The Heart of Darkness."

My three star rating has little to do with my feelings about "homage novels" (I have little patience for current originality discussions and really good novels borrow shamelessly from classic novels, folk stories, or the Bible) or do I possess an antipathy for the oft treaded path of colonialism. I loved Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness." and am a Graham Greene fan. My three star rating is a result of considering the book's craft.

I actually moved up to the three star rating because I must give the author a thumbs up for an engaging and unique plot that moves right along. A piano tuner that leaves home and wife to tune a piano in the wilds of colonial Burma is certainly a unique and engaging plot idea. However, I learned far more about pianos and piano tuning than I did about the inner workings and motivations of the characters. In the end I realized I cared more about the action than I had empathy for the people populating the novel and really didn't understand why these characters did the things they did.

The use art educators make of homage paintings is to measure the student's progress and the craft distance yet to be travelled. This novel does accomplish some worthy goals. The Piano Tuner managed to be a National Bestseller. However, a significant distance remains between book sales and "The Heart of Darkness." I can only hope the author takes the narrow road and continues the hard and lonely work necessary to create a prose that can aspire to the level of his "master," Joseph Conrad. (less)

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Aug 11, 2012 Mona rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: burma

The Piano Tuner: I loved this book a second time through.
It's amazingly Informative to delve into a book a second time with a completely different focus than the first. I read this book a few years ago for the story. Now this time for seeing how the story enhances the setting: Burma during the British occupation days itself. Previously I'd skipped over unpronounceable Burmese names. I still can't properly pronounce the words, but focused on the Shan people. The author spent time in Burma and mas...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Alison Newell rated it 4 of 5 stars

In 1886, Edgar Drake, a piano tuner, is summoned from London to tune and repair a rare and beautiful instrument situated at an inaccessible military outpost in Burma, a piano whose contribution to the delicate balance of power, though never specified, is considered incalculable by the maverick British Surgeon-Major who controls the region on behalf of the crown. Drake's journey through the unknown towards a task he does not understand becomes a sort of pilgrimage, a trip he must make to discover...more In 1886, Edgar Drake, a piano tuner, is summoned from London to tune and repair a rare and beautiful instrument situated at an inaccessible military outpost in Burma, a piano whose contribution to the delicate balance of power, though never specified, is considered incalculable by the maverick British Surgeon-Major who controls the region on behalf of the crown. Drake's journey through the unknown towards a task he does not understand becomes a sort of pilgrimage, a trip he must make to discover some inner truth. The dangers of the jungle, the babble of foreign tongues, the mysteries of alien cultures, the secretive nature of British strategy and local Burmese manoeuvrings all come to symbolise the darkness of self - the shadowy nature of our own hopes and purposes and desires. Comparisons with Conrad's Heart of Darkness are all too pertinent.

I am usually reluctant to tackle books set in very exotic locations as I find that struggling to understand the topography, politics, culture and language distracts from my engagement with narrative, language and character. However I must say that Daniel Mason evokes the sights, sounds and flavours of his protagonist's journey into remote Burma beautifully; this book is a feast of colour and scent and music.

The setting did confuse, but this seems to be entirely deliberate on the part of the author; the ever-shifting allegiances of local princes and warlords and their relationship with the British occupiers in that far-flung area, the role of the piano, the loyalty of Dr Carroll, the intentions of the beautiful Khin Myo are never made fully clear. Even dialogue is set within the body of the text without punctuation; following who-says-what is almost impossible. It all melds into the mysterious shifts of light and sound in the impenetrable forest of Burma so that the only thing which comes to matter is the journey itself, not its purpose or its consequences or even its outcome, but just the immediate experience of it for Drake as he daily touches and tastes and hears it.

This is not a book for those who like a neat ending, but for anyone who enjoys the book-as-banquet, this is one to feast on.(less)

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Apr 10, 2012 Noelle M rated it 3 of 5 stars

Talk about a creative idea! A colonial army surgeon's grand piano out in the humid wilds of southeast Asia? Who'da thunk?!?

This writer's ability to describe persons, places and things is by itself worth the read. Regent's Park in London? A row house in the mews? A basement workshop? Fog? Rain? Mist? Damp? Gray? He nails it all then sends the piano tuner off to southeast Asia to hear Odysseus' sirens sing, and experience life in technicolor which begins to fill his veins. The tuner ignorantly ret...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Roger DeBlanck rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Daniel Mason’s first novel The Piano Tuner tells the story of Edgar Drake, one of the finest piano tuners in England. Taking place in the 1880s, the British government summons Drake to go to Burma to tune the piano of the military general Anthony Carrol, who uses music to unite the warring Shan tribes. Drake may be the central figure of the novel, but the inscrutable genius of Carrol creates a most fascinating character. Mason successfully moves the story from the bustling streets of late 19th c...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Colleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that you begin hopefully and end up putting down again and again. It has so much going for it--wow, the author graduated from Harvard and traveled in Burma studying malaria and as of the print date he is still just a medical student! How accomplished! This must be really good, right?

Well, I do give Mason credit for being obviously well-read and a very very good writer, but there are so many elements here that drive a reader insane. First and foremost, his writing style...more This is one of those books that you begin hopefully and end up putting down again and again. It has so much going for it--wow, the author graduated from Harvard and traveled in Burma studying malaria and as of the print date he is still just a medical student! How accomplished! This must be really good, right?

Well, I do give Mason credit for being obviously well-read and a very very good writer, but there are so many elements here that drive a reader insane. First and foremost, his writing style is all over the map. He changes tenses from one paragraph to the next, perhaps in an attempt to evoke a dreamlike quality. He changes abruptly from conventional conversations to long endless joycean prose wherein the reader has no idea who is actually speaking. He uses the device of official documents to convey essential information about where the piano tuner is going to travel. This last device I appreciate, except that the documents he provides are dry and long and riddled with material which one is sure doesn't matter, and filled with place and people names which an English reader simply can't grasp.

The second issue I had was his characterizations. Of the three primary characters: the tuner, the doctor, and yes the piano, I give high marks to the piano. I mean that. I know a lot more about that beautiful piano that I ever thought possible; it leads the most incredible adventures. On the other hand, we don't even meet the doctor until halfway through the book. He is supposed to be this amazing intellect, genius of diplomacy, etc. He never comes off as anything but a mysterious, manipulating jerk. Then the titular character: he lives as if in a dream, and to the very last sentence we know very little more about him than we ever did at the start.

The third issue I had was there was virtually no plot, which is, I dunno, kind of important. There's a semblance of a plot--the tuner travels from England to Burma, goes through jungles, tunes a piano, etc. He tunes that piano an awful lot, by the way. And those official military documents fill in the details between.

The fourth issue I had was that this story is apparently supposed to reflect the restricted feelings and passions of Victorian England. Brushing hands and longing looks are the most you will get, which is all well and good, but I'm just not buying it. What I mean is, I can't fathom that any 40-ish, long-married man wouldn't have more than just chaste thoughts about the exotic women around him. Acting on impulse is one thing--I accept that--but the thoughts in his mind should torment him just a little more than the average twelve year old boy.

Lastly, in the end, I just don't know what this book was about. Between the documents and chaste longings there were mysterious dream-like stories which I quickly forgot and then had to flip back to when they were referenced again. The revisitation did little to improve my understanding of their overall importance. Also, there were passages of moral reflection that struck me as jarringly too modern, but they were mostly just in passing, and had little final impact. Ultimately, I was puzzled and disappointed by the ending. Nothing had happened for 200 pages and then suddenly we were thrust pell-mell into adventure for reasons inexplicable. The paranoia of the British soldiers led to a terrible tragedy, but they were allowed to inflict it without our even beginning to understand why.(less)

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Oct 05, 2011 Cameron L rated it 4 of 5 stars

I Choose to read "The Piano Tuner" because it sounded like an interesting book that I would have enjoyed reading over the summer. "The Piano Tuner" caught my attention before I even knew what the word was about because I myself am a piano player and thought it might have been something different if I read about the life of a piano tuner. At first I thought the book would have been about a piano tuner doing his job and his everyday life of fixing and tuning pianos for various people. Before I re...more I Choose to read "The Piano Tuner" because it sounded like an interesting book that I would have enjoyed reading over the summer. "The Piano Tuner" caught my attention before I even knew what the word was about because I myself am a piano player and thought it might have been something different if I read about the life of a piano tuner. At first I thought the book would have been about a piano tuner doing his job and his everyday life of fixing and tuning pianos for various people. Before I read the book, I thought the story would have been one of no real climax and a story that was 'flat' beginning to end. It wasn't until I was well into the book that I was mistaken. The book piqued my interest to read it with eagerness to finish it to the end.

"The Piano Tuner" is about Mr. Drake, a simple piano tuner living in England, who is requested by the British military to travel to Burma to tune a piano of Doctor Anthony Caroll, a doctor living in an outpost far from major cities in India. Some things I liked in the book included the iron twist where you find out that Anthony Caroll is actually an insider for the French and is making bonds with the officials for the French rather than the British. Another part I enjoyed was the story from 'the man with one story' and his experiance and how he became deaf. The part that drew me in the most was after the interrogation with the Captain and Lieutenant, where a 'mysterious shade' is speaking to Mr.Drake and has offered him freedom to escape that he accepted and ran from freedom from the British. The part I didn't like so much was when Mr.Drake attends the officers on a tiger hunt and a child is mistaken for a tiger and was shot to death.

At first, I found the book to be rather slow and not very entertaining, but as I progressed, it became a real story of ups and downs and had feeling to it. As one of my first realistic fiction novels, it was well writen in my opinion and set the bar high for other novels like it to come. I found Mr.Drake to be a rather positive, kind, friendly, and trusting, person. An example of his friendliness was shown on the boat ride and at the lunch with the military officers. In both situations he was friendly and modest. I would recommend this book to a friend because it is agreat adventure story while still being realistic(less)

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Sep 18, 2011 Venuskitten rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Edgar Drake is summoned to Burma to tune a piano owned by Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll. Leaving his quiet life in Victorian London to undertake an arduous journey to Burma, he is beguiled not only by village life, but also by Khin Myo, Dr Carroll's enigmatic English-speaking companion. Despite the dangers and the violence that is barely concealed beneath the surface, Edgar is strangely reluctant to return home to his wife Katherine. He writes to her, hinting that he has not told her everything,...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Linh La rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story of a piano tuner that was sent to the Shan States to tune a Erard during the height of the British / Burman war. Doctor Anthony Carroll was the Surgeon-Major in charge of the Shan States at the time and he believed that music can do wonders as a peaceful negotiation strategy, in contrast to war. It was this Doctor that requested a piano tuner be sent all the way from England when the piano he ordered ended up out of tune due to humidity. During his time there, he fell in love with the...more

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Dec 28, 2010 Nick D rated it 3 of 5 stars

Daniel Mason is clearly besotted with Burmese culture, the golden pagodas, the street theater, the wet uplands with its tangle of ethnicities. The star of the novel is nineteenth century Burma seen through the naive eyes of the piano tuner Edgar Drake. The colonial English are alternately brutal and witless; the Burmese barely exist, except as teenage scouts and the exotic woman of mystery with the improbably eloquent English. The object of the piano tuner's quest is the even more improbable pia...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Gladia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I usually don't give up, also on books that I don't like at all, but today I do give up. The funny thing is that I don't even dislike The Piano Tuner that much, actually not at all. I like the main character (kudos to Mason to picture the boring job of piano tuning as a very interesting one), I like pianos, I like travelling and adventure (East not being exactly my favourite destination, but what the heck, as long as you're moving that's usually good enough for me to go there). And yet, I cannot...more I usually don't give up, also on books that I don't like at all, but today I do give up. The funny thing is that I don't even dislike The Piano Tuner that much, actually not at all. I like the main character (kudos to Mason to picture the boring job of piano tuning as a very interesting one), I like pianos, I like travelling and adventure (East not being exactly my favourite destination, but what the heck, as long as you're moving that's usually good enough for me to go there). And yet, I cannot go on. I'm bored to death.
Is the problem the book or is it me? I read Kavalier&Clay in one week and I'm at month two with this novel. Clearly something is not working so, at least for the moment, I'm taking a break with it.

I bought it almost by accident and rather unintentionally. I was looking for an easy reading, I liked the title, I have a soft spot for second hand copies and I was in a place that naturally puts you in the mood for buying books. Moreover I liked that Mason's primary occupation isn't being a novelist but rather being a medical student. And there you go, the book left Copenhagen to spend the next two months by my bed, neglected by me. No, not neglected, even worse I did, I was cheating on him with economics books and newspapers. But reminding myself that books aren't that alive (or are they?), The Piano Tuner wasn't so much for me, at least not right now.

There were things I liked, for instance this sweet analogy:'"Clementi, sonata in F sharp minor," Katherine said, and he nodded. He had once told her it reminded him of a sailor lost at sea. His love awaiting him on a shore. In the notes hid the sound of the waves, gulls.' --- maybe a Mason went a bit over the top, but I still like this metaphor.

Interesting reflections on travelling far: 'I have seen a world that is very different, yet I have not begun to understand it. Coming here has created a strange feeling of emptiness in me that I didn't know I had, and I don't know whether heading into the jungle will fill it, or tear it further open' --- this one thought I like very much. That sense of emptiness is there when you travel, you feel it inside.

Anyway, boredom had the best over those nice little things reported above. Maybe one day we'll meet again the piano tuner and I (in London rather than Burma, I hope) (less)

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Nov 11, 2009 Cliff rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

Anthony Carroll is a British Army surgeon who has created a utopia for himself deep in the jungles of Burma in the 1880s where he ministers to the sick, charms the local rebellious warlords by playing to them on his grand piano, and in his spare time does scientific research on malaria.

The local British officials think Carroll is ideologically unsound, but useful to them in helping pacify the country. Therefore when the piano goes out of tune, they persuade a rather passive, unworldly piano tune...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

Had tried to read The Piano Tuner a couple of years ago after a strong recommendation from a friend, but I put it down at the halfway point. This time around one of my book clubs had chosen the novel for discussion, so I began again and successfully finished. Glancing at the earlier Goodreads reviews this appears to be a "love it-or-hate it" novel for most, yet I am decidedly lukewarm. Random thoughts: I could see the gears moving too much for my pleasure. It felt staged: each time some informat...more

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About Daniel Mason

Daniel Mason is an American novelist. He received a BA in biology from Harvard University, graduating at the top of his class. He later graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. He wrote his first novel, The Piano Tuner, while still a medical student. The book became a bestseller and was published in 27 countries[1]. Mason's second novel, A Far Country, was publ...more

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“The conversations rests uneasily; one doesn't expect good-byes to be burdened by such trivialities. This is not how it is in the books, he thinks, or in the theater, and he feels the need to speak of mission, of duty, of love. They reach home and close the door and he doesn't drop her hand. Where speech fails, touch compensates.” — 4 people liked it

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