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The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: The Hidden World of a Paris Atelier
At first glance, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank is simply an autobiography covering the author's blissful years in Paris. This is actually something much rarer and more original: an extended love letter to the piano. One day, Carhart was walking through the back streets of Paris in the early morning--a place and a time he evokes beautifully, the street sweepers out cleaning the hidden alleys, and
...the smell from la boulangerie du coin. And then he noticed a small truck, unloading a piano ... It turned out to be delivering to the atelier of Monsieur Luc Desforges, a piano repairer of the old school. 'Desforges Pianos: outillage, fournitures.' On the small, red felt-covered shelf in the window are displayed the tools and instruments of piano repair: tightening wrenches, tuning pins, piano wire ... the entire facade has a sleepy, 19th-century charm about it.One could say the same of Carhart's book. It doesn't move fast, and it doesn't depend on powerful emotions or dramatic reversals for its effect. It is a quiet and loving meditation on the piano, as it features in French life, and in Carhart's. He recalls his early days back in Virginia with equal vividness, when at the age of eight he took lessons from Miss Pemberton, playing a Chopin ballade or a Mozart sonata "in the warm Virginia evening, with the soft murmur of crickets in the surrounding woods". The whole book is suffused with just this softness, slowness and dreamy eloquence. For piano lovers, an absolute must. For others, a book of tremendous charm and pleasure. --Christopher Hart
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Thad Carhart
3 books53 followersThad Carhart, author of Across the Endless River, is a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland. He lives in Paris with his wife, the photographer Simo Neri, and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 880 reviews
February 13, 2017
I've been thinking all day long how to write a review of this book that does not end up being a riff on all of my own piano memories that have been brought back to life while reading about Carhart's. I'll try to behave, I promise.
First of all, I loved the book. Carhart tells us of how he became curious about a piano shop in his Paris neighborhood, how he became friends with the owner, how he rediscovered his love for the instrument and eventually bought a baby grand and began once again to play. Besides Paris, we learn about Carhart's earlier life and how he had found the piano as a child. He also shares some fascinating (at least to me) peeks at the inner workings of pianos and of their world, and we even get to visit a factory in Italy that is making what are said to be the best pianos in the world.
This is a book to read with music. I stopped all the time to listen to this or that sonata that Carhart mentions. I googled the brand names of the pianos he talked about: I wanted to see them. I wanted to play them!
So, it's a wonderful book if you have played piano even just a little bit in your life, and have felt the magic in these instruments. But what if you have never had that pleasure? What will you get from these pages if you don't have your own piano memories? You will get the idea that it is never too late to find a passion. It is never too late to be curious about the world around you. It is never too late to DO instead of merely BE. Find yourself something new, something that amazes you, and join its world. Don't be scared, just DO it.
First of all, I loved the book. Carhart tells us of how he became curious about a piano shop in his Paris neighborhood, how he became friends with the owner, how he rediscovered his love for the instrument and eventually bought a baby grand and began once again to play. Besides Paris, we learn about Carhart's earlier life and how he had found the piano as a child. He also shares some fascinating (at least to me) peeks at the inner workings of pianos and of their world, and we even get to visit a factory in Italy that is making what are said to be the best pianos in the world.
This is a book to read with music. I stopped all the time to listen to this or that sonata that Carhart mentions. I googled the brand names of the pianos he talked about: I wanted to see them. I wanted to play them!
So, it's a wonderful book if you have played piano even just a little bit in your life, and have felt the magic in these instruments. But what if you have never had that pleasure? What will you get from these pages if you don't have your own piano memories? You will get the idea that it is never too late to find a passion. It is never too late to be curious about the world around you. It is never too late to DO instead of merely BE. Find yourself something new, something that amazes you, and join its world. Don't be scared, just DO it.
August 18, 2019
If you're a pianist, you'll probably love reading this book. If you're not a pianist, you'll probably still love reading it.
August 2019 - I read this eighteen years ago when it was published and just reread it. It remains one of my favorite books. And still deserves five stars.
At one point, the author was walking home in Paris and "heard loud piano music surging from an open window. As I drew closer I recognized Beethoven's Diabelli Variations being played forcefully and with a strange urgency.
… In my excitement I wanted to stop passersby and make them take notice: 'Hey, listen to this! This is a phenomenal Beethoven!'"
I guess that could only happen in Paris (or perhaps in a similar environment). It surely wouldn't occur in my neck of the woods.
This book is filled with similar vignettes, which make it a delight to read.
As I reached the conclusion of the book, I didn't want it to end. I look forward to the next time I read it.
Pianos, people, and Paris - I couldn't ask for more.
August 2019 - I read this eighteen years ago when it was published and just reread it. It remains one of my favorite books. And still deserves five stars.
At one point, the author was walking home in Paris and "heard loud piano music surging from an open window. As I drew closer I recognized Beethoven's Diabelli Variations being played forcefully and with a strange urgency.
… In my excitement I wanted to stop passersby and make them take notice: 'Hey, listen to this! This is a phenomenal Beethoven!'"
I guess that could only happen in Paris (or perhaps in a similar environment). It surely wouldn't occur in my neck of the woods.
This book is filled with similar vignettes, which make it a delight to read.
As I reached the conclusion of the book, I didn't want it to end. I look forward to the next time I read it.
Pianos, people, and Paris - I couldn't ask for more.
March 9, 2020
This book is a Valentine.....a love letter to the most beloved piece of "furniture" you will ever own. The piano. There really is no particular plot here, just a memoir of selected incidents in the life of the author, who plays the piano strictly for the joy of it. He is an American who has lived most of his life in Paris and is walking through his neighborhood when he sees a atelier with windows full of piano strings, fall boards, key boards, etc. The sign says Deforges Pianos and he hears music issuing from the front door. It takes him a few weeks before he decides to venture inside. He makes friends with the owner, eventually buys an old Pleyel baby grand and it changes his life.
He explains, rather well, the feelings aroused in the pianist when playing a classic instrument which is perfectly tuned and toned and has it's own quirks (and all pianos have quirks). Even instruments made by the same company and of the same age are different from each other....they have to be broken in and seasoned and, unfortunately, don't have a long life of perfection, And it must be tuned and played regularly or it will die of a broken heart.
We meet those who "hang out" at the atelier......all musicians who have their own distinctive ideas about what makes a piano special and who spend long evening hours with a bottle of wine discussing and having friendly arguments over a Bechstein vs Erard, a Steinway vs Chickering.
This fascinating book will appeal to anyone who plays (I do but not very well) and also to those who don't but love hearing the beauty of tone and clarity of a Chopin waltz played on a fine instrument. A short and enthralling little book about a "piece of furniture" that has a personality and a soul. As you can probably tell, I loved this book.
PS: I do have something in common with this author. I cannot pass a piano in a hotel, conference center, etc with the fall board down. I always lift it up to expose the keys (and usually get chastised)!
He explains, rather well, the feelings aroused in the pianist when playing a classic instrument which is perfectly tuned and toned and has it's own quirks (and all pianos have quirks). Even instruments made by the same company and of the same age are different from each other....they have to be broken in and seasoned and, unfortunately, don't have a long life of perfection, And it must be tuned and played regularly or it will die of a broken heart.
We meet those who "hang out" at the atelier......all musicians who have their own distinctive ideas about what makes a piano special and who spend long evening hours with a bottle of wine discussing and having friendly arguments over a Bechstein vs Erard, a Steinway vs Chickering.
This fascinating book will appeal to anyone who plays (I do but not very well) and also to those who don't but love hearing the beauty of tone and clarity of a Chopin waltz played on a fine instrument. A short and enthralling little book about a "piece of furniture" that has a personality and a soul. As you can probably tell, I loved this book.
PS: I do have something in common with this author. I cannot pass a piano in a hotel, conference center, etc with the fall board down. I always lift it up to expose the keys (and usually get chastised)!
April 8, 2025
Play Is The Soul Of The Machine
In this engaging memoir, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" (2001), Thad Carhart, an American writer who lives in Paris, describes how his love for the piano was rekindled upon finding a quaint piano repair shop in Paris and its eccentric owner, Luc. At one point after Carhart purchases a used piano from Luc, a baby grand made by a defunct manufacturer called Stingl, Carhart learns that he needs to make a repair to the instrument's pedal mechanism. Luc encourages Carhart to do the repair himself and instructs him how. When the repair is not fully successful and Carhart returns to Luc for more advice, Luc delivers the line that is the title of this review. In the double-entendre, Luc was reminding his customer of the need to avoid too much tension in the pedal mechanism if it is to work properly. But the advice, and the words "play", "soul" and "machine" are at the heart of this book and speak volumes about the piano and about music. How has a large, heavy and clumsy instrument become the way to capture music, beauty and passion in the hearts of many pianists and music-lovers?
Carhart's story begins when he chances upon the piano shop and makes the acquaintance of its owners. He soon decides to take up the piano again, which he had studied as a child years before, and purchases the used Stingl baby grand. We learn a great deal about the author, about Luc and his circle, and about Paris and its customs as the Carhart's story unfolds.
But mostly we learn about the piano and its magic and about music. There are chapters in the book where the author recollects his youthful music lessons and the piano teachers he finds in Paris after beginning to play again. There are fascinating chapters involving the manufacture and tuning of the instrument, the way the mechanism works, and lore about past and present manufacturers of the piano in France, the United States, Germany, Japan, and elsewhere. An excellent chapter near the end of the book describes the manufacture of the Fazoli piano, probably the most expensive and best piano now made, in Italy. Carhart describes the schola cantorum, a small private music school in Paris where Claude Debussy once taught and where the author enrolled his children for music lessons. During one of the most enjoyable scenes of the book, an elderly tradesman at Luc's shop sits at the keyboard and enthralls his listeners with the performance of a Scarlatti sonata. In addition to Luc and Carhart, a host of characters come to life, including the alcoholic tuner Jos, Luc's lady friend, Mathilde, Carhart's teacher Anna, and the pianists Gygory Sebok and Peter Feuchtwangler who appear in the book as leaders of master classes. Luc himself, part hard-headed businessman and part lover of the piano, falls in love successively with many of the instruments that come through his shop, Steinways, Erards, Pleyels, Gaveaus, and others. As Luc evocatively says at the end of the book, "You can never have too many dream pianos".
I studied piano as a child, stopped during college and law school, and returned to the instrument when I went out on my own. I haven't left it since then. I took lessons for an initial few years and then, regrettably, have tried to learn the instrument by myself. The piano has meant a great deal to me over the years.
This book will appeal to any serious student of the piano or to lovers of the inexhaustible literature of the instrument. The book will also make a wonderful and unusual gift to those on your list who love or who work with the piano.
Robin Friedman
In this engaging memoir, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" (2001), Thad Carhart, an American writer who lives in Paris, describes how his love for the piano was rekindled upon finding a quaint piano repair shop in Paris and its eccentric owner, Luc. At one point after Carhart purchases a used piano from Luc, a baby grand made by a defunct manufacturer called Stingl, Carhart learns that he needs to make a repair to the instrument's pedal mechanism. Luc encourages Carhart to do the repair himself and instructs him how. When the repair is not fully successful and Carhart returns to Luc for more advice, Luc delivers the line that is the title of this review. In the double-entendre, Luc was reminding his customer of the need to avoid too much tension in the pedal mechanism if it is to work properly. But the advice, and the words "play", "soul" and "machine" are at the heart of this book and speak volumes about the piano and about music. How has a large, heavy and clumsy instrument become the way to capture music, beauty and passion in the hearts of many pianists and music-lovers?
Carhart's story begins when he chances upon the piano shop and makes the acquaintance of its owners. He soon decides to take up the piano again, which he had studied as a child years before, and purchases the used Stingl baby grand. We learn a great deal about the author, about Luc and his circle, and about Paris and its customs as the Carhart's story unfolds.
But mostly we learn about the piano and its magic and about music. There are chapters in the book where the author recollects his youthful music lessons and the piano teachers he finds in Paris after beginning to play again. There are fascinating chapters involving the manufacture and tuning of the instrument, the way the mechanism works, and lore about past and present manufacturers of the piano in France, the United States, Germany, Japan, and elsewhere. An excellent chapter near the end of the book describes the manufacture of the Fazoli piano, probably the most expensive and best piano now made, in Italy. Carhart describes the schola cantorum, a small private music school in Paris where Claude Debussy once taught and where the author enrolled his children for music lessons. During one of the most enjoyable scenes of the book, an elderly tradesman at Luc's shop sits at the keyboard and enthralls his listeners with the performance of a Scarlatti sonata. In addition to Luc and Carhart, a host of characters come to life, including the alcoholic tuner Jos, Luc's lady friend, Mathilde, Carhart's teacher Anna, and the pianists Gygory Sebok and Peter Feuchtwangler who appear in the book as leaders of master classes. Luc himself, part hard-headed businessman and part lover of the piano, falls in love successively with many of the instruments that come through his shop, Steinways, Erards, Pleyels, Gaveaus, and others. As Luc evocatively says at the end of the book, "You can never have too many dream pianos".
I studied piano as a child, stopped during college and law school, and returned to the instrument when I went out on my own. I haven't left it since then. I took lessons for an initial few years and then, regrettably, have tried to learn the instrument by myself. The piano has meant a great deal to me over the years.
This book will appeal to any serious student of the piano or to lovers of the inexhaustible literature of the instrument. The book will also make a wonderful and unusual gift to those on your list who love or who work with the piano.
Robin Friedman
July 6, 2015
Piano Teacher: Not bad... Mr. Connors, you say this is your first lesson?
Phil: Yes, but my father was a piano *mover*, so...
Much like Thad Carhart passing by Desforges Pianos: outillage, fournitures, I was intrigued first by the lovely cover (the hardbound edition) and welcoming title of this book. I wanted to enter through the curtained door, into a dusty world I did not know.
Inside, we find des pianos éventrés (disemboweled pianos), and Luc who modestly says, Je ne suis qu'un bricoleur (I'm only a handyman). Luc finds pianos - Steinways, Bechsteins, Chickerings, Pleyels - and restores them. Then he goes about finding the right human pair for the instrument. Who will get the 1820 Erard, that Beethoven might have played?
I do not speak French nor do I play the piano, but Carhart must have guessed that because he consistently translated the charming French phrases for me and he ably explained the inner workings of the furniture that also makes music.
Carhart has a good ear:
On ne fait pas de musique contre quelqu'un (One does not make music against someone else).
Le jeu, c'est l'âme de la mécanique (Play is the soul of the machine).
He quotes an Hungarian pianist and teacher, "There is no such thing as music note by note just as there is no such thing as a book word by word. We have to accept that things are ambiguous."
He explained the mechanics enough and the differences in pianos. He talked about his lifetime passion for pianos - the instrument, really, more so than the music itself. And he takes us into the quartier, where Luc (not his real name) welcomes the American and, by extension, us. You can learn a lot by watching how people interact with an alcoholic piano tuner.
Best for me was when the various characters - students, teachers, craftsmen - would meet, and someone would sit down at a piano, and ....PLAY. Bienvenu à la guinguette!
I now want to hear a Fazioli piano. Is that asking too much?
And if I find myself wandering in a Parisian quartier, I too might open a mysterious door. Tu as le temps de boire un coup?
Phil: Yes, but my father was a piano *mover*, so...
Much like Thad Carhart passing by Desforges Pianos: outillage, fournitures, I was intrigued first by the lovely cover (the hardbound edition) and welcoming title of this book. I wanted to enter through the curtained door, into a dusty world I did not know.
Inside, we find des pianos éventrés (disemboweled pianos), and Luc who modestly says, Je ne suis qu'un bricoleur (I'm only a handyman). Luc finds pianos - Steinways, Bechsteins, Chickerings, Pleyels - and restores them. Then he goes about finding the right human pair for the instrument. Who will get the 1820 Erard, that Beethoven might have played?
I do not speak French nor do I play the piano, but Carhart must have guessed that because he consistently translated the charming French phrases for me and he ably explained the inner workings of the furniture that also makes music.
Carhart has a good ear:
On ne fait pas de musique contre quelqu'un (One does not make music against someone else).
Le jeu, c'est l'âme de la mécanique (Play is the soul of the machine).
He quotes an Hungarian pianist and teacher, "There is no such thing as music note by note just as there is no such thing as a book word by word. We have to accept that things are ambiguous."
He explained the mechanics enough and the differences in pianos. He talked about his lifetime passion for pianos - the instrument, really, more so than the music itself. And he takes us into the quartier, where Luc (not his real name) welcomes the American and, by extension, us. You can learn a lot by watching how people interact with an alcoholic piano tuner.
Best for me was when the various characters - students, teachers, craftsmen - would meet, and someone would sit down at a piano, and ....PLAY. Bienvenu à la guinguette!
I now want to hear a Fazioli piano. Is that asking too much?
And if I find myself wandering in a Parisian quartier, I too might open a mysterious door. Tu as le temps de boire un coup?
March 9, 2021
The Piano Shop on the West Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thad Carhart is small treasure, a somewhat limited but wonderful book in search of a broader audience, probably carried forth by word-of-mouth recommendations from fellow readers. In fact, I was delighted to find as many as 500 reviews at this site. Carhart's book represents a most gentle exploration of music, with the focus on the evolution of keyboard instruments, serving as a historical backdrop on many composers; however, it also acts as a field guide to some rather interesting backstreets of Paris as well.
Often there is a historical declension of certain Parisian streets, neighborhoods & specific buildings, explaining their various uses and transformations through the years. The author forages about the streets & byways of Paris, explaining in reference to one building that it "seemed to embrace the past without being lost in it" and of another that it exhibited a "shabby gentility".
Driven by curiosity and a keen sense of having lost something valuable when he ceased playing the piano ages ago and with that, a part of his own identity that needs to be reclaimed, Carhart fuses his passion for France & particularly for Paris, with the discovery of a building that carries a most amazing past, commenting that...
There is commentary on competing forms of keyboard & other instrument mastery, with György Sebök, a gifted pianist & also a committed teacher, at a master-class the author attended in Amsterdam, intoning in reference to the "Ecole Polytechnique" in Paris, that its graduates "know everything but nothing else". He stresses the importance of creating a sense of balance in life because..."It is possible to know too much and one needs to accept that some things are ambiguous." There is also a humorous quote from Oscar Wilde: "I assure you that the typewriting machine, when played with expression, is not more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or a near-relation".
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank is full of surprises & a cast of characters within the inner sanctum at the piano shop that constitutes a memorable mélange of Parisians, including Luc the atelier owner & Jos, a drunken virtually homeless piano tuner who often sleeps in vacant trains, only to alight in places far from home come morning. Beyond that, an assortment of folks periodically appear who are almost magnetically drawn to the shop because of rumors that a new piano with a most mysterious provenance has just been bought at auction by the owner of the shop. Here is just one example:
I don't play an instrument & so some of the minute detailing of various vintage & contemporary keyboard instruments was a bit beyond my grasp but I savored this book nonetheless and recommend it highly to anyone willing to provide it with some space in their imagination. In an odd sort of way, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart is rather like a mystery story set in Paris, with the elusive search for pianos with captivating backgrounds serving as primary characters.
*Images within my review: Author, Thad Carhart reading from his book; a vintage French Pleyel piano; the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
Often there is a historical declension of certain Parisian streets, neighborhoods & specific buildings, explaining their various uses and transformations through the years. The author forages about the streets & byways of Paris, explaining in reference to one building that it "seemed to embrace the past without being lost in it" and of another that it exhibited a "shabby gentility".
Driven by curiosity and a keen sense of having lost something valuable when he ceased playing the piano ages ago and with that, a part of his own identity that needs to be reclaimed, Carhart fuses his passion for France & particularly for Paris, with the discovery of a building that carries a most amazing past, commenting that...
Benjamin Franklin had apparently spent some time within the (former) convent's walls, writing out the preamble to the American Constitution. During the (French) Revolution, the convent was turned into a prison & subsequently used as a cotton mill, then a preparatory school for the "Ecole Polytechnique", until in 1896 it began its vocation as a private school for music, dance & theater. Satie, Debussy, Albeniz & Messiaen had all been associated with the latter school and its philosophy was consciously informal & forward-looking.The author catalogues a litany of pianos, including some still eminent brands such as Bechstein (German), Bosendoerfer (Austrian) & Chickering (British) but also the all but forgotten Pleyel (French) & an extraordinary, newly crafted Italian piano, the Fazioli, seemingly made with space-age technology but very traditional values.
I particularly liked the rationale it advanced for renouncing the tradition of competitive "concours: On ne fait pas de musique contre quelqu'un" (One does not make music against someone else").
There is commentary on competing forms of keyboard & other instrument mastery, with György Sebök, a gifted pianist & also a committed teacher, at a master-class the author attended in Amsterdam, intoning in reference to the "Ecole Polytechnique" in Paris, that its graduates "know everything but nothing else". He stresses the importance of creating a sense of balance in life because..."It is possible to know too much and one needs to accept that some things are ambiguous." There is also a humorous quote from Oscar Wilde: "I assure you that the typewriting machine, when played with expression, is not more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or a near-relation".
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank is full of surprises & a cast of characters within the inner sanctum at the piano shop that constitutes a memorable mélange of Parisians, including Luc the atelier owner & Jos, a drunken virtually homeless piano tuner who often sleeps in vacant trains, only to alight in places far from home come morning. Beyond that, an assortment of folks periodically appear who are almost magnetically drawn to the shop because of rumors that a new piano with a most mysterious provenance has just been bought at auction by the owner of the shop. Here is just one example:
In playing, the old man was changed utterly, transformed from a stooped body with a hesitant gait to a vigorous athlete who addressed the keyboard with a boundless urgency. He was not sitting at the piano but was indivisible from it, his hands & feet striking the keys & pedals with a potent, sinuous force. The piano, too, was transformed. No delicate lines now, no strange decorum about the silent object: this was what it was meant to do.
I don't play an instrument & so some of the minute detailing of various vintage & contemporary keyboard instruments was a bit beyond my grasp but I savored this book nonetheless and recommend it highly to anyone willing to provide it with some space in their imagination. In an odd sort of way, The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart is rather like a mystery story set in Paris, with the elusive search for pianos with captivating backgrounds serving as primary characters.*Images within my review: Author, Thad Carhart reading from his book; a vintage French Pleyel piano; the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris.
February 11, 2020
I am hugely opinionated. Also I am hopelessly a huge fan of the piano. Hence this review will only read one way.
I dreamt of learning to play the piano from my school days when our choir teacher used to play it. I found my way into the choir group only to see her play it and listen to the sound. Later despite many attempts to learn to play it I could not succeed in school. We did not live close to a place which had access to piano owners or teachers. A few years ago I bought a Kawai upright and started to learn. Pressures of travel during work and constant relocations to new cities put paid to my grand plan. But the good news is that I am still at it. And now with more rigour.
Thad Carhart's story interested me in so many ways.For someone my age finding a patient teacher is a challenge. This book speaks of the author almost in my stage of life commencing a new phase in life learning to become more proficient on it. And a lot more about pianos.
Pianos and everything about them take me into another world of baroque and everything nice - literally a fantastic world that had better remain that way or I may end up in a lunatic asylum. In days of stress I end up running to classical piano on my earphones and this literally does its job in decompression. The entire imagery of a piano is everything but that - and the world it throws up. I am very fortunate to have had a chance to see a few piano concerts in Europe and the US featuring Bosendorfers and Steinways.
This book has a lot of prose about the history of the piano and its making. Also about how the piano itself was constructed and maintained. Carhart speaks of these things almost as living creatures. Beethoven's piano was made from wood planted in the 16th century - the trees were felled when they were about a 60 years old and then crafted. The sound of this wood speaks of the sheer character of these pianos.
I loved the ride...and will re read I guess as I travel my journey to playing near self respecting tunes on my piano and chord progressions that matter.
Do you think I can say anything other than highly recommended ?!!!
I dreamt of learning to play the piano from my school days when our choir teacher used to play it. I found my way into the choir group only to see her play it and listen to the sound. Later despite many attempts to learn to play it I could not succeed in school. We did not live close to a place which had access to piano owners or teachers. A few years ago I bought a Kawai upright and started to learn. Pressures of travel during work and constant relocations to new cities put paid to my grand plan. But the good news is that I am still at it. And now with more rigour.
Thad Carhart's story interested me in so many ways.For someone my age finding a patient teacher is a challenge. This book speaks of the author almost in my stage of life commencing a new phase in life learning to become more proficient on it. And a lot more about pianos.
Pianos and everything about them take me into another world of baroque and everything nice - literally a fantastic world that had better remain that way or I may end up in a lunatic asylum. In days of stress I end up running to classical piano on my earphones and this literally does its job in decompression. The entire imagery of a piano is everything but that - and the world it throws up. I am very fortunate to have had a chance to see a few piano concerts in Europe and the US featuring Bosendorfers and Steinways.
This book has a lot of prose about the history of the piano and its making. Also about how the piano itself was constructed and maintained. Carhart speaks of these things almost as living creatures. Beethoven's piano was made from wood planted in the 16th century - the trees were felled when they were about a 60 years old and then crafted. The sound of this wood speaks of the sheer character of these pianos.
I loved the ride...and will re read I guess as I travel my journey to playing near self respecting tunes on my piano and chord progressions that matter.
Do you think I can say anything other than highly recommended ?!!!
September 19, 2007
A surprising little gem of a book which proves you really can't judge a book by its cover. I read it looking for something different without thinking the subject matter would be very interesting. Within just a few pages I found I was transported back to my time in Paris, exploring it's side streets, neighborhoods, and the wonderful (despite what you may have heard) people living there. I've lent this book to 6 people since I read it and to a person they have all loved it. Read this book!
September 11, 2007
This is a really special and beautifully written book.
Even though I’ve never been to Paris and I don’t play piano or know how to read music, I found everything in here fascinating.
Almost gave it 4 stars, because I was somewhat disappointed in the ending which felt rushed and, it’s kind of hard to describe without giving too much away, but the events described at the end lowered (for me) what was a grand true story. Too bad, because up until the end it was vying for inclusion on my favorite books list. It's worth at least 4 ½ stars though.
Wonderful facts about pianos, piano making, piano repairing, history of pianos, and a real feel for a particular Paris neighborhood.
Gave this to a piano playing friend of mine as a gift and she was in heaven. I’d say to give it to all the pianist readers in your life, but it would be a great read for anyone. A warning: If you read this as a non-musician, you might very well start longing to own a piano and become eager to take piano lessons.
Even though I’ve never been to Paris and I don’t play piano or know how to read music, I found everything in here fascinating.
Almost gave it 4 stars, because I was somewhat disappointed in the ending which felt rushed and, it’s kind of hard to describe without giving too much away, but the events described at the end lowered (for me) what was a grand true story. Too bad, because up until the end it was vying for inclusion on my favorite books list. It's worth at least 4 ½ stars though.
Wonderful facts about pianos, piano making, piano repairing, history of pianos, and a real feel for a particular Paris neighborhood.
Gave this to a piano playing friend of mine as a gift and she was in heaven. I’d say to give it to all the pianist readers in your life, but it would be a great read for anyone. A warning: If you read this as a non-musician, you might very well start longing to own a piano and become eager to take piano lessons.
December 1, 2012
I truly loved this book!
The Piano Shop deals more with the technical aspects of repairing, restoring and re-awakening a love of music in Thad Carhart, the author of this memoir. Parts of the book read like a novel, a story about a man finding again his love and pleasure in creating music - and other parts of the book read like a technical manual, detailing the various processes of repairing and restoring pianos. I love how Carhart was slowly allowed to become a friend of Luc after getting referred by a previous client. I loved "their little world" in the Atelier, and their respect for the physical piano. I learned so much about so many different types of piano. It did read sometimes like fiction with Luc & Mathilde's growing relationship and Jos. I especially liked the Master classes where 20 students selected had 1 hr 15 min to play their piece and were advised by Sebok. His response to each student was "unique only to them." I also enjoyed Carhart's trip to Italy to see the newest pianos made (began in 1978). He had a meeting Paolo Fazioli (CEO, designer), took a tour, and listening to their piano's strengths. Before Carhart left, Fazoli gave him a autographed souvenir --one foot long piece of spruce from the Val Di Fiemme (used to make Fazoli sound boards.)
I love piano music and playing it (alone!) As a child I started on an old upright Steinway in Ebony from 1900 --which was pretty beat up; next my parents bought a mahogany George Steck console for their living room. Years later I bought an American Chickering Console, in solid pecan from Boston (est. 1823). From the very first Chickering's pianos were of superb quality and design and coupled with a partner who was good at marketing his pianos became known throughout all of North and South America. In 1843 he incorporated his concept for a cast iron frame in a concert grand piano, and an improved version of this piano received unparalleled praise at the first International Exposition held in 1851 at the Crystal Palace, London, winning the top awards. In 1867 following the great Paris Exposition of 1867 Frank Chickering had the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honour, then one of the world's most prestigious non-military awards, bestowed upon him by Emperor Napoleon III for services to the art of music. The Chickering pianos built up until around the Second World War are considered to be second to none and some of the concert grands built around the period of the late 1800's to around 1925 have some of the most powerful and rich sounds possible, especially in the bass. Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century, but was surpassed in the 1860s by Steinway.
The Piano Shop deals more with the technical aspects of repairing, restoring and re-awakening a love of music in Thad Carhart, the author of this memoir. Parts of the book read like a novel, a story about a man finding again his love and pleasure in creating music - and other parts of the book read like a technical manual, detailing the various processes of repairing and restoring pianos. I love how Carhart was slowly allowed to become a friend of Luc after getting referred by a previous client. I loved "their little world" in the Atelier, and their respect for the physical piano. I learned so much about so many different types of piano. It did read sometimes like fiction with Luc & Mathilde's growing relationship and Jos. I especially liked the Master classes where 20 students selected had 1 hr 15 min to play their piece and were advised by Sebok. His response to each student was "unique only to them." I also enjoyed Carhart's trip to Italy to see the newest pianos made (began in 1978). He had a meeting Paolo Fazioli (CEO, designer), took a tour, and listening to their piano's strengths. Before Carhart left, Fazoli gave him a autographed souvenir --one foot long piece of spruce from the Val Di Fiemme (used to make Fazoli sound boards.)
I love piano music and playing it (alone!) As a child I started on an old upright Steinway in Ebony from 1900 --which was pretty beat up; next my parents bought a mahogany George Steck console for their living room. Years later I bought an American Chickering Console, in solid pecan from Boston (est. 1823). From the very first Chickering's pianos were of superb quality and design and coupled with a partner who was good at marketing his pianos became known throughout all of North and South America. In 1843 he incorporated his concept for a cast iron frame in a concert grand piano, and an improved version of this piano received unparalleled praise at the first International Exposition held in 1851 at the Crystal Palace, London, winning the top awards. In 1867 following the great Paris Exposition of 1867 Frank Chickering had the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honour, then one of the world's most prestigious non-military awards, bestowed upon him by Emperor Napoleon III for services to the art of music. The Chickering pianos built up until around the Second World War are considered to be second to none and some of the concert grands built around the period of the late 1800's to around 1925 have some of the most powerful and rich sounds possible, especially in the bass. Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century, but was surpassed in the 1860s by Steinway.
April 26, 2013
One of the great moments in life is finding an unexpected gem of a book. I picked this book up at a market stall, without quite knowing why, and read it while on a long plane trip. I do not play the piano, cannot read music, and am somewhat tone deaf, probably not the reader for which the book was intended! But I loved it, apart possibly for one very technical chapter about piano construction, for its passion, its honesty and its ability to take one into another world. There is a purity in the author's passion for pianos and the story of a shop that only allows chosen customers to purchase its instruments is inspirational, while the descriptions of the owner of the business spending his life doing what he so clearly loves, and the little community that develops around him is food for the soul. The descriptions of Paris and its people are beautifully and sensitively written, the work of a real craftsman.
I think we can all learn something about what is worthwhile in life from this book.
I think we can all learn something about what is worthwhile in life from this book.
July 18, 2014
What a delightful book! Admittedly I am a piano lover, but I don't feel that that is a prerequisite to enjoy this book. It is nonfiction, but I felt like I was reading a novel, with well drawn characters and relationships. The author manages to do this with minimal words.
This book was very descriptive of the restoration of pianos but was also the author's journey of his rediscovery of the love of pianos and music. Not just a book for piano lovers, anyone with an appreciation of the passion some people have for their work would enjoy this.
This book was very descriptive of the restoration of pianos but was also the author's journey of his rediscovery of the love of pianos and music. Not just a book for piano lovers, anyone with an appreciation of the passion some people have for their work would enjoy this.
September 4, 2012
Happened upon this little book and was enchanted by it. It left me wanting to go wandering through the antique/used things shops in Paris and, also, take lots more piano lessons. Wonderful book!
May 27, 2025
This is the story of an American expatriate who lives in France and passes an intriguing shop every day as he walks his children to school. On the door, it states that it furnishes and repairs pianos and in the window are many tools and parts connected to this work. The writer enters one day, even though he doesn’t have a piano because he has a history in his past with pianos. This leads to a relationship with the soon-to-be owner and starts him on a series of anecdotes about his experiences with pianos, including finally buying one, as well as the experiences of the shop, those who are also drawn to pianos and a history of the instrument itself as well as a detailed description of how a piano is constructed, works and is tuned. And there you are.
Some of the anecdotes were interesting but I couldn’t personally relate because I’ve never had any sort of relationship with a piano; it’s like listening to a bunch of guys swapping stories about making love to beautiful women when you’ve never had the experience. You can appreciate looking at her and even listening to her but that’s as far as it goes because you don’t have the experience of living with her on a daily basis. I confess, I’ve never had sex with a piano and while I can certainly enjoy the sounds it’s capable of, in my house it would just be one more thing to dust, a beautiful but basically useless piece of wood and metal.
There are some interesting anecdotes here. For example, craftsmen who repair or tune pianos who sign their work in places where it won’t be discovered until another craftsman works on it. This is reminiscent of gargoyles or other stonework in cathedrals or castles where workmen left their “signatures” in places that the public would never see them. (Not only a name but at times a somewhat sexual carving or gargoyle.) Pianos are also very personal and impossible to replace with an exact duplicate, similar to furniture where a family has left its mark or clothes with individual stains, tears, etc.
For all the praise heaped on the piano by the author, and its capabilities and mark on music, he almost totally passes over jazz, rock, blues, etc. He concentrates on classical music by “dead white guys in powdered wigs”. (Okay, Beethoven was a bridge between centuries and he gives a shout-out to Chopin and Schumann who’ve only been dead for 150 years or so.) However, it’s a personal story and he may not like any other kind of music, or maybe he couldn’t find a way of working it in.
In the end, I don’t think this was the book for me, or at least don’t believe that the book was written in a way to appeal to a larger audience. There’s no real attempt to connect with non-piano experiences, not much on Paris except to somehow give examples that portray Parisians as unique. If you have a connection to pianos, you’ll probably love this; if not, there are other rewarding things to appreciate in life.
Some of the anecdotes were interesting but I couldn’t personally relate because I’ve never had any sort of relationship with a piano; it’s like listening to a bunch of guys swapping stories about making love to beautiful women when you’ve never had the experience. You can appreciate looking at her and even listening to her but that’s as far as it goes because you don’t have the experience of living with her on a daily basis. I confess, I’ve never had sex with a piano and while I can certainly enjoy the sounds it’s capable of, in my house it would just be one more thing to dust, a beautiful but basically useless piece of wood and metal.
There are some interesting anecdotes here. For example, craftsmen who repair or tune pianos who sign their work in places where it won’t be discovered until another craftsman works on it. This is reminiscent of gargoyles or other stonework in cathedrals or castles where workmen left their “signatures” in places that the public would never see them. (Not only a name but at times a somewhat sexual carving or gargoyle.) Pianos are also very personal and impossible to replace with an exact duplicate, similar to furniture where a family has left its mark or clothes with individual stains, tears, etc.
For all the praise heaped on the piano by the author, and its capabilities and mark on music, he almost totally passes over jazz, rock, blues, etc. He concentrates on classical music by “dead white guys in powdered wigs”. (Okay, Beethoven was a bridge between centuries and he gives a shout-out to Chopin and Schumann who’ve only been dead for 150 years or so.) However, it’s a personal story and he may not like any other kind of music, or maybe he couldn’t find a way of working it in.
In the end, I don’t think this was the book for me, or at least don’t believe that the book was written in a way to appeal to a larger audience. There’s no real attempt to connect with non-piano experiences, not much on Paris except to somehow give examples that portray Parisians as unique. If you have a connection to pianos, you’ll probably love this; if not, there are other rewarding things to appreciate in life.
August 13, 2010
To appreciate this book you have to think and see the world through music. I tend more toward the visual arts. I THOUGHT this book would be much more about the French people and their culture. I thought it would be more biographical. Instead, it is about music. I have a friend who is very talented in music and she plays the piano. It IS what she does. She teaches and gives concerts. Her husband too. She has perfect pitch - a gift that allows one to "produce and name a note, any note, from a void". People who can do this see the world differently. I guess I should say HEAR the world. They hear the world around them rather than seeing it. The piano is her life. It is so central nothing else comes close. This book is for such a person - not me! You have to love pianos. You have to feel as if they are a part of your own body when you are playing them. My friend feels this way..... I wish I did, but I don't. I played the piano as a kid and I hated it. I convinced myself I didn't even like the sound of a piano. I wish I could be so blown over by pianos. If you are one of those people I think you will give this book 5 stars. There were parts that I liked very much; for example a discussion of why people play the piano. Is it for themselves - because it makes them happy or is it to be heard by others. The author played for himself, and that was great!
June 24, 2007
Although classified as a non-fiction memoir, Carhart's brilliant work reads like a novel in its vivid character descriptions and joyous reverence for music. The author pulls us into his Parisian existence, in the center of which lies Desforges Pianos, a small, but magical atelier which houses passions for history and music. We follow Carhart on a hero's journey, all the while learning immense amounts about the making and history of pianos.
The key figures in the book are characters but not caricatures. Carhart views his life in Paris as an adventure, and the reader is held in joyful anticipation of the next discovery in chapter after chapter. Rather than the Louvre, the Champs Elys?es, and Le Tour Eiffel, Carhart's Paris is a human community brought together by a love of music.
Full of technical details and historical interludes, Carhart's memoir is informed, but not burdened by its own knowledge. The author's writing style is fluid and whimsical, touched with a dry humor that keeps his lofty homage to music at a very urbane level. Even those who have never been to Paris or have no connection with music whatsoever will enjoy this book as it is really a story about the childhood passions we so easily forget at adults.
The key figures in the book are characters but not caricatures. Carhart views his life in Paris as an adventure, and the reader is held in joyful anticipation of the next discovery in chapter after chapter. Rather than the Louvre, the Champs Elys?es, and Le Tour Eiffel, Carhart's Paris is a human community brought together by a love of music.
Full of technical details and historical interludes, Carhart's memoir is informed, but not burdened by its own knowledge. The author's writing style is fluid and whimsical, touched with a dry humor that keeps his lofty homage to music at a very urbane level. Even those who have never been to Paris or have no connection with music whatsoever will enjoy this book as it is really a story about the childhood passions we so easily forget at adults.
March 8, 2013
"Life is a river and we all need a boat that floats" one of many quotes that captured my heart. Is it a life lesson? Rather poetic in the way he refers to places or things in romantic Paris. Loved the trip through literature. Very articulate
"there is no such thing as music note by note just as there are no such thing as a book word by word. We have to accept that things are ambiguous. ....he might have been talking about all of life not just music. "
I seem to float on the words. Enjoying the little mini education on types of pianos and their history. The storyline was good but the writing overshadowed the plot.
"there is no such thing as music note by note just as there are no such thing as a book word by word. We have to accept that things are ambiguous. ....he might have been talking about all of life not just music. "
I seem to float on the words. Enjoying the little mini education on types of pianos and their history. The storyline was good but the writing overshadowed the plot.
February 10, 2013
This is a wonderful book on so many levels. First, the development of the relationship between the author and the shopkeeper is lovely. Then you learn so much about pianos, piano repair/restoration, and the Gallic esprit that it makes for a memorable read. The icing on the cake for me is that I truly bonded with Carhart around his experience of piano lessons and recitals when he was young and his adult interest in the instrument (not as a vehicle for performing, but for the immense pleasure he received from practicing).
February 10, 2016
EXCELLENT. A memoir of rediscovering the joys of the piano. An American writer, living in Paris, discovers a quaint little piano shop where the proprietor refuses entry to his shop where he repairs, restores and sells pianos to select customers. But once Carhart gets a proper introduction, he is taken into the fold and soon is matched with just the right instrument. Oh, this made me want to start practicing the piano again.
April 30, 2024
FOR SALE: digital upright piano. Yamaha. £50 ono. Hardly used.
WANTED: Pleyel baby grand. Prepared to pay thousands. Must be too big to fit in my flat
WANTED: Pleyel baby grand. Prepared to pay thousands. Must be too big to fit in my flat
January 7, 2023
An easy to read, interesting memoir of the author’s experiences with pianos and his time spent in a Parisian private piano repair workshop located close to his apartment.
There are many piano facts that a piano enthusiast will find interesting. I found the book a little too detailed.
(I have owned and played a piano since my teens).
This book was first published in 2000.
There are many piano facts that a piano enthusiast will find interesting. I found the book a little too detailed.
(I have owned and played a piano since my teens).
This book was first published in 2000.
September 15, 2013
4.5 stars
Truly lovely.
No need to play the piano (though by the end you just may want to!) nor have an affinity for the charms of Paris (though who doesn't?), this book gently invites, then entices, then embraces the reader into the warm and loving core of the exclusive group who truly love the piano.
Mr. Carhart deftly weaves his own memories and mundane-errands-turned-miraculous-experiences with components of piano mechanics and history and makes them all beautifully cohesive. This book feels more like a novel whose protagonist is the piano... Or maybe the piano is the muse; the elusive lover.
Notable passages:
"I played for perhaps ten minutes, pieces I knew reasonably well and could listen to while I sight-read: some Beethoven bagatelles, a few of Schumann's pieces for children, an early Mozart fantasy. I was not disappointed. The Stingl's resonance filled the room with tones at once clear and robust, and a sharp sense of pride welled up at the prospect of owning this distinctive piano, of seeing and playing it daily, of living with it. Good God, I thought, this is a kind of love; and, as in love, my senses amplified and enhanced the love object, all with an insouciance and willing enthusiasm (p. 31)."
"At the beginning of his long career when pianos were not yet iron behemoths with a wooden shell, Liszt commonly had one or two pianos in reserve at each of his concerts. They would be carried on in turn as their predecessors fell beneath his hands, offerings to the god of louder, faster, more emotional music. At the end of the concert the stage was littered with dead pianos, as if after some latter-day approximation of gladiatorial combat. The halls, too, were littered, not with pianos but with hysterical women swooning before the first hero of the concert stage (p. 100)."
"The piano came to be regarded as one of the indispensable 'accomplishments' that made women of the new middle class charming, attractive, and - not least - marriageable. For many this was a mixed blessing. Some idea of the piano's prevalence in polite society can be gleaned from Oscar Wilde's comment at the end of the century: I assure you that the typewriting machine, when played with expression, is not more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.' (p. 102)"
Laughter rose up and we poured out what remained in the bottle of wine. Looking around at the disparate group, it occurred to me how rare it was in France to mix freely with so many people from different backgrounds. You see it sometimes in the cafés, a rough approximation of camaraderie at the counter, but the groups who regularly meet at their favorite bar can most often be found in the booths and tables at the back, homogenous and closed to all but the initiates. The atelier fostered something else altogether, a coming together of people whose common points were Luc's approval and a love of pianos (p. 126)."
Truly lovely.
No need to play the piano (though by the end you just may want to!) nor have an affinity for the charms of Paris (though who doesn't?), this book gently invites, then entices, then embraces the reader into the warm and loving core of the exclusive group who truly love the piano.
Mr. Carhart deftly weaves his own memories and mundane-errands-turned-miraculous-experiences with components of piano mechanics and history and makes them all beautifully cohesive. This book feels more like a novel whose protagonist is the piano... Or maybe the piano is the muse; the elusive lover.
Notable passages:
"I played for perhaps ten minutes, pieces I knew reasonably well and could listen to while I sight-read: some Beethoven bagatelles, a few of Schumann's pieces for children, an early Mozart fantasy. I was not disappointed. The Stingl's resonance filled the room with tones at once clear and robust, and a sharp sense of pride welled up at the prospect of owning this distinctive piano, of seeing and playing it daily, of living with it. Good God, I thought, this is a kind of love; and, as in love, my senses amplified and enhanced the love object, all with an insouciance and willing enthusiasm (p. 31)."
"At the beginning of his long career when pianos were not yet iron behemoths with a wooden shell, Liszt commonly had one or two pianos in reserve at each of his concerts. They would be carried on in turn as their predecessors fell beneath his hands, offerings to the god of louder, faster, more emotional music. At the end of the concert the stage was littered with dead pianos, as if after some latter-day approximation of gladiatorial combat. The halls, too, were littered, not with pianos but with hysterical women swooning before the first hero of the concert stage (p. 100)."
"The piano came to be regarded as one of the indispensable 'accomplishments' that made women of the new middle class charming, attractive, and - not least - marriageable. For many this was a mixed blessing. Some idea of the piano's prevalence in polite society can be gleaned from Oscar Wilde's comment at the end of the century: I assure you that the typewriting machine, when played with expression, is not more annoying than the piano when played by a sister or near relation.' (p. 102)"
Laughter rose up and we poured out what remained in the bottle of wine. Looking around at the disparate group, it occurred to me how rare it was in France to mix freely with so many people from different backgrounds. You see it sometimes in the cafés, a rough approximation of camaraderie at the counter, but the groups who regularly meet at their favorite bar can most often be found in the booths and tables at the back, homogenous and closed to all but the initiates. The atelier fostered something else altogether, a coming together of people whose common points were Luc's approval and a love of pianos (p. 126)."
February 9, 2011
Sometimes I think that the measure of a good book is the change that it brings to your life: a change in perspective or a truth grasped, a new vigor for life, a new desire kindled or rekindled, or a fresh challenge to take. This is one of those books to me. I have always loved music and pianos but this book rekindled something in my life that had dwindled to a small flame and turned it into a blazing, cheerful fire.
I would rather not get into the details of what this book is about...many reviewers have done so already. I would rather tell about the impressions it made on me.
So what has changed in my life as a result of reading this book? I have so much more appreciation for the piano, a most amazing instrument, and I really want to own one (right now I have a very nice keyboard that works beautifully, but is just not the same as a real piano). I have been inspired to work on my musical abilities and to hone them even more. I have a deeper appreciation for the people who invented and helped to make pianos what they are today and the composers who exploited its sound beauty. I have a hunger for listening to and playing beautiful music.
Mr. Carhart has a very beautiful writing style that reminds me of a carefully polished piece of woodwork: smooth, strong, calm, minimalist, and with a subtle sheen. His word choices, the way he weaves the threads of the story, the way he balances complete realism with the bright sparkle of life, the way he captures personalities, all of these speak of fine and intelligent craftsmanship.
I think what most impressed me about Mr. Carhart is his complete humility and openness to new knowledge. Because of these two characteristics, he was able to encounter the circumstances that led to the writing of this book.
Well, enough rambling. I knew this book review would be inadequate. I can never write good reviews of the books I love.
This is truly a beautiful book.
I would rather not get into the details of what this book is about...many reviewers have done so already. I would rather tell about the impressions it made on me.
So what has changed in my life as a result of reading this book? I have so much more appreciation for the piano, a most amazing instrument, and I really want to own one (right now I have a very nice keyboard that works beautifully, but is just not the same as a real piano). I have been inspired to work on my musical abilities and to hone them even more. I have a deeper appreciation for the people who invented and helped to make pianos what they are today and the composers who exploited its sound beauty. I have a hunger for listening to and playing beautiful music.
Mr. Carhart has a very beautiful writing style that reminds me of a carefully polished piece of woodwork: smooth, strong, calm, minimalist, and with a subtle sheen. His word choices, the way he weaves the threads of the story, the way he balances complete realism with the bright sparkle of life, the way he captures personalities, all of these speak of fine and intelligent craftsmanship.
I think what most impressed me about Mr. Carhart is his complete humility and openness to new knowledge. Because of these two characteristics, he was able to encounter the circumstances that led to the writing of this book.
Well, enough rambling. I knew this book review would be inadequate. I can never write good reviews of the books I love.
This is truly a beautiful book.
November 17, 2017
This short memoir centers around Carhart's discovery of DesForges Pianos, an atelier in his quartier where pianos are restored and refurbished. Once Carhart gains the proper introduction, he enters into the world of DesForges and a growing friendship with its proprietor and master craftsman, Luc. Carhart also rediscovers his own long-buried passion for pianos and soon selects and purchases a piano from Luc, then begins taking piano lessons. Embedded within the narrative are warm and intelligent reflections on pianos and people's relationships with them.
While most of the historical and factual information about the history and workings of pianos was not new to me, I found that the way Carhart wove these facts into his narrative and related them to his own perspective on and feeling about pianos was really lovely and interesting. I loved the way that Carhart emphasized the individuality of pianos. Each has its own unique character and sound, and even two pianos of the same model and manufacturer can be very different. The pianist gets to know these features intimately, and can even become quite attached to them. One of the things that really resonated with me was Carhart's idea that the particular physicality of the piano affects the way people, especially those who play, relate to it. Other, smaller instruments can be stored in cases, often more or less unobtrusively, and also can be packed up and carried around. The piano, however, is also a piece of furniture. It takes up space, and cannot be tucked or hidden away (at least not easily or simply). It's an instrument that you don't just possess, but live with. It becomes a part of your household.
While most of the historical and factual information about the history and workings of pianos was not new to me, I found that the way Carhart wove these facts into his narrative and related them to his own perspective on and feeling about pianos was really lovely and interesting. I loved the way that Carhart emphasized the individuality of pianos. Each has its own unique character and sound, and even two pianos of the same model and manufacturer can be very different. The pianist gets to know these features intimately, and can even become quite attached to them. One of the things that really resonated with me was Carhart's idea that the particular physicality of the piano affects the way people, especially those who play, relate to it. Other, smaller instruments can be stored in cases, often more or less unobtrusively, and also can be packed up and carried around. The piano, however, is also a piece of furniture. It takes up space, and cannot be tucked or hidden away (at least not easily or simply). It's an instrument that you don't just possess, but live with. It becomes a part of your household.
August 24, 2022
My mom, who has been gone for nearly 18 years, recommended this book to me. Somehow, I never got around to reading it until my friend Paul recently sent me a copy out of the blue. I'm grateful that he did so.
It speaks to the quality of the writing that I was under the impression that this was a novel until I was into the fourth chapter. I mean, I knew that the book was based on author's experiences, but it was only when the author was addressed by name that I realized that I was reading a memoir, not a novel. That may say something about my level of intelligence (or lack thereof), but again, it says more about how well-written this book is.
Beyond the personal stuff above, I'll defer to the other excellent reviews here rather than try to say more about The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. Here is Paul's:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It speaks to the quality of the writing that I was under the impression that this was a novel until I was into the fourth chapter. I mean, I knew that the book was based on author's experiences, but it was only when the author was addressed by name that I realized that I was reading a memoir, not a novel. That may say something about my level of intelligence (or lack thereof), but again, it says more about how well-written this book is.
Beyond the personal stuff above, I'll defer to the other excellent reviews here rather than try to say more about The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. Here is Paul's:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
March 27, 2015
I liked this quiet little book. It's one man's rediscovering his love of music after a running across a wonderful old piano shop. The shop brings together reflections on French culture and social mores, the history of the modern piano, and the narrator's varied experiences of music, from the childhood piano lessons that turned him off to music to a new chance to engage with the instrument as an adult. One of those books that surprised me, since I never thought I'd be reading about the construction of pianos -- but this gave me an appreciation for the craft, especially in the history behind each instrument in today's mass manufactured, disposable world.
February 27, 2018
I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't realize this was non-fiction until chapter seven, and I thought, "What a boring novel! Where's the conflict, what's the plot?" Then I noticed the author use his own name and thought, "Wait, is this not fiction?" Then it got a lot more interesting. It's a quiet, slow-paced memoir of one man's experience in a piano shop in Paris and his rediscovery of his talent and interest in playing piano. I learned fascinating information about piano history. I was still a little bored, but I finished it and was glad I read it. Now I want to sign up for piano lessons again.
June 1, 2021
I commented to my DH that the thing that makes a good non-fiction is the creation of fascination with a subject that I had no interest. However, this did not happen in this book. Going in - piano history, tuning, playing, and selling was not something that I was curious about - and after finishing the book, it is still not. Even in Paris.
May 25, 2025
I wish I could reread this book for the first time! The narrative only improved as I progressed through the story and I’m sure to spend many hours daydreaming about Luc’s atelier.
June 3, 2025
3.5 Stars
As an avid “Your Lie in April” enthusiast, I thought I was prepared to appreciate the emotional depths of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. I was wrong. This book isn’t just about pianos, it’s poetry. It’s a quiet love letter to existence itself, to the transformative power of music echoing from the soundboard of a well-loved instrument.
Though I don’t play the piano myself, I often found the technical details overwhelming, like being handed a foreign map with no compass. Yet, in that disorientation, I discovered a newfound appreciation for the whimsy of life.I love how you need to an artist to become a piano tuner. I love how you should be a philosopher to fix a broken piano. There is a lot to learn from a piano, besides just the music.
It’s not a perfect read, especially for those unfamiliar with the world of pianos, but there is undeniable magic in its pages for those willing to listen.
As an avid “Your Lie in April” enthusiast, I thought I was prepared to appreciate the emotional depths of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank. I was wrong. This book isn’t just about pianos, it’s poetry. It’s a quiet love letter to existence itself, to the transformative power of music echoing from the soundboard of a well-loved instrument.
Though I don’t play the piano myself, I often found the technical details overwhelming, like being handed a foreign map with no compass. Yet, in that disorientation, I discovered a newfound appreciation for the whimsy of life.I love how you need to an artist to become a piano tuner. I love how you should be a philosopher to fix a broken piano. There is a lot to learn from a piano, besides just the music.
It’s not a perfect read, especially for those unfamiliar with the world of pianos, but there is undeniable magic in its pages for those willing to listen.
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