Jean Echenoz: Piano

[promtbr]

Piano is the the 2003 novel from the Prix Goncourt winner Echenoz. It’s first person narrator tells the reader in the second paragraph that the protagonist, concert pianist Max Delamarc, is going to die a violent death in 22 days...after that reveal, things get more and more interesting. Many offbeat, tongue-in-cheek asides later, we think we know that the hero’s trajectory will always be in doubt...Echenoz masterfully frames quirky engaging characters and his scene detailing has a finely honed glittering edge that creates a vivid storyworld that makes you want to read on for the camera work alone. Mark Polizzatti’s English rendering is top notch, one loses any background idea that one is reading a translation-its that good.

To avoid any spoiler issues, I will leave off plot synopsis. Just to summarize that it is an urban death/afterlife comedy romp mostly set in Paris and has a lot of similarities to Stanley Elkin’s, The Living End..
With the tripartite structure of earth/ purgatory/ heaven?hell? with some wonderfully realized contemporary- popular culture ironies at play. Great ending and a candidate for a beach-readable contemporary novel. on the Literature/Enlightening scale 5/5 on the enjoyment scale.



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[saliotthomas]

Nice simple review Prompt.I read I'm gone by Echenoz a while ago a have about the same feelings(Betwin 3 literature and 5 joy,i found 4 their meetings)
One thing where i might differ is that,having read it in French,the construction of the sentences is very strange,unbalance bordering mistakes(look who's talking!!) but one get use to it after a while and it gives a real plus.I does not sound artificial or manierist.
I also found it had a bit of a vargas tough,a bit more literaire(if that make sense).
Bref i think the more we will read Echemoz the more we might find(not just beach,come on..) and maybe a real authors lay under a discrete enjoyable writing?Who know?

[KevinfromCanada]

I read Piano a few months ago after being very impressed with Echenoz's Ravel, which was shortlisted for the IMPAC Award (extended reviews are here). I agree completely with Promtbr's assessment of Piano -- the quirkiness does reduce the literary assessment (but not enjoyment) at first, but I find after a bit of time that literary side goes up.

I highly recommend Ravel. Echenoz takes that same tight writing style and applies it to a vision of the last 10 year's of the composer's life. For me, it created a layer of depth that Piano perhaps did not have.

And the fact that both books have a lot of excellent humour to them should not be overlooked.

[lionel]

I'm a criminal, as I've only read Un an (One Year in English, and although I don't really like the literal translation of the title, no matter), which I loved. This is a very quick read, if only because of its brevity, but this novella is quirky and unputdownable (even though I hate the term).

Yes, you have to think about what Echenoz is doing, and this is not casual holiday fare.

Thomas, I was originally appalled that Je m'en vais has been translated as 'I'm gone', but now I see (at least I think, anyway) that it's I'm Off, which'll do for me: 'I'm gone' has so many other connotations. Please, please, please don't see this as a criticism of your writing, which I'm sure so many of us adore as it's so, er, saliotthomas, and you can't get much more original than that!

Thank you for your contribution, KevinfromCanada (and I would really hate to abbreviate that name, especially as I'm a vegetarian ). I must read Ravel, as I've known for some time that I had to read it, but got sidetracked.

Cheers to all

Tony (as I'm not too happy with that Lionel)

[saliotthomas]

Hey Tony,I'm off would have been perfect,though it sujest a return.Gone is gone.It start and finish the book.It begining with man leaving his wife,and thinking about it,if i was to leave mine(something i swear i would do about twice a week)i would use gone,i think...
I'm not too surprise with mad title translation since i saw that Revolutionary road was Fenetre panoramique in French and Noce rebelle in cinema .One utterly pretentious the other totally stupid.

[lionel]

Originally Posted by saliotthomas

Hey Tony,I'm off would have been perfect,though it sujest a return.

Interesting point, Thomas, and it serves me right for talking about a book I've not actually read. But just arguing about the expressions in themselves, can't both 'I'm off' and 'Je m'en vais' be definitive? Do the two expressions necessarily suggest a return? Aren't they just more emphatic ways of saying 'I'm going', which doesn't necessarilly suggest a return either?

The point about 'I'm gone' that I was trying to make is that, to me at least, it just seems heavily freighted with hippyisms or beatnik connotations, man, dig, and to me you can't escape this reading, no matter how far removed from this the book may be.

[kpjayan]

I've read Piano 4-5 years back and wasn't greatly impressed. While the style was enjoyable and was an easy read , it is not one book which remain in your memory forever as some other books.

[saliotthomas]

Hey again Tony,"I'm off" would sound much better than "i'm gone",i was just splitting hairs.Anyway i don't like this tiltle very much,even in French "Je m'en vais" sound far too much like a Marc Levy dribling crap.
kpjayan, i think echenoz belong the categorie of authors that gain consistancy along the way.I read just one but have the feeling that the more i shall read the more it could develop into an interesting work.

[lionel]

Originally Posted by saliotthomas

even in French "Je m'en vais" sound far too much like a Marc Levy dribling crap.

Love it! Well put!