The Piano Tuner - Daniel Mason

The Piano Tuner
Daniel Mason

Once again, my book club has chosen a book that many of us will not finish and fewer of us will enjoy.  I know that I'm in the camp that finished the book, but the jury is still out as to whether I'll be on team "I enjoyed it" or not.  Admittedly, the book has an amazing premise:  A middle aged English piano tuner is summoned to Burma during the 1880's to tune a piano for an eccentric army commander.

I will say that his adventure is quite adventurous.  I did enjoy the descriptions of his travel.  It was interesting to watch as Edgar Drake tried his hardest to step out of his shy little world and experience the wonders of the Orient.  And when I consider the book from a literary stand point, I really appreciated his character.  Maybe the thing holding me back from jumping into camp "AwesomeBook" is the fact that I've read so much teen lit lately that my brain has rewired itself to only enjoy page turners that either include vampires, death matches or fairies.

And if I'm honest, in the end, Edgar really did step out of his little world and go all out for what he loved and believed in.  As for the ending?  I will say that it left me wanting more.  However, I think Edgar's entire existence left me wanting more, and that might be part of the conflict in this novel.  Edgar's passion sends him off on amazing adventures.  Is it better to follow your passion, or be safe and secure in life?