Product Description

With alternating chapters set in the late 1920s and in a dream world involving Byrd, Constable and Carroll, the novel charts the development of a motherless young man. The author also wrote "Chatterton" and "Hawksmoor". He was elected Author of the Year in 1990 by selected booksellers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1027669 in Books
• Published on: 1993-09-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Customer Reviews

A Beautiful Story of A Father- and- Son Relationship
English Music is a novel written like poetry. Peter Ackroyd uses his knowledge of and love for English literature and music to give the reader a wonderful reading experience. The relationship between Timothy and his father is beautifully portrayed. All the characters are portrayed with warmth. Warning: This book will inspire you to read Dickens and Bunyan all over again, and they will never be the same after you have read about Timothy's dreams!

Bravely Tinted Gem
The reviews below indicate that Ackroyd's ambition exceeds his grasp. I would disagree. The story of modest Timothy Harcombe and both the relationship he has with his father plus his intuitive dream connections with key cultural epochs in our nation's history, make this a work on a grand scale.

You do not need to have intimate contacts with the names 'dropped' nor should you consider the 'Music' of the title as something created by orchestras. The strength of this novel is just this.

Ackroyd's knowledge of his terrain (witness the number of hits on this site alone )qualifies his ambition. The result is both a subtle and tenderly crafted novel which immediately cries out for a re-read.

A wonderful insight to the undertones running through the English imagination - and an important document defining English (yep English, not British) sensibility.

Dull, dull, dull
I got it second hand at Oxfam for two quid, but it still wasn't worth it. I couldn't even use it to fall asleep reading it at night, because it's so big and heavy I would drop it on my head when I dozed off and it would wake me up again.