2011 Jul 14 What's on Your Bookshelf? Jean Muller, Classical Pianist
The book on my shelf with the most sentimental value is a rare, aged edition of Molière’s and Racine’s works, all dusty and smelling like an old mysterious library.
The composer whose bookshelf I’d most like a peek at is Franz Liszt’s, definitely, since the man had an enormous appetite for all kinds of things and was a quite gifted writer himself.
The author that reminds me most of Liszt is Goethe; they have in common their tremendous stature of mind, the ambivalence between hedonism and religion, and the interest for the Faustian mythology.
The book I pretend to have read is Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I tried, though ...
My favorite book from childhood is The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, which was published in 1979, also the year of my birth. It is still going on ...
The book that changed my life is Perfume by Patrick Süskind.
The composer who might have written the soundtrack to that book: I wish Alexander Scriabin could have done that.
Literature that most reminds me of a Chopin nocturne? Rimbaud’s poems. Like Chopin’s nocturnes, they are pure poetry, perfumes, impressions and just magical.
The character in a book I’d most like to be is Tom Bombadil in the Lord of the Rings.
The last book I bought was Michel Houellebecq’s La carte et le territoire.
The last book I read was Amélie Nothomb’s Fear and Trembling.
Book I wish I hadn't read? Many, but gratefully I have forgotten.
Have I ever judged a book by its cover? Once a book is opened, the cover is just not a part of my book experience.
The book I'd like to see adapted as a film is the Dark Tower cycle by Stephen King. The big screen could really add an extra dimension to this epic story.
My favorite line from a book is from Der Zauberberg by Thomas Mann: “But his name was Muller and he was not worth mentioning.”
Playlist: Songs that tell a story
“Für Elise” by L. van Beethoven
“Nocturne for the Left Hand, Op. 9” by A. Scriabin
“Flesh” (from the album Get a Grip) by Aerosmith
“Dance of the Dead” (Totentanz) by F. Liszt
“Eyes On Me” (Final Fantasy VIII)
Jean Muller plays for his fans at the NCPA on Jul 16.
Photo: Jean Muller
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