I found this to be an understandably sobering read – some parts were quite hard to read (not in terms of understanding it but in terms of how emotional it was). Suffice to say its fairly descriptive at times, making me imagine being in either Karina's (the pianist's ex-wife), or Richards, shoes. At times I felt sympathetic for Richard but I also felt sympathetic for Karina as well, given some of the details of their marriage that are disclosed. It is quite touching, with both of them looking back at their failed marriage and realising some home truths and, more widely, to see how different people deal with finding themselves facing Richard's worsening health condition. I'd say it is perhaps a bit sentimental but by no means excessively slushy, which I (personally) liked/appreciated.
I thought it was quite an accessible read, with fairly short chapters and a large font size, which I liked as it meant it was a novel that's easy enough to pick up and put down. I'd also like to point out that it is much more focussed on ALS (i.e. MND Motor Neurone Disease) than it is on the music side of things, so if your hoping its mostly about Richards passion for piano then this may be a slight let down. However, his talent with piano is certainly mentioned - there are numerous mentions of specific pieces of classical music and some parts of the book covers both Karina and Richards personal passion for music, so I suppose it wouldn't be fair to say the front cover of the book is misleading as such but I did feel that overall the emphasis is moreso on the ALS than the victims (i.e. Richards) previous profession.
If your like me and enjoy thought provoking novels and the like, then I reckon your likely to enjoy reading this, although perhaps with such a story, enjoy maybe isn't the best term but I'd recommend it all the same (I've taken one star off purely due to the fact I suppose I'd have preferred a bit more descriptive information about the characters backgrounds and more about the music side of things perhaps but I am a bit of a nit-pick I admit!).
I thought it was quite an accessible read, with fairly short chapters and a large font size, which I liked as it meant it was a novel that's easy enough to pick up and put down. I'd also like to point out that it is much more focussed on ALS (i.e. MND Motor Neurone Disease) than it is on the music side of things, so if your hoping its mostly about Richards passion for piano then this may be a slight let down. However, his talent with piano is certainly mentioned - there are numerous mentions of specific pieces of classical music and some parts of the book covers both Karina and Richards personal passion for music, so I suppose it wouldn't be fair to say the front cover of the book is misleading as such but I did feel that overall the emphasis is moreso on the ALS than the victims (i.e. Richards) previous profession.
If your like me and enjoy thought provoking novels and the like, then I reckon your likely to enjoy reading this, although perhaps with such a story, enjoy maybe isn't the best term but I'd recommend it all the same (I've taken one star off purely due to the fact I suppose I'd have preferred a bit more descriptive information about the characters backgrounds and more about the music side of things perhaps but I am a bit of a nit-pick I admit!).