Status Updates From The Piano Shop on the Left ...

Continues to be poetic and sweet with the author's love for piano's heritage culture.

Had to quit....boring!!

Struggling a little bit with this one...

One of the greatest pleasures in life is listening to someone talk passionately about something they love. And that's what this book is--it's the story of one man falling back in love with the piano and meeting others who share his passion. I'm glad I pressed on through the first chapters when I wasn't sure what this book was going to be and learned a little about the piano as well!

If this is what love feels like, then give me more books like this! 10/10 love!!

I misplaced the book

"I was again struck with how deeply satisfying it was to play any kind of music at all on my piano. Emotionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually: it satisfactions were limitless, its impact on my life profound." I love this quote so much because I can really relate to it. Thad is able to put into words what I feel when I play a piano piece well. (F, c)

As the end of the book nears, Thad begins to remember all of the great memories he had at Luc's. "I recalled all of the times that Luc had let me try various pianos in the atelier," They way he's remembering is making me feel very nostalgic!!

It's crazy how Thad just encounters all of these amazing people who love pianos as much as he does. In this chapter, he meets Fazioli, an owner of a piano shop. The way he describes the shop, makes me think of one piano shop I've been in before. It was lined with pianos and people were playing them. (C)

The past few chapters, Thad has gone back and forth between the present and something else that had gone on in his life. He talked about when he was a child, when he went to the master class, when he was with his family, and just about anything else that connects to the piano. I really like that because having it gives me a nice break from the story. (W)

Thad introduces us to yet another intriguing character, Peter. He is a consultant in a master class that Anna is taking and Thad is watching. He's a very soft yet firm man who is always on track. I really enjoy Peter because he is very different from a lot of the characters introduced. He doesn't have this bubbly and whimsical personality; his is more subtle, and I think that is what makes him truly intriguing. (F)

Luc makes a cautious deal with a person who says he can bring him a piano tomorrow for a large sum of money. Luc is hesitant because they won't show him a picture of the piano, but he buys it anyways. I was really nervous during this part bc I really didn't want Luc making a mistake, but he didn't! The piano he got was old and almost unplayable, but Beethoven played it! Good call Luc! (S)

In this chapter, the fun character I had Ben talking about earlier, Jos, messed up! I'm so mad at him! He showed up drunk to tune Thad's piano teahcer's piano, and he did it completely wrong!! The piano sounded terrible and one of the strings even broke! I feel so bad for Anna, but it's okay because Jos felt terrible and went back to re tune her piano. Now it sounds fine except for the missing string. (S)

In this chapter, Thad's daughter decides she wants to take piano lessons. He finds a school called Shcola Cantum for her to take lessons. This is really cool because famous musicians like Debussy and Messiaen have studied here. Attached is a picture of the school. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...

In this chapter, the characters talk a lot about a piano's death, something that hasn't been discussed before. They say the main killer of a piano is heat. The cold will do nothing, but the heat will kill it. One quote I thought encapsulated the horrific beauty of a piano's death was, "For this man who gave pianos a kind of life, there was also such thing as a death: final, irrefutable, and sure." (S, f)

The characters Thad introduces in this book is what truly makes it as good as it is. They are so incredibly interesting. A character that enters in this chapter is named Jos, and he is the piano tuner. Despite the rocky start when he couldn't find Thad's front door, he is still filled with immense laughter and joy. The characters Thad introduces really brings the story to life. (F, s)

This chapter was truly romantic. Thad passes a window a lot on his way to and from work, and whenever he passes he hears a piano playing and someone, usually different people throughout the day, singing. He will just sit outside in the summer air and listen to him play the piano. He works up he courage to go talk to him and the man is very nice and tells him he can listen whenever he'd like. (F)

I really enjoy Anna, a new character who was introduced. She has become Thad's piano teacher, and she has a sort of whimsical mystery about her. The way she teaches him music is really interesting and different, so I guess that is what makes her such an intriguing character. (F)

In this chapter, Thad talks about the invention of the piano and how far it has come over the years. The person he talks most about is the inventor of the piano, Bartolomeo Cristofori. The link attached is a picture of him. He lived in the late 1600s and early 1700s. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi... (s,v)

In this chapter, Thad told a funny story about how he was basically forced into playing in the church's choir, and the director was insane. He got a cut in his finger from some sport, and when he was playing the piano, his cut started bleeding and he bled all over the piano, and the director went insane. It was quite an entertaining story!

In this chapter, Thad spent the whole time describing how he piano works. It kind of dragged on at times, but it was nice to see how truly passionate he was about this instrument he used to know nothing about.

Thad talks for a bit about how he gets very nervous every when he performed in recitals, asking himself "do I know this piece?" or "how does it go?" I can definitely relate. Whoever I play in recitals, I get very nervous and think that I forgot the piece, but, like Thad, I never do forget it. (C)

Luc found a piano that he wants for himself, which is unusual because he normally focuses on getting other people pianos. The piano he wants is very rare, but is too big to fit inside his house. The link attached is a picture of that piano. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/... (s,v)

"I found it tremendously satisfying to press these black and white strips of wood with my fingers, or even to smash them with my fists. Something then happened 'inside' and out came strange sounds, bright and unexpected, and sometimes amazingly loud." I love this quote because I feel the same way when I play the piano.(F, C)

Thad's wife was slightly surprised that he wanted to buy a piano, and his kids aren't super excited about it, so I'm guessing that it might cause some problems in the family. (I)

The author makes it seem like the piano is a person and has feelings like people. “I better understood how for him a piano could suffer a kind of death, even though it was wholly intact and technically maintained.” I like this quote because I also feel sad for the piano when it is not played as often as it should be.

I noticed the author, Thad, enjoys being around pianos more than people. His descriptions of people throughout the first chapter are quick and brushed aside, whereas the descriptions of the pianos are whimsical and lovely and vivid.

Near the end of the chapter, the author writes, "But I was unaware of the powerful seduction conjured by this workshop. It had pulled me in. When I thought I was merely a browser delighting in the improbable number and variety of old pianos, in fact I had succumbed to a voluptuous fantasy before I could guard against it." This quote gives the reader such an eloquent description of how Thad is feeling.

In the first chapter, Thad comes across a piano repair shop on his way to and from his children's school, and it strikes his curiosity. He soon discovers that the piano repair shop is also an undercover shop where one could buy a used piano. The author does a great job of instilling the same curiosity and intrigue Thad has into the reader.

In the first chapter, Thad comes across a piano repair shop on his way to and from his children's school, and it strikes his curiosity. He soon discovers that the piano repair shop is also an undercover shop where one could buy a used piano. The author does a great job of instilling the same curiosity and intrigue Thad has into the reader.