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The Piano Teacher (Paperback)

by Elfriede Jelinek (Author), Joachim Neugroschel (Translator) "THE PIANO TEACHER, Erika Kohut, bursts like a whirlwind into the apartment she shares with her mother ..." (more)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Serpent's Tail; New Ed edition (8 Nov 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1852427507
  • ISBN-13: 978-1852427504
  • Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 96,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
'A brilliant, deadly book' Elizabeth Young 'Moves impressively across that psychic terrain which is born out of maternal fear, fear of the world outside and of the body, and fear of the loss of control' Independent 'A dazzling perfomance that will make the blood run cold' Walter Abish

Product Description
A haunting tale of morbid voyeurism and masochism, The Piano Teacher is one of the greatest contemporary European novels. Erika Kohut teaches piano at the Vienna Conservatory by day. But by night she trawls the porn shows of Vienna while her mother, whom she loves and hates in equal measure, waits up for her. Into this emotional pressure-cooker bounds music student and ladies' man, Walter Klemmer. With Walter as her student, Erika spirals out of control, consumed by the ecstacy of self-destruction. First published in 1983, The Piano Teacher is the masterpiece of Elfriede Jelinek, Austria's most famous writer. Directed by Michael Haneke, the film won three major prizes at the Cannes 2000 Festival including best actor for Beno?t Magimel and best actress for Isabelle Huppert.

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THE PIANO TEACHER, Erika Kohut, bursts like a whirlwind into the apartment she shares with her mother. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "Difficult read but thought provoking"., 14 Dec 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Piano Teacher (Five Star Title) (Paperback)
I've just finished reading the German original of this, and although it was not an easy read, it was well worth it. I hadn't read anything by Jelinek before, but have read quite a lot of Christa Wolf and Bachmann, who write on a similar vein,

For me, this book was more lurid and graphic than anything by the other two writers. Jelinek takes the theme of the suppression / silencing of women and creates a character who really only finds expression in music - she is utterly incapable of using conventional modes of expression (language) to voice her thoughts and feelings, and as a result her feelings themselves become distorted - Erika doesn't know how to live as a 'normal' human, and cannot distinguish between love, lust and violence.

The book had an interesting twist in that Erika is suppressed not only by the masculine world in which she lives, but also by her (nameless) mother - when the status of 'mother' is ironically the ultimate representation of woman. The mother becomes a tyrant, subordinating her daughter's desires and very personality to her own needs because she too cannot function in the outside male-dominated world.

This book was never an easy read, or comforting, but gave me a lot to think about, particularly in our world where people (especially women) are so judged on appearances. Erika seemed to be an example of how the outside world can alienate individuals, causing them to harm themselves mentally and physically. Erika comes across as a bizarre and eccentric character, but there is a lot of truth in how Jelinek depicts her.

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10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A portrait of Vienna, 5 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This is the film tie-in edition of Jelinek's 1983 novel; Michael Hanke's adaptation has roused much controversy. The story focuses on a piano teacher, Erika- who lives with her aging mother in Vienna. Her time, when not teaching is spent in a variety of masochistic manners: self-mutilation,in the seedy lowlife of porn (where the whores hustle & the hustlers whore)and finally succumbing to a 'Mrs Robinson'-style relationship with a besotted (?) pupil, Walter. The novel gives more reason WHY Erika behaves as she does than Haneke's film. Vienna is more richly evoked and Walter is a far more impotent character than his on-screen counterpart (until his final 'game' with Erika). I admired the film, though felt it was exploitative (of the viewer). The book made me comprehend the cinematic adaptation- the flashbacks to Erika's formative sexual (non)experiences aided the character portrait. The only flaw is that of translation- the repetition of certain phrases ("She would stew in her juices", for example)sound either cliched or dumb (sometimes both) in English. Despite that, this is an interesting novel about the formation and destruction of a female in 1980's Vienna.
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8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Comment on the translation, 6 Nov 2005
By A Customer
The original is written in a whimsical and delicate style, which compensates for the pornographic elements in the later chapters. It is very difficult to translate well. However this English translation is extraordinarily poor, with many mistakes and little sign of attempts to choose the best phrase. If you can manage the original, leave this translation alone.
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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars not sleazy, not hard to read...and sometimes funny
I didn't find this book difficult or pornographic; I did find it almost impossible to put down. It seems to me an excellent psychological study, although I would rather the... Read more
Published 8 days ago by monica

3.0 out of 5 stars A study of power and supression or high-brow filth?
The Piano Teacher is a pressure cooker of a novel, claustrophobically building up the tension around piano teacher, Erika Kohut, as she struggles between the amorous demands of... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Sofia

3.0 out of 5 stars dark themes
Jelinek has won the Nobel Prize for literature and this book is listed as one of teh 1001 books to read before you die. Read more
Published 1 month ago by William Jordan

1.0 out of 5 stars A Case of the Emperor's New Clothes?
This book was probably the most difficult one I've ever read. I don't know if it's a case that the meaning gets lost in translation or I'm just thick, but reading the Piano... Read more
Published 4 months ago by K. L. Mason

4.0 out of 5 stars Hmmmmm - time to re-read
A strange book - having finished it I'm not sure if I enjoyed it or not. How the 'story' develops you can get from elsewhere. Read more
Published 5 months ago by K. N. Tole

5.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing, enchanting and strangely uplifting classic!!!!!!
There is no necessity in recounting the storyline, for it is not complex in inself. What strikes one greatly is the dark and gloomy atmosphere that haunts every character and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. L. Zhang

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbingly fascinating
Something written on the cover describes this book very well: "love, fear, and self-destruction".

We follow a late 30-ish woman, Erika, in Vienna. Read more

Published on 12 Aug 2005 by Johan Klovsjö

3.0 out of 5 stars Pulp fiction at its dubious best
Imagine a young man lusting after his piano teacher, an older female professor of music at a famous university who lives with her domineering mother. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2004 by Michael Wells Glueck

4.0 out of 5 stars dissapointing culture
In Vienna, Austria, there's Erika Kohut, a woman over 40 years old that is an excellent piano teacher at the conservatoire. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2002

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