A Piano In The Pyrenees: The Ups And Downs Of An Englishman In The French Mountains (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
I can't quite decide whether to give this book three or four stars. It's a nice enough book and Tony's writing style prompts me in the direction of four stars, but the lack of an interesting plot and the silly ending push me towards three. I loved 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' and 'One Hit Wonderland', but while this one was fun while reading, it didn't leave me quite as happy as the other two. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that while Fridge and Wonderland were stories about a goal Tony was working towards, Piano is just a story about some stuff that happens to him. If there is a goal at all, it's Getting A Chick (and I'm not talking about the 20 baby chickens to be won at Bingo - if only he had ended up with them instead of with a soppy romance, I would've been much happier). And while Getting A Chick is undoubtedly a goal with which many people can identify, I'm one of those antisocial weirdo's who can't, and who feel it's silly to ruin a perfectly good story by pretending that ending up in a relationship is a satisfying ending. If I wanted endings like that, I'd turn to Mills and Boon...So, yeah, well. Didn't like the ending, missed direction in this book. Still, I was tempted to give it four stars, so it certainly wasn't all bad. Quite the contrary - it has enough stuff to keep the reader hugely entertained. Tony's 'mildly' self-deprecating sense of humour is wonderful and he writes in an easy and cheerful style that I really enjoy. Also, I love his be-happy-go-lucky attitude toward life, and I even got A Message from this book about not worrying too much, taking life as it comes, etcetera whatever.
Listened to this as an Audio book read by Tony Hawks himself.I remember Tony Hawks from the Stutter Rap and from 'Whose line is it anyway', so when I had a couple of credit from Audible I hadn't used I decided to try two of his audio books. 'A Piano in the Pyrenees' and 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'.This review is regarding a Piano in the Pyrenees.The story starts with Tony and a friend going on a skiing holiday an injury occurring and to fill in the time a house hunt and subsequent purchase. With the intiention from Tony of spending time in France playing more piano in an isolated environmentTony's reading of this book is extremely good, he comes to it with his own strong comedic skills with plenty of life and vitality that makes the book enjoyable to listen to.The story progresses through looking and finding a house, the purchase process (complicated by the intricacies of the french house purchase system), living in France (where he doesn't really speak the language) and finally onto love.There are excellent moments in the book that are described in comic genius, from buying a very very cheap van to transport the piano (only gets 100 metres down the road). The building of a swimming pool and relying on French builders and his mate form the UK. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it as a light and enjoyable journey through a part of someones life written in an enjoyable way.
What do You think about A Piano In The Pyrenees: The Ups And Downs Of An Englishman In The French Mountains (2006)?
Ha ha, I love your comment about behaving like a teenager. I've read his book 'One Hit Wonderland', which was entertaining at the time, but the fact that so many people have been so enthusiastic about 'Round Ireland With a Fridge' makes me a bit wary about any more of his books. On the other hand, I've just looked up his Goodreads biography, and he's raised money and set up charities for Moldova (after writing 'Playing the Moldovans at Tennis') and supports 'Tennis for Free'. Sounds like a good guy, in spite of his teenage humour. ;-)
—da-wildchildz
Reading a book by Tony Hawks is always a fun day an a half. There is nothing about them that causes the job to be drawn out, a few things about them that cause me to think, and a good deal about them that cause me to laugh and enjoy myself. (Not to mention that I get to spend a good 3 or 4 conversations per book saying "No, that's Tony Hawk -- no 's' -- and this Tony Hawks doesn't skate board".)As an author he takes a voice that I hope isn't too different from his actual voice: not too serious, a bit more than a bit sarcastic, and one that can easily weave together reoccurring punchlines. The result is two-fold: he is able to create whimsical non-fiction narratives and I am now convinced that he would be the perfect person to meet in a pub on an average night in Sussex.The book is about his adventures buying, moving into and living in a house in the French Pyrenees. It includes a bit of deciding to settle down and find someone to love, a whole lot of misunderstandings, and a village full of French characters. I enjoyed my Saturday reading it: I laughed a good deal and found myself going to bed with dreams of my own little house on the continent that I could escape to with my friends and loved ones.
—Peter
Not as funny as I recall his book "Round Ireland With A Fridge" to have been, but it was rather fitting to my current life path, which involved uprooting my life rather on a whim and moving to Montréal and doing stuff like busking in the Metro. Tony Hawks decides to buy a vacation home in the French countryside with even less thought than I gave my own life re-imagining, with the idea being that he could have a place to practice his long-forgotten piano, one of the things he'd always wanted to pursue. After a lengthy process dealing with French paperwork, Hawks secures himself not only a house, but a special place that plays a pivotal role in the life changes and passing of milestones of the cast of characters he draws to him, bringing his friends from the UK into the mix with the small town he's adopted part of the year... for now.
—Carissa
