My book club meetings have started up again. Back to school anyone? We reviewed The Piano Shop on the Left Bank by Thad Carhart. This is an old book that came into my possession via a little free library. The words “piano” and “left bank” caught my attention so I brought it home. Turns out, I loved this book — so much that I recommended it for our reading list this year. My fellow readers really enjoyed it as well. We had a great discussion and, because I have a little grand piano in my house, we opened the lid and examined all the working parts, checked out the maker’s insignia, found the gold cording around the edges and made sure there was a stabilizer bar attached to the pedals. Those of us who had had piano lessons at some point in our lives got to discuss various teaching techniques and recital disasters.
But from a purely literary point of view, I couldn’t find a reason that this book held such great appeal to me. The prose is accessible but not extraordinary. The plot — if you can find it — meanders. There are no high action scenes, grand pianos do not drop from balconies onto unsuspecting pedestrians. There is a very muted romance as a sub-plot but only in the last few chapters. Yet the book inspired me to start practicing scales and arpeggios again.
None of my fellow book club readers could help me out, but I have a theory. I believe we are all intrigued by expertise, even when the subject is not our favourite. We are drawn to people who are knowledgeable and passionate about their pursuits. In this book, the reader was permitted to enter the highly specialized world of piano making and restoration. We saw pianos from the mechanical viewpoint of the craftsman and we saw them from the artistic perspective of master musicians. We also got to walk along with the author who is an amateur — like us. Remember that the word “amateur” originally meant “lover.” In modern times it is used in a pejorative sense, in that the “amateur” is less than the “professional.” One can turn that definition around and say the “amateur” is the true artist because (s)he does it for the love of art not for payment.
Having participated in many “amateur” performances, I place great value on the term as “lover of.” In the world of story-telling, we consider writers who can make a living, i.e. get paid, as the ones to emulate. But in the real world the number of writers who write for the love of it far exceed the number writers who get paid. If you are one of those who cries over yet another rejection letter or sighs at depressing sales records, take heart. You are an amateur. From Wikipedia: “Historically, the amateur was considered to be the ideal balance between pure intent, open mind, and the interest or passion for a subject.”
Consider the Olympics. Here are the very best athletes in the world, competing for love of the sport. They are amateurs!
I’m very grateful to the author of The Piano Shop on the Left Bank for reminding me of the glories of the piano, bringing me back to joy of playing on those black and white keys, and confirming that amateurs (lovers) are a blessing to the world.
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