Vikram Seth An Equal Music NY: Broadway Books, 1999 [And several other editions in five languages] In his Author's Note to this novel, Vikram Seth says "Music to me is dearer even than speech." From the author at least nine books, including several volumes of poetry, this is a strong statement. The title of "An Equal Music" is from Donne and here is applied to Bach's Art of Fugue, which figures in the story, as do several other fugues. The various themes of the novel could be said to chase one another fugally, as in music, but I am not going to try to work that out here. For most readers, the main theme will be identified as one of romantic love, the development of which takes a kind of Jane Austen-like turn, though one she would not have approved of. I will not spoil it with any kind of description, though it involves a full elaboration of memory, longing and desire, unfolding in London, Vienna and Venice. The account of Venice will bring that back for anyone who has been there. However, the real central theme, perhaps, is the strong interaction between the playing of music and a musician's life, as lived and remembered by a second violinist in a quartet. These associations go both ways, influencing the way his life unfolds as well as affecting his interest and ability in playing certain works. Some of the associations prove stronger than the man. Other important themes of the novel include the interaction, musical and personal, among the members of the quartet, and with others they play with, on occasion. The details of their rehearsals include a great deal of discussion of musical and personal matters, some of which is funny. Musical works they discuss include quartets by Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms; a trio by Beethoven that later became his rather obscure Op. 104 quintet; the Trout and String Quintet of Schubert. There is much discussion of instruments and their ranges, much scurrying for alternatives when those ranges happen to be insufficient for proposed repertoire, including a visit to an instrument maker and borrowing from other musicians. There is also an auction of instruments. The valuable 18th century instrument played by the narrator has been on longstanding loan to him from a benevolent former teacher and looms large in the story, as does the negative influence of a less sympathetic, subsequent teacher on the violinist's professional development. A major narrative theme in a very minor key is the onset of deafness for one of the musicians in the story. Seth's preparation for writing about this included interviews with a percussionist, a pianist and a string player-none named-who "live in the zones that lie at the intersection of the world of soundlessness with those of heard, of mis-heard, of half-heard and of imagined sound." Seth writes well. He is particularly skilled at dialogue. He describes powerful feelings effectively. His evocation of place is also strong. I have a strong inclination to start reading this novel again from the top immediately. That almost never happens to me. Jim Tobin