Reviews for Health and Physical Education: A Chapter of the Curriculum Handbook

The average rating for Health and Physical Education: A Chapter of the Curriculum Handbook based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-26 00:00:00 PAUL CUDMORE ‘An Equal Music’ is indeed a musical story. The language is immensely beautiful. Throughout the book, one sees how much time human beings spend tuning ‘things’ so that they can live in harmony. In this story, the characters struggle with notes, compositions, and life. Both music and life demand the same things, it is only in certain moments the right notes of joy, bliss, and happiness are struck. The central character in the story, not only in the practice sessions but in real life too, searches for ‘an equal music.’ While Seth dedicates the book – through a beautifully worded poem– to his intimate friend Philippe Honore. In addition to this, the book opens with the following luminous lines of John Donne. “And into that gate they shall enter, and in that house they shall dwell, where there shall be no cloud, nor sun, no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no foes nor friends, but one equal communion and identity, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity.” These lines, in some very significant ways, clarify Us to ourselves. All of us, knowingly or unknowingly, strive to attain that space of ‘one equal eternity.’ For some, such quests are even more daunting. The story of Michael, at least in the beginning, reads like the story of a homosexual man. In the first thirty pages, he is seen playing, practicing music, talking to friends, but his real love– Julia– appears much later. He sees her through his window seat. With his current girlfriend, Michael is hardly at ease; and the one he truly loves is nowhere in sight. So what he really has is himself: his walks, his music, his books, his thoughts, these are the things that actually sustain him. In a way, this acute loneliness and search for ‘balance’ run throughout the novel. There are small instances in the book that mirrors ‘experiences’ central to gay lives. For instance, once while walking, Michael feels that someone is walking behind him. He describes it thus; “the anonymous person seemed to have made up his mind and walked with renewed energy and overtook Michael– indicating lack of interest.” In yet another instance, Michael talks randomly with a man on one ‘wintry’ evening. The whole scene reads as if he were cruising. One man is seen taking a dip in icy water, the other, being lonely, wandering for no particular reason. Both searching for ‘something.’ Anybody who likes western classical music would love reading this book. Even though I am not particularly familiar with it, I loved how seamlessly the story is entwined with the language of music. However, the quest for home and love is eternal. One can live ‘bliss’ in moments, one can glimpse it many times, but one cannot inhabit it fully and forever. This quest is more difficult when the world around is hostile. A world that still tries to stifle certain ‘kinds of love.’ In such a hostile setting, the search for the ‘unspeakable love’ is exhausting. The book ends on a hopeful note, justifying the title and the story. There is no reason to despair. “Music, such music is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music– not too much, or the soul could not sustain it– from time to time.”

Review # 2 was written on 2017-02-20 00:00:00 Patrick Brier It’s the weirdest thing, a quartet. I don’t know what to compare it to. A marriage? a firm? a platoon under fire? a self-regarding, self-destructive priesthood? It has so many different tensions mixed in with its pleasures. I was absolutely enthralled with Seth’s two novels “The Golden Gate” and “A Suitable Boy” and so I couldn’t wait to start reading this book. But it turned out to have an odd effect on me as I alternatively loved and hated it. I couldn’t understand this at all. I put the book down for a day and started again; but still this dichotomy of loving/hating the book remained. But why? This was beyond my comprehension as I really admire this author. “An Equal Music” came highly recommended to me. Everyone seemed to love it and the subject matter was brilliant in that it was based around the famous Maggiore Quartet comprising Michael (one of the two main individuals in the book), Piers and Helen, brother and sister, and Billy. Apart from my passion for reading, photography and gardening, I’m enthralled with classical music and this book promised me so much in that regard. The book on the whole is lyrical and there are indeed some mesmerizing passages but I feel that it really doesn’t have any soul. Michael and Julia, a pianist, had met ten years previously and he had never forgotten her. One day he’s on a London bus and sees Julia on a bus travelling in the opposite direction. This was magnificent to read and the travels to Vienna and Venice are quite magical but I found myself becoming more and more incensed with the relationship of our two protagonists, which appeared to be so contrived. And the great secret? Well words fail me here. Try to imagine a married woman with a young child, who is recommencing an affair with Michael who in turn then suddenly discovers something quite untoward. In addition, Michael to me lacked passion, true passion. I think that really the only thing he ever loved apart from his music was his violin, the Tononi which in turn led him a merry dance. He had been loaned it many years before by an elderly neighbour, Mrs Formby and always lived in constant fear that she would insist upon its return for one reason or another. The prose throughout the book, nevertheless, is exquisite regarding this instrument. The doorbell rings. It is the registered letter from Rochdale…Shall I play you and then give you up? Shall I give you up unplayed, so that the memory of our parting is not marred with sounds; so that Bach is not joined by other losses: Mozart, Schubert, all that gives me life. What would I play if not that, what would I play if not here? “Tea for Two” chez Tricia? The dog-food for my old, tired teacher? The untrembling scale with my estranged friends? “The Lark Ascending” in honour of a dispersed spirit? The gift however that Julia finally gave him was musical; he had always been so moved by her playing: Music, such music, is a sufficient gift. Why ask for happiness; why hope not to grieve? It is enough, it is to be blessed enough, to live from day to day and to hear such music – not too much, or the soul could not sustain it – from time to time. I feel so sad that I did not find this book all embracing. There’s nothing worse that disappointment in an author who normally has me entranced. However, another book… Another time.