Narrated in first person by the titular piano tuner, now in his 40s, we learn why the once musical prodigy ended up walking away from the potential of greatness in this story spanning both decades and continents, while learning bits about the people who played parts in his life through their third-person narrative.

While Fernando Chien did a nice job narrating the audiobook, I believe a physical copy of this book may be easier to read, as it frequently jumps times and perspectives. Alternatively, having multiple narrators for each character might have helped. I found it hard to get invested in the story, making this book just OK for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an audio ARC of this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

The Piano Tuner by Chiang-Sheng Kuo is a short but powerful novel that explores the themes of love, loss, music, and identity. The narrator is a piano tuner who has a tragic past and a mysterious present. He travels from Taipei to New York, following the sound of an out-of-tune Steinway piano that he hopes will lead him to his lost love. On his journey, he encounters various characters and situations that challenge his perception of himself and the world.

Written in a simple but elegant style, with vivid descriptions and realistic dialogues...

The author uses music as a motif and a metaphor for the emotions and experiences of the protagonist. The novel features references to classical composers such as Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Glenn Gould, and Sviatoslav Richter, as well as contemporary artists such as Thomas Mann, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Yasunari Kawabata. This story incorporates elements of Taiwanese culture and history, such as the red-light district, the martial arts film industry, as well as the political turmoil.

The Piano Tuner is a novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy stories about music and art, and human relationships and struggles. It will make you think about what it means to be an artist, a lover, and a person.

This book will touch your heart with its beauty and sadness.

I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who loves literature or music.. I am rating the audiobook 5 stars, as it is the perfect vehicle for this story.

I once took a tour of a piano factory while conducting research for my own work. When I arrived, I was offered the option of a three-hour, a four-hour, or a five-hour tour. It felt as though I were in some sort of folktale where my decision would have profound consequences, and to play it safe I chose the middle option. I recount this anecdote because I remember vividly the powerful experience of having the birth of a piano unfold in front of my eyes--sometimes sublimely beautiful, and at others rather ugly and industrial (the workers with masks, the spray painted body that required hazmat-like protective gear before the final stage (just prior to an actual stage). Chiang-Sheng Kuo's The Piano Tuner, translated into English by Howard Goldblatt and Li-chun Lin, takes about as long to listen to as did that tour for me, and also brings us on a sort of tour--of a life in its momentary triumphs and its lingering disappointments and blows, of the career of musicians more generally, and lastly, of music itself. Like a cascade of piano notes reverberating through a large, empty concert hall, this novel is spare and resonant, and attuned not only to the notes but to the gaps between them. As Kuo writes, "Pay attention to how he [Stanislaw Richter] mastered the brief tranquil moments between notes. / Never forget that the silent portions are part of the music." Indeed, the few characters who inhabit the book are well-rendered, though Kuo doesn't rush to eliminate mystery. For instance, we learn very little about Emily, the wife of the protagonist's employer, and yet she plays an utterly consequential role in the novel. But this restraint and withholding is not a shortcoming of the book, as I view it, but its mode of approaching (and receding) from its subject. Along with the life trajectory of the protagonist from prodigy to tuner consigned to the shadows of performers, this novel continually seeks metaphorical connections between music (and piano music specifically) and human behavior. And because the tuner himself is so thoroughly shaped by his musical gifts and craft, sometimes these connections seem more than metaphorical--it is no exaggeration to say that pianos become veritable characters in this story. At the end of my four-hour tour, I was brought to a room at the top of the factory known as "The Pounder," which was a mechanical arrangement which would test out the newly-born piano by playing the living daylights out of it, very much living up to its nickname. The Piano Tuner, while a quiet novel in many ways, has its pounding moments. While there were a few points where I craved perhaps a bit more lushness and sense of the daemonic in the language and from the character, ultimately this novel's perspicacity and crystalline prose won me over. And of course there's Pater's assertion that "all art constantly aspires to the condition of music"; if that is the case, then it seems to me that an audiobook, allowing the music of the words themselves to rise off the page and roost inside us as it does in Fernando Chien's fine narration, is an ideal medium for this book.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for providing a copy of the audiobook in exchange for a candid review.

2⭐️

The Piano Tuner is a story within a story within a story. It deals with a multitude of topics like love, loss and broken dreams. This story follows the nameless narrator, a piano tuner, and what lead him to walk way from his dream.

I felt so confused during this whole book… I literally had no idea what was going on lol. This would have probably been better as an ebook or physical copy because it did not translate well over audiobook. The writing is spectacular but listening to this as a whole was difficult. Due to the nature of the writing the flow often got interrupted, which random switches from first person to third person and the fact that the story is not told in a chronological order.

There is also a lot of facts about pianos and famous pianists, which I’m not the most interested in. I love classical music and play multiple instruments but the mechanical ways the instruments work or history isn’t my cup of tea. I probably wasn’t the best reader for this book and this was probably not the best way to read this book.

I received an audiobook version which was narrated by Fernando Chien and I found that Fernando did a wonderful job narrating.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audio copy for an honest review. I love you guys 💕

I started listening to this on audio but had a very difficult time getting into it. About 20% in I switched to an ebook copy. It didn’t get much better. I’m not sure if it’s the writing style or whether something was lost in translation but I was sometimes confused by the voice, which often switched from first to third person. I suspect it is a creative choice that just didn’t work for me and I struggled to finish the book. I did so only to provide an honest review in turn for the copy from NetGalley.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This book was certainly different but i grew up in a musical household and my dad often played piano so i found a lot of the story was very touching

I found the piano history the most compelling for me and quite interesting. Overall, I was not wowed at all. I did not get the point of the story. This was a miss for me. However, I did think the narrator was excellent and engaging. It kept me listening until I completed it.
#ThePianoTuner #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ARC.

The Piano Tuner is a quick read that is packed with emotion. A profound look at loss and love. As a lover of classical music and the piano, this hit home. Would definitely recommend.

What a beautifully written book of a man who is known as the piano tuner, yet we learn so much more. This audio was so wonderfully read and made the experience so much more meaningful.

A widower grieving for his young wife. A piano tuner concealing a lifetime of secrets. An out-of-tune Steinway piano. A journey of self-discovery across time and continents, from a dark apartment in Taipei’s red-light district to snow-clad New York.

At the heart of the story is the nameless narrator, the piano tuner. In his forties, he is balding and ugly, a loser by any standard. But he was once a musical prodigy. What betrayal and what heartbreak made him walk away from greatness?

Through a series of short stories we meet a piano tuner living a life holding so many secrets in his head and heart and a widower mired in grief and how they connect over time. It was an interesting if not somewhat disjointed listen. It was an interesting listen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an audio copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I missed something in this book. Maybe it was because it was on audio; but it took me half the book to realize that the piano tuner wasn't the one whose wife died. I think a paper or electronic copy may have been easier to follow.

Thank you to Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for the chance to listen to and review "The Piano Tuner" by Chang-Shang Kuo and narrated Fernando Chien. I received an audio copy through NetGalley. The narrator did an excellent job. The book was written through the eyes of the piano tuner, a middle aged former child prodigy who had secrets of his own, and partnered with a grieving widower who was grieving the loss of his musician wife. I'm sure I didn't catch every detail of the tuner's life but enjoyed his pondering, his reminiscing and the musical history that was introduced throughout the book.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the Audio ARC.

This is a review for the audio version narrated by Fernando Chien.

I didn't know much going into this, except that it was a foreign book that was translated into English and something about musicians. Immediately I found that the narrators voice was a bit monotone and hard to follow. Several times throughout the book it was hard for me to decipher what character he was talking about, and if he was talking in third person, or from the narrator’s point of view. It didn’t help that it was hard for me to pay attention and I would my mind wandering several times throughout the story because it just wasn’t that interesting to me. I wonder if I would have had the same problem with the book version.

Outside of the narration, I have an issue with a lot of the writing. The writer tries to use instruments, mostly pianos, as a metaphor for life and the human experience. While I can see using one or two comparisons, having over 5 spread out throughout a novella seems excessive. The unnamed Narrator also breaks the fourth wall and refers to himself as “The Narrator” a few times. I don’t like it when books tell me that they are the narrator. I’m reading/listening to the story. This is obvious.

I did learn a few things about musicians and instruments that I didn’t know which I appreciate. I feel like this book is more for someone who listens to classical music or plays an instrument. As I am neither of those things, I just couldn’t get on board. I almost stopped listening several times because I realized about 25% the way in I just…didn’t care.

Usually I love non-linear timelines, but in this book it just didn't really work. I found myself pretty confused by what was happening and who was who.
That being said, this book has some of the best writing I've ever read, and I would be interested in reading more by this author.

3 stars

A literary novella about music, ambition, and how humans have difficulty connecting with one another. It’s an interesting story, and I learned a lot about music & piano tuning, but the ending was unsatisfying to me.

[What I liked:]

•I enjoyed learning about the technical side of pianos and piano tuning, and the narrators commentary on different pianists’ performance styles.

•The tuner’s relationship with the concert pianist his teacher introduced him to was the most interesting and emotionally compelling part of the story.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•I’m still not really sure what the point of this book was meant to be, unless it was that life is aimless and disappointing. The ending of the story is kind of aimless and watery.

•I’m also not really sure what purpose the husband of the violinist plays in the story other than as a reason for the tuner to explain certain things about music to the audience. I think the essence of the story would still be there if his character was cut out.

CW: cancer, death

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio eARC.

There were genuinely beautiful moments, writing, and insights in this short story but overall it seemed lacking. Perhaps it was because of the briefness of the story all in all. I wish we had more time to get to know and empathize with these characters, more time for the story to fully set in and affect me as a reader.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to read and review The Piano Tuner.

Published: 02/14/23

Right away I want to say, there is no liking or disliking this story. I see a story, not a book

Firstly, the author is from Taiwan or at least he received a lot of awards from there. It has been my experience, there are separations in translations of language, cultures, socioeconomic classes, and familial traditions. I will never understand why an adult child will assume responsibility for their parent just because it is expected. Likewise, I had a hard time with a father who wouldn't ponder his son had a gift, or even a talent that was not traditional.

Secondly, the piano tuner is written I'm assuming like an out of tune piano. The story skips all around. As an English-speaking only woman, I am reminded of those with dual plus language speaking skills and how hard they try to make their point.

I approached this book as if I were chatting with a stranger over coffee with no place to go. I wouldn't interrupt, I wouldn't keep saying I only speak English -- keep going you are doing great. I would listen and try to imagine loving tenderly pianos, realizing he plays on more tuning than if he were to perform. There is so much I didn't understand about his personal life. Thus, I think this is less about pianos and more about life.

The narration was good.

I did catch, if you want a piano look for a moving sale, they are cheap. People don't love them as much when they move. (I'm still tickled.)

Personally, I want a physical copy. I think this is a smart person book, giftable to anyone understanding Asian culture.

Sadly this one missed the mark for me. Listening to the audiobook and only having one narrator cover shifting perspectives, characters, and timelines ended up making me feel lost along the journey. I could appreciate the beautiful writing - it felt very lyrical, which of course suited the themes of the book, but by the end I almost felt like I'd missed something and was hoping for a tighter conclusion to ground me in the story a bit more.

This book was not a favorite of mine. The only redeemable quality of this book was the use of descriptive literacy devices that the author sprinkled in to give the reader exactly what they wanted you to hear, picture, or sense.

If you just want a palette cleanser that you can put on in the background as you’re doing something else, this is the book for you. Otherwise it’s a 1 star for me!

Utterly original and deeply moving. I thoroughly enjoyed this powerful little novella about a nameless piano tuner. Now a widower in his forties he reflects back on his life as a piano prodigy and the love he had for his much younger wife who died tragically of pancreatic cancer. Great on audio and highly recommended if you're looking for a quick read that will give you lots of feels! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance audio copy in exchange for my honest review.