new book

J Patrick Draine draine@attbi.com
Sun, 15 Sep 2002 09:37:33 -0400


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Hi all,
I got an e-mail from Amazon which announces a new book (release date  
Sept. 17th), with the following synopsis and tepid review:

  Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Daniel Mason's debut novel, The Piano Tuner, is the mesmerizing story 
of Edgar Drake, commissioned by the British War Office in 1886 to 
travel to hostile Burma to repair a rare Erard grand piano vital to the 
Crown's strategic interests. Eccentric Surgeon-Major Anthony Carroll 
has brokered peace with local warlords primarily through music, a free 
medical clinic, and the "powers" of common scientific instruments, much 
to the dismay of warmongering officers suspect of such unorthodox 
methods. Drake is an introspective, well-mannered soul who, once there, 
falls in love with Burma and stays long past the piano-fixing to aid 
Carroll's political agenda. Drake's arduous journey to reach the 
outpost, however, takes far too long (nearly half the book) and the 
plotting is rather heavy-handed at times (one night, Drake learns of a 
mysterious "Man with One Story" who rarely speaks, and the very next 
morning the Man tells all to Drake). The story is ambitious, the 
language florid and sure to please, but the dialogue and melodrama are 
sometimes tedious. While out on the town with Carroll's love interest, 
Khin Myo (who enchants Drake), Mason offers the townspersons' view of 
Drake:

It is only natural that a guest be treated with hospitality, the quiet 
man who has come to mend the singing elephant is shy, and walks with 
the posture of one who is unsure of the world, we too would keep him 
company to make him feel welcome, but we do not speak English.... They 
say he is one of the kind of men who has dreams, but tells no one.
  Drake's complexity is thin; perhaps the beauty of Burma takes over any 
real need for introspection. Despite these quibbles, The Piano Tuner is 
a memorable achievement. --Michael Ferch


How long before we can get it as a remainder at Buck-A-Book?

Patrick Draine
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