Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska Et Le Secret De Chopin (Albin Michel, 2018) ****

 "Madame Pylinska ..." is a novella about a young man who wants to learn how to play the piano, because he wants to understand Chopin. His teacher, Madama Pylinska, is a very demanding and excentric character, who wants her student to understand life before he even touches a key of the keyboard. 

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a wonderful stylist and his narrative of this story is brilliant: interesting, funny , light-hearted and very human. Of course the piano lessons are a metaphor for learning about life, about trying to understand feelings and by the effort of deep listening to nature and to other people, to understand the initial sentiments that created the music, and about how to make sure music continues to convey that initial sentiment. 

Music is not about notes, just like life is not about the superficial things we see. Schmitt takes us all to a much deeper and more meaningful level without moralising or too much philosophising. His wonderful story carries all that weight.