"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
An Equal Music is a fraction of the size of Seth's A Suitable Boy, but is still deliciously expansive. In under 400 pages, the author offers up exquisite complexities, personal and lyrical, while deftly fielding any fears that he's composed a Harlequin for highbrows. During one emotional crescendo, Michael tells Julia, "I don't know how I've lived without you all these years," only to realize, "how feeble and trite my words sound to me, as if they have been plucked out of some housewife fantasy." In addition to the pitch of its love story, one of the book's joys lies in Seth's creation of musical extremes. As the Maggiore rehearses, moving from sniping and impatience to perfection, the author expertly notates the joys of collaboration, trust, and creation. "It's the weirdest thing, a quartet," one member remarks. "I don't know what to compare it to. A marriage? a firm? a platoon under fire? a self-regarding, self-destructive priesthood? It has so many different tensions mixed in with its pleasures."
An Equal Music is a novel in which the length of Schubert's Trout Quintet matters deeply, the discovery of a little-known Beethoven opus is a miracle, and each instrument has its own being. Just as Michael can't hope to possess Julia, he cannot even dream of owning his beloved Tononi, the violin he has long had only on loan. And it goes without saying that Vikram Seth knows how to tell a tale, keeping us guessing about everything from what the Quartet's four-minute encore will be to what really occasioned Julia's departure from Michael's life. (Or was it in fact Michael who abandoned Julia?) As this love story ranges from London to Michael's birthplace in the north of England to Vienna to Venice, few readers will remain deaf to its appeals. --Kerry Fried
The romance flares up once more, as Julia agrees to tour Vienna and Venice with Michael and the Quartet. Against the magical backdrop of concert halls and canals, Michael and Julia confront the truth about themselves, their love, and the music that both unites and divides them. A tour de force of romance and a superb picture of the international music scene, An Equal Music confirms Vikram Seth as one of the world's finest and most enticing writers.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
US$ 9.74
From Germany to U.S.A.
Book Description Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M00670886823-G
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Dustwrapper is protected by a layer of clear non-adhesive plastic. Seller Inventory # 041437
Book Description Condition: Fine. Book is in Used-LikeNew condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear. 1.74. Seller Inventory # 0670886823-2-2
Book Description Gebundene Ausgabe. Condition: Sehr gut. Limited 1st Edition. Medienartikel von Book Broker Berlin sind stets in gebrauchsfähigem ordentlichen Zustand. Dieser Artikel weist folgende Merkmale auf: Altersentsprechend nachgedunkelte/saubere Seiten in fester Bindung. Schutzumschlag weist Gebrauchsspuren auf. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 788. Seller Inventory # 660643724
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Like New. Like New. book. Seller Inventory # D7F9-7-M-0670886823-6