Lessons

McEwan (Atonement) offers a rambling and sentimental portrait of an ordinary life story with a few extraordinary events strewn throughout. Except for the monumental event of his youth, where he is groomed and seduced by his piano teacher at age 14, Roland Baines lives a life like most of his contemporaries. But those lessons of piano and love from his teacher at such a tender age leave a mark. Much later, Roland’s wife leaves him and their infant son so that she can be whatever it is she is meant to be, and Roland is left to raise their child as a single father. But the lessons he has learned throughout life reveal the vulnerability of all humans, and that opportunities—whether seized or missed out on—abound. Narrator Simon McBurney’s light, simple delivery suits the story. His pacing and characterizations are outstanding, although listeners may be waylaid by the many reminiscences of people in Roland’s peripheral life.