Equal Music: International Edition [Paperback]

Vikram Seth (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Broadway Books (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767904648
• ISBN-13: 978-0767904643
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (186 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,635,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably brilliant and haunting, February 7, 2005

By 

GadgetChick - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Equal Music: A Novel (Paperback)

An Equal Music is one of my favorite novels. It's a love story, but it's not just about romantic love - it's about the love of a parent for a child, love for a beautiful object that can't love you back, love for the timeless work of brilliant artists, and most of all, the love you have for someone who doesn't really exist anymore, either because they have died or because they've changed. The romantic relationship in the book is intricately woven with the other details of the protagonist's life in such a way that it's not just his relationship with the fellow musician that is a romance, but his relationship with the world and with his art as well. As a whole the novel is both incredibly uplifting and heartbreakingly sad. This book is not a 'fun read,' a fast book or a romance in any conventional sense, but will stay with you long after you've put it back on the shelf. Seth is truly a masterful writer and the way he crafts this story is incredibly intelligent and inspiring.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, and perfect for chamber music lovers, January 15, 2001

By 

John A Sollami (Stamford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Equal Music: A Novel (Paperback)

Unlike most of the other reviewers of this book, I love Bach, Haydn, Schubert, Mozart, Beethoven, etc., and have loved them for many years. So I have no patience with those who talk about the main character, Michael Holmes, as a whiner or as immature. Of course he is these things. So what? The fact is, Vikram Seth has given us very plausible characters who act with passion, who are driven by the need to find the exquisite, and who are changed forever by their encounters with this passion. And who among us haven't acted dumbly when we think we are in love and that love goes bad and our lives go bad with it? I know I have. I know I've been selfish, dumb, self-pitying. But these days it's a sin to give in to emotions. One must behave like a "healthy" person, move on, take Prozac, and just get over it. I wonder if all artists, musicians, and novelists were always "rational" and just "got over" things, would great and meaningful art ever be able to be created through such a "rational" mind? In any case, this novel is a great entertainment, beautifully composed and easy to read. I think its ending is just fine. I admit there were parts that could have been better edited, redundancies that made me impatient with Michael and Julia, but these were minor flaws in a fine novel that accomplishes a whole lot. I was very happy to meet all its characters and live among them for a while. I even went off to my local music store and got the Haydn string quartet that Michael loved so much. I highly recommend this novel to anyone, but especially to those who love Bach and chamber music.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly sensitive!, December 13, 1999

By 

Bharati Mitra "Queen of Cooking" (Washinton, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Equal Music (Hardcover)

I must admit, I've never been an ardent fan of classical music and never learned to play an instrument. As I read the book, however, for the first time in my life, I wished I had. Seth's descriptive, highly sensitive, almost poetic writing allows readers like myself to catch a glimpse of the world of classical instrumental music, from the inside. One's heart goes out to Julia for her loss, and also for the fact that she still loved Michael and allowed him to take advantage of that fact. I do not agree with reader Graciella Lopez' review of this book. Seth does not expect the readers to love or admire the character of Michael Holme, but to understand and may be even pity him a bit. Though a good musician, Michael's a selfish loner and rather a loser; there are many men like that out there! The major characters in a good book do not have to be perfect or even lovable. As long as they are recognizable as real, and are capable of drawing some sort of emotion from the reader, they make the book interesting. I strongly recommend this book to all readers, classical music lovers or otherwise, for Seth's writing is superb. This is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold night in front of a crackling fireplace, with Beethoven, Bach or Schubert on the stereo system if possible!