Customer Reviews

A Piano in the Pyrenees: The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've always found Tony Hawks books enjoyable. Funny books but I've always felt they were a little contrived - a little too forced. (Danny Wallace take note)
In 'A Piano in the Pyrenees' I thought this would be another fun but laboured idea. Not so!
This is a new Hawks whose writing has evolved.
He joins the ranks of Dave Gorman (Googlewhack adventure)or the much under rated John Donoghue (Shakespeare My B*tt!)
In this, Hawks has characters (that don't seem stage managed) as he explores the French culture. This isn't a collection of jokes surrounding a bizarre idea...this is self-deprecating, endearing, entertaining, witty ...and above all believable.

I am a longstanding fan of Tony Hawks' work, and still believe that "Round Ireland With a Fridge" is the single best travel book ever written. I have also enjoyed his other books (on tennis and pop music) greatly. Needless to say, when I was in Ireland last (sadly, without my fridge), went into a bookstore and found this, Hawks' latest book, I bought it immediately. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown. While I liked the book, I found that it drags and is much more directionless than his earlier books, although the reappearance of a lost love at the very end does provide the book with a convenient conclusion.

The book essentially showcases Hawks' impracticality in purchasing a house in France with no preparation, and the subsequent adventures of getting it arranged as he would like. I did enjoy his adventures with the white vans of doom, but found the endless pontification on building his swimming pool to be decidedly tedious. The book comes in at 307 pages long, far longer than "Round Ireland With a Fridge," and demonstrates a need for editing. The book wants to be about a man's search for significance in middle age, but the important messages the book delivers (and to Hawks' credit, the messages are in there) are buried under layers of minutiae that are neither particularly interesting or amusing.

I did like the book, but not nearly as much as Hawks' earlier, more focused, books. I would recommend this book to fans of the earlier works, but I would recommend all of Hawks' earlier books first.

Fantastic book, very well written & entertaining.
But be careful, if you have a sensitive disposition & want to avoid making any kind of public scene - make sure you read it in private. This book is laugh out loud funny.

Normally when I say I'm looking for a book by Tony Hawks, sales clerks usually assume I mean the skateboarder. Ever since reading "Round Ireland With a Fridge" several years ago, I have looked forward to Hawks' continued forays into weird and irreverent travel schemes. So I was pleasantly surprised to find "A Piano in the Pyrenees" recently. While not as travel-based (and therefore contest-driven) as his previous works, it is a pleasing and funny read, especially since fans can witness the maturation process of this creative jack of all trades (well, at least a little bit).

Never the one to do things that others would consider sane or to make great deliberations about important decisions, "A Piano in the Pyrenees" finds Hawks spontaneously buying a house in a small town in the French mountains where he can practice the piano and escape from the rat race of London life. His friends think it an ill-advised purchase, especially when confronted with the prospect of moving his piano from one country to another. However, luck (at least in terms of the house) seems to be in Hawks' cards and he quickly finds himself accepted as the odd, slightly famous English bachelor in the neighborhood. Now if only he could find the woman of his dreams.

For fans of his other works, "A Piano in the Pyrenees" has Hawks' trademark wry humor and effervescent writing. There is much more soul-searching and philosophizing than there has been in his previous books as Tony confronts what it is he truly wants out of life. Therefore, while highlighting several aspects of the French Pyrenees and the surrounding area, this is truly not a travel book nor even what one could rightfully consider travel writing. But for those of us not lucky enough to have a house in the French mountains in which to tinker at the piano, we can live vicariously through Tony's unique, funny, and sometimes ill-advised experiences.

From reading Tony's previous work i had expected something funny, clever and
entertaining but it was not any of these. Perhaps he's taking a new direction into light, unfunny travelogues. If so i would recommend he not do so.

This is his best book yet. Finally, one of his adventures turned into a true human adventure. He actually touches on the deeper side of life - culture, friendship, love, loneliness and the importance of each to our true selves. I laughed, I teared up and I felt pure jealousy. In his former books I felt nothing more than, "when will this book end?" I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story with real character yet wants to be entertained at the same time. Very enjoyable.