-- AN EQUAL MUSIC is a wonderful novel. It contains relationships, music, romance, & European capitals. Novel contains eight parts with short chapters. At almost 400 pgs. it's easy to read. Well-developed characters mimic real people. At reaching The End in Fall 2009 I feel bittersweet. -- ( )

It's hard to review this book without giving away too much. I will say, however, that it is very different from Seth's "A Suitable Boy" (one of my very favorite books). For one thing, "An Equal Music" is much shorter.
The characters are of a different type; rather than Indians as in "A Suitable Boy", here they are English and/or European. Instead of an epic story, "An Equal Music" is a story about musicians and it is also a love story.

This is not an effort to compare the two books unfavorably or otherwise, but just to say that it's interesting that Vikram Seth has used different writing style and approaches for his books. For example "Golden Gate", which I have not read yet, is a novel set in verse. He has also written some non-fiction works. ( )

A novel of music and obsession. Michael Holme is a violinist, the second violin on the famous Maggiore String Quartet. A decade earlier, instead of pursuing a solo career, he left his teacher in Austria and retreated to London. He also abandoned the love of his life, Julia. Imagine his surprise when he sees her on a London bus. She shows up at one of the quartets concerts, and they begin an affair, since she is now married with a son.

There is a surprising plot twist here, which I will not reveal, since to do so would spoil the surprise and the book for the reader. But the twist does bring up some interesting moral questions. To what lengths would you go to play the music that you love with the person that you love? Would you risk your own career? Would you risk the careers and reputations of your friends and colleagues?

The decisions made by Michael are interesting to question and debate, something that would make this a good book club selection. His character is, for me, too self-centered and indecisive, although the author does an entirely convincing job portraying Michael's character.

The descriptions of the music and the musicians ring true, and musicians of any instrument or style of music should find the book an interesting and enjoyable read. ( )

A beautiful book that really captures the imagination - recommended especially for musicians and music lovers. ( )

Michael is a violin player. Michael plays in a string quartet. Michael's two loves are his violin and his ex-lover Julia. Michael tracks down a rare Beethoven quintet. From these bare bones, Vikram Seth constructs a sonata of a novel. Music is the narrative thread, indeed it is more than that : it is the heart of the story. It weaves in and around the complex dynamics and strange interpersonal relationships that lie at the claustrophobic heart of a string quartet.

This is a novel of unresolved relationships, in the manner of a fugue that never quite manages to properly conclude. Why did Michael abandon Julia in Vienna years before? What was the big problem between him and his teacher Carl Kall? What drives the individual members of the quartet - what combines them and what separates them?

Seth pursues these threads while always keeping the music at the forefront of the readers' minds : a mysterious Beethoven quintet, Bach's "Art Of Fugue", Schubert's "Trout Quintet", the dynamics of string instruments, rehearsals and public performance. Only at one point - the interlude in Venice towards the end of the book - does the music take a (comparative) back seat, and it is no surprise that this is where the story dips in tension and meanders a little.

The strength of the novel lies in its descriptions - closely observed, poetic, vivid, and yet somehow spare too; the narrative is nicely paced, with tensions largely maintained and no needless sidetracks. If anything, the sense of claustrophobia is built remorselessly through the first half of the novel, and while it persists through to the end, the accompanying tension and slight sense of mystery seems to dissipate somewhat in the second half.

The novel's big flaw - though this may have been Seth's intention? - is the character of its narrator Michael. Several women appear to fall for him, yet it is hard to understand why. He is moody, selfish in a nagging and insistent kind of way, and apparently insensitive to his lovers' needs due to his emotional immaturity. He is in many senses every woman's nightmare : initially impressing as attractive, sensitive, artistic and talented, but poisoning this through his marked negative traits which emerge sooner or later. The love for him by Julia is particularly incomprehensible, and in her position I would either given him a good slap, or given up on him pretty quick; I certainly would not have returned for a second helping.

That aside, this is an absorbing book and it is not essential to have a deep knowledge of music in order to enjoy it. ( )