The Pianoplayers

The Pianoplayers – Anthony Burgess

Ellen Henshaw, now entering the later years of her life in a stately fashion, decides to share the story of her father as a way to recognize and remember his accomplishments in life. Ellen’s father was not a pianist or a piano player, but a pianoplayer. Early in his artistic years, he accompanied silent films at local pubs, offering musical interpretations and embellishments to the action on the screen. However, he frequently patronizes local pubs as well, and his penchant for beer consumption tends to interfere with his good judgment. Due to unfortunate circumstances, often of his own creation, he loses a string of jobs and finds himself in a unique position to play piano for a “marathon” of 30 days straight, which also comes to an abrupt end. While he carouses, Ellen finds her own form of expression. Dropping out of school at the earliest opportunity, Ellen finds herself in a special school that trains exceptional ladies in the skills of Entertainment. After several years entertaining for several years, she then becomes a Madam, opening her own schools across the globe. As she looks back on her life and the life of her father, she focuses on the moments that epitomize the accomplishment of grand dreams, finding satisfaction with everything that brought her to where she is today.

“The Pianoplayers” by Anthony Burgess is written as if narrated, which is part of the premise of the story (Hellen speaks her story into a tape player to be transcribed by a wandering author). The result is an entirely accessible story with quirky and intentional misspellings, colloquialisms, and verbal tics. While this is somewhat confusing until it becomes apparent that the story is a “verbal transcription,” it also allows for unique understandings that cannot be fully conveyed in a typical literary vocabulary. It also brings in wry humor, particularly when Helen lists the name of songs her father performs as a pianoplayer according to phonic spelling rather than proper spelling. Burgess displays musical knowledge both by appropriately referencing musical terms and also intentionally mixing up musical references. He also builds a concrete and intricate setting, skillfully reconstructing English pub life in the 1920s and 30s and bringing to life the context of the story.

Although I really appreciated certain aspects of this story, which includes pretty much anything relating to music, Burgess lost me at the ending. Helen makes a clear connection for herself about generational transmission of talent from her father to her son, and somehow brings her own story into it, but the majority of the book focuses on her father, which causes the section about her son feels tagged onto the end and does not seem to fit clearly with the rest of the book. The narrative tone of the story was fun once I figured out how the author/narrator used the word “like.” The book has its moments, but overall, I have a “take it or leave it” feeling about it.