tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post5792655893280556664..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: Maestro by Peter GoldsworthyStuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-44147218801958763382012-01-24T11:51:01.914+00:002012-01-24T11:51:01.914+00:00I am interested to know that, thank you! I wonder...I am interested to know that, thank you! I wonder how many similarities Eleonora and Keller had in temperament...StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-7167171278856967842012-01-24T11:49:51.508+00:002012-01-24T11:49:51.508+00:00Thanks Kim! And thank you for helping encourage m...Thanks Kim! And thank you for helping encourage me to read this. You must have read it around the publication date - I think you'd enjoy a revisit (and it's short!)<br /><br />I'm amused that you can empathise with my best feeling in the world :) There must be legions of people who feel like we did...<br /><br />Neighbours definitely to Darwin or Okey (sp?) nowadays! But mostly London and New York, perhaps to explain why they don't bother coming back for weddings, funerals etc.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-33587331774903217782012-01-24T09:41:43.951+00:002012-01-24T09:41:43.951+00:00You might be interested to know Simon that Goldswo...You might be interested to know Simon that Goldsworthy was inspired to write Mastro by his daughter Anna's piano lessons with Russian pianist Eleonora Sivana who had migrated to Adelaide.<br /><br />Anna grew up to be a classical pianist and published a tribute to her teacher called Piano Lessons in 2009 which is well worth tracking down.Sarahhttp://adevotedreader.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-82302129586426859452012-01-23T18:39:09.627+00:002012-01-23T18:39:09.627+00:00Great review, Simon! I've got the vaguest feel...Great review, Simon! I've got the vaguest feeling that I actually have read this book, but it was at least 25 years ago! <br /><br />And I loved your description of the best feeling in the world. The no-one answering the doorbell was my favourite feeling, too, when I was 13 and had guitar lessons with the world's grumpiest guitar tutor. Poor Mrs P. — I assume she's no longer with us, because she must have been 60+ when I had lessons and that was almost 30 years ago!<br /><br />And do all the Neighbours characters go to Darwin? I always thought it was Brisbane...kimbofohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01160466897342054963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-54922913136065639342012-01-23T11:44:07.537+00:002012-01-23T11:44:07.537+00:00You are wonderful parents, working for the good of...You are wonderful parents, working for the good of the nation ;) And I shall also gripe about having to put up dozens of marquees in wind and storm and tempest.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-68432444528118602352012-01-23T11:33:21.821+00:002012-01-23T11:33:21.821+00:00Ah Simon, OV and I provided you with every possibl...Ah Simon, OV and I provided you with every possible advantage in your upbringing - including something to gripe about for the rest of your life! Just think - it could have been cleaning the farmyard, like Dad, or breaking the ice in the morning, like me. After all, piano playing is an indoor sport and the rooms were usually warm ;-)<br />(AND OV reminds me that you seldom needed to wash behind your ears after lessons - the dog had licked them clean!)OVWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-7698673520185979422012-01-23T09:58:06.037+00:002012-01-23T09:58:06.037+00:00Thanks for your comment, Peter - since you know mu...Thanks for your comment, Peter - since you know much more than me on this topic, I'll just thank you, since I wouldn't know how to reply! Although I play three instruments I am certainly not musical - but at least I am not deluded about it :)StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-58034292842786663162012-01-23T09:56:54.879+00:002012-01-23T09:56:54.879+00:00Thank you, Harriet! But, yes, this certainly isn&...Thank you, Harriet! But, yes, this certainly isn't one I'd immediately push in your direction - although I suspect that you'd like it more than a lot of other 1989 novels...!<br /><br />I didn't read the Vikram Seth when book group read it (I chose the Kundera instead). Booker shortlists is a good idea - maybe the James Tait prize too?StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-49591506029173224102012-01-23T09:55:30.484+00:002012-01-23T09:55:30.484+00:00I think you'd enjoy this even more than I did ...I think you'd enjoy this even more than I did - and you'll know what all the pieces referenced are! Obviously I knew the composers, but I couldn't identify the individual compositions.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-64166345605721842072012-01-23T08:16:23.773+00:002012-01-23T08:16:23.773+00:00Simon, I'll not comment upon your review but I...Simon, I'll not comment upon your review but I will say that it is indeed possible to be an expert on music without being arrogant or rude and I think you are wrong in ascribing "perfection" as the primary goal of musicians. I think Keller is correct (though not in the way he said it) when he points out that technical perfection isn't enough. In fact it isn't that important (providing you are close to it) but musicality is. Yesterday I spent six hours in a masterclass listening to a dozen or so of our finest young flautists (current students or recent graduates of the RAM, RCM etc.) Not one of them achieved technical perfection, but some were fabulously musical. I'm sorry that you seem to have had a less than inspiring experience with the piano when you were young.Dark Pusshttp://morganas-cat.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-90364498238331625922012-01-23T07:59:30.557+00:002012-01-23T07:59:30.557+00:00This is an excellent review although I feel no des...This is an excellent review although I feel no desire whatsoever to read the novel. I didn't like The Well-tempered Clavier myself, though I did love Vikram Seth's An Equal Music (which the book group was distinctly lukewarm about, if I remember rightly). Well done for ticking off 1989 -- I can't imagine how I'm going to make may way into that decade. Perhaps via the Booker shortlists?harriethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04470091985662379182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-84318452326257626722012-01-23T01:01:25.649+00:002012-01-23T01:01:25.649+00:00Thank you for this! It sounds like a "must re...Thank you for this! It sounds like a "must read" for me. Being a musician and a teacher of piano I know I will enjoy it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com