
Piano
Vintage (Publisher)
Published on 3. November 2005
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-09-946943-8 (ISBN)
Description
He awakes in a hotel that might be a hospital or might be something else much more mysterious. His nurses bear an uncanny resemblance to Dean Martin and Peggy Lee and explain to him that there are certain rules to be obeyed on his return to Paris: the most important being that he must lose his old identity entirely.
Defying the regulations, Max struggles to retrieve pieces of his former life, and although followed by watchers from 'the hotel' he feels livelier than he did when he was alive. Piano can be read as a metaphor of life and death, of heaven and hell. The question is: Which is which?
Defying the regulations, Max struggles to retrieve pieces of his former life, and although followed by watchers from 'the hotel' he feels livelier than he did when he was alive. Piano can be read as a metaphor of life and death, of heaven and hell. The question is: Which is which?
Reviews / Votes
A deadpan, elegant and wittily observed tragicomedy: posh French fun -- Lee Langley * Spectator * Teasing, elliptical, sometimes playful and containing passages of awesome literary dexterity, it is a beautiful read * Glasgow Herald * In this teasing, elegant novel, Echenoz questions the extent to which we can control our own lives and asks what constitutes a life well-lived * Metro * A witty, off-beat fantasy. A delight from first page to last * Scotsman * Intelligently playful * Time Out *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
139 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-946943-8 (9780099469438)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
JEAN ECHENOZ was born in Provence in 1947. He studied organic chemistry in Lille and then double bass in Metz before he turned to writing. He is one of the most influential French writers of his generation. He won, in 1999, the Prix Goncourt for his novel I'm Off.