Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #631583 in Books
• Published on: 1993-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 153 pages

Customer Reviews

liked the film? . . wait for the illusion to disintegrate
"The piano" is one of my favourite films, full of ambiguity, beautifully made, with some of the most stunning visual images I have ever seen in film. The reasons for why 'the piano' works so well as a film, however, are the main reasons for why it works so badly as a book. The writing just does not deliver being of a very pragmatic nature, bland and unimaginitive. As a novel by itself, I doubt it would have been published without the backing of the film (although worse has been). The book does, however, give more insight into the Ada's life before arriving in New Zealand,how she became pregnant and her thoughts and feelings in general which some readers might be interested in. All in all; good if you're studying the film for a course, bad if you reading the book because you liked the film.

The Piano is easily misunderstood.
It is easy to misunderstand The Piano if you read it literally. But The Piano is an allegory rich in symbolism. Read that way, this story resonates in hearts of women who read it and understand. For example, when she leaves the piano on the beach within the reach of the incoming tide and looks back as she leaves towards her husband's home, we can see the choices we sometimes have to make in life. There are times when we must leave an important creative part of our life behind, perhaps to marry or for another reason. To view this book (or the movie) literally is to miss the point of the novel.

Horrible and Stupid
One of the worst serious movies of all times. Plot is laughable. The most important feature of the film is that it marks the first time an Academy Award winner performed frontally in the nude in a winning performance, truly a dubious first but one in tune with these decadent times.