The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier
Book Review: Discovering the passion for piano through Thad Carhart
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoyed everything about this book. From the very first page I enthusiastically followed Thad Carhart through his journey. His thorough description of the music, his passion for providing such incredible detail of each piano enthralled and beckoned the heart of a piano player who had almost forgotten her passion. I must admit that his descriptions inspired my enthusiasm for my own beloved instrument and I have been playing and enjoying every note since I read this book. I went out and bought a copy (I would not part with mine) for a dear friend who has taken up the piano again after 25 years. She is ecstatic!!!Book Review: Fascinating
Summary: 5 Stars
As a violinist, and not a pianist, I found this book fascinating. It's interesting to try and understand the nuances that go into making or refurbishing a piano. The author, as an amateur pianist, doesn't get too detailed because I'm sure it would be over his head. He does appreciate what goes into it though, which is what he parlays through the book. I imagine it would be a fairly difficult read for someone who's not a musician, but I think the core audience of this book is musicians, specifically pianists. Book Review: A Marvelous Memoir
Summary: 4 Stars
I play the piano, I love piano music, and this is a marvelous memoir. (It doesn't hurt that I love Paris too!) However, I honestly don't know if I would have enjoyed this book if I did not play the piano and love piano music. I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 because, by the end of the book I found myself wishing the author was more emotionally involved in his own piano playing; it seems like he was avoiding that kind of emotional disclosure to his readers - an unfortunate choice. However this is only a small problem in an otherwise great read. Book Review: A beautiful memoir...
Summary: 4 Stars
Although classified as a non-fiction memoir, Carhart's brilliant work reads like a novel in its vivid character descriptions and joyous reverence for music. The author pulls us into his Parisian existence, in the center of which lies Desforges Pianos, a small, but magical atelier which houses passions for history and music. We follow Carhart on a hero's journey, all the while learning immense amounts about the making and history of pianos.
The key figures in the book are characters but not caricatures. Carhart views his life in Paris as an adventure, and the reader is held in joyful anticipation of the next discovery in chapter after chapter. Rather than the Louvre, the Champs Elys?es, and Le Tour Eiffel, Carhart's Paris is a human community brought together by a love of music.
Full of technical details and historical interludes, Carhart's memoir is informed, but not burdened by its own knowledge. The author's writing style is fluid and whimsical, touched with a dry humor that keeps his lofty homage to music at a very urbane level. Even those who have never been to Paris or have no connection with music whatsoever will enjoy this book as it is really a story about the childhood passions we so easily forget at adults.
Book Review: A Pleasant Read
Summary: 3 Stars
Contrary to some reviewers, I do think this book will appeal most to those who play and love the piano. The human story of relationships between the author, the piano shop owners, piano teachers and other characters is well told and interesting and so is the feel for the real Paris (from a resident's perspective) that we get. However, there is a lot of technical information about pianos as well as a good deal of history of the instrument. I have played and loved the piano for nearly 35 years and really enjoyed those parts, but I have to believe they would be rough on someone who doesn't love or appreciate the instrument, its history and its musical repertoire.
The book does make me long for the day when I can buy a home and finally buying the grand piano I've always dreamed of.