Maestro

“Perhaps there can be no perfection. Only levels of imperfection”

Peter Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro is a wistfully beautiful bildungsroman that is set in Darwin, Australia from 1967 to 1977.

Maestro was chosen for the “One town – One book” project, is part of the HSC curriculum, and in 2003 it appeared at #22 on the Australian Society of Authors’ list of top forty books ever published. The book has also been translated into German. A film version has even been scheduled for pre-production later this year.

Andrew Riemer of the Sydney Morning Herald bestowed upon the book: “A splendid achievement. A wise, deeply felt novel that continues to haunt well after one has finished it”.

Despite these accolades and milestones, as well as it’s perennial relevance to people the world over, it is tragically underrated.

Written in the style of a memoir,

Maestro spans a decade in the life of the protagonist, Paul Crabbe. When his father accepts a position as a doctor at the Royal Darwin Hospital, young Paul finds himself in an unfamiliar city of “booze, blow and blasphemy”.

Enter: Eduard Keller, prodigious old concert pianist and a survivor of the Viennese holocaust. Herr Keller was taught by the polish composer Theodore Leschetizky. Leschetizsky was taught piano by Carl Czerny. Carl Czerny was in turn, taught piano by both Antonio Salieri and Ludwig Van Beethoven. Therefore the logic of Paul’s parents is that by being taught by Keller, Paul will possess an enviable musical lineage as well as “mere talent”. He is rumoured to be the best music teacher in Darwin, But by the end of the book, he passes on far more valuable teachings.

Where a lesser rites-of-passage author would have focused solely on the character exploring his or her sexuality, Goldsworthy treats Paul’s coming of age differently. While sexuality is touched upon (with both accuracy and humour), Paul learns from Keller about not only music and the musicality of the world he inhabits, but also of the nature of life, love, art, and “human foolishness, greed and cruelty”.

Through little more than his churlish curiosity, Paul also uncovers the heart-rending events in Keller’s past, and how he has “suffered more than any man has the right to suffer”.

The most profound of Keller’s lessons to Paul however, is a verity that haunts him to end of the book and presumably for the duration of his life. The lesson being that, as Keller himself puts it “the self satisfied go no further”.

The language that Goldsworthy uses in this story is both applicatory while still being aesthetically pleasing. The themes addressed therein are universal enough to grip any reader.

With his usual flair and wit and charm, Peter Goldsworthy paints an achingly sublime picture of the journey from adolescence into adulthood. Goldsworthy effortlessly summons from his readers irreverence, wisdom, and a host of other reactions. To borrow an old cliche, Maestro is simply a must have piece of modern Australian literature.

Buy it here at: EmporiumBooks.com.au!

Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)