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Throughout the The Piano Tuner, music remains the main vehicle through which Edgar's travels and his personal transformation is described.

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. 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.

I was engulfed and swept away into Edgar Drake's world.Įdgar himself is as compelling as the scenery through which he travels. 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. Mason tells the story with language so beautiful and expressive that it engages each of the five senses. 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.

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 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. He knows and loves pianos as intimately as if they were alive. The Piano Tuner is the the story of Edgar Drake, a London piano tuner who specializes in Erard grand pianos. No novel before or since has spoken to me quite as much as this one has. If I were forced to choose a favorite book, this would be one of the contenders. 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. 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.