Book Review An Equal Music Vikram Seth

chillibreeze writer — Pearl Pearl

Vikram Seth (Author of A Suitable Boy) in his novel " An Equal Music" has brought to the fore a rare emotional sensitivity of undying love. Seth's narrative is remarkable. The clearly etched out characterization calls for great effort on the part of any writer and for Seth, it is bang on target.

The story begins with the protagonist Michael Holmes, second violinist with the Maggiore Quartet, who finds his lost love, Julia, a pianist, after 10 long years.

The twosome were inseparable lovers while they were studying music in Vienna, but Michael, for reasons of his own, leaves suddenly. Love for music takes precedence over love for his lady. When Michael realizes that the fire is still burning within him he tries desperately to get back to Julia. However, the uncertainty and irony of fate causes him to lose touch with her altogether.

They meet again and rekindle their love against the backdrop of London. This time around, however, things have changed - Julia is married and has a 7-year-old son. She is also slowly growing deaf but her love for music is so great that she continues creating new sounds despite the growing silence around her. The angst and the agony of a her challenging struggle to continue with her passion is captured brilliantly in the novel. Convinced that her love is still the same for Michale and music, she travels with Michael and his quartet group as a pianist.

Torn between her love for him and her family, Julia looks for redemption. Towards the end of the narrative she realizes her duty and goes back to her family.

Despite Seth's vivid imagination many non-musicians will find it hard to grasp the discussions on Schubert, Schumann, and Bach as the descriptions and discussions can get tedious as the story progresses.

Readers become quite involved in the characters of Michael and Julia and it is difficult to decide which one to empathize with. Michael sometimes comes across as pretentious and succumbs to the nerves at the most crucial times. Julia is a much more independent and a strong character, but her jump into the relationship when they are reunited and then her regret for the same seems unfounded at most times.

"An Equal music" is an interesting book with Seth trying to bring out the emotions and complexities of unrequited love. For someone with not much expectation from the Vikram Seth school of thought, this is indeed a good read.

Find out how authors like Vikram Seth are changing the face of English writing in India.

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