The Piano Tuner
(Daniel Mason)
''The Piano Tuner'' by Daniel Mason is one of those gripping books that takes the reader into an intriguing journey from the heart of London to the exotic interiors of the 19th century Burma with all its attendant political intrigues as the British try to consolidate their hold on this remote outpost of civilization. The author has researched the background, travelled himself extensively and has been able to weave a rich tapestry of the sights, smells, traditions and the locations of this beautiful country. The story begins with a Piano Tuner called at The War Office to go on an assignment to tune a rare 1840 Erard grand piano on the request of Surgeon-Major Anthony Caroll who is an eccentric doctor but has been able to fend off war among the remote Shan States by integrating his practice with the local medicine.
The romantic and impractical piano tuner Edgar, leaves behind his beautiful wife Kathreen, promising to return. He travels through Europe, the Red Sea, India, and Burma, reading about the mysterious doctor, hearing about his legendary exploits, meeting soldiers and thieves with unusual experiences until he reaches the remote interiors of Burma.
He remains unaware that his life is about to change forever as he keeps postponing his return home, inevitably getting sucked into the political intrigues, leaving us wondering whether to accept Anthony Caroll as an unusual man or to believe him to be a power-hungry soul like the Kings and Princes of the Shan States.
We are able to revisit a world withlong sea journey''s across continents that has been lost to historyand relive the times of the mid-nineteenth century. The Piano-Tuner''s implicit faith in the goodness of human beings proves to be his undoing in the end, but not before he has savored an unusual life.
the book is definetely worth reading for all those who are romantics at heart.
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