Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Art Thief is full of lightly sketched characters performing their set roles in a charming, stylish way. It reads like it is intended to be a movie; a novelized screenplay, rather than an actual book. I would probably enjoy The Art Thief: The Movie a great deal, I just prefer my books to be books, not re-tooled screenplays.
It is light and charming and would make a good beach read. The art history sprinkled throughout is basic in the extreme and because of the constant cuts between scenes (just when one scene begins to grab your attention, you're wrenched somewhere else) no scenario lasts more then a few pages.
It is light and charming and would make a good beach read. The art history sprinkled throughout is basic in the extreme and because of the constant cuts between scenes (just when one scene begins to grab your attention, you're wrenched somewhere else) no scenario lasts more then a few pages.
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While there were some things that I enjoyed about this book, it was overall a little too convoluted for my tastes, and fell into the trap of not revealing enough information throughout to keep readers invested and guessing, only to pull the answer out of thin air at the end. The parts about the world of art crime and specific paintings themselves were perhaps the most interesting but at the same time felt like they detracted from the story somewhat. A bit disappointing, as I do think the premise of this book had promise.
Actual rating: 2.5 stars. I really wanted to like this book. After all, I checked it out based on how much I enjoyed The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro and The Art Detective:Fakes, Frauds, and Finds and the Search for Lost Treasure by Philip Mould. The book started off promisingly with the theft of a Caravaggio from a small Italian church and the possible forgery of a Russian masterpiece, White on White. But then the book introduces WAY too many characters (think double digits), some barely indistinguishable from each other. It also tries too hard with plot twists and jumping back and forth between different narratives that it never really gelled with me. If anything, what I enjoyed most was the background info provided on the artists and their methods, which is not surprising since Noah Charney is an actual art historian. Alas--maybe Charney should have just stuck with what he knows instead of delving into fiction?
bad bad bad. it sounded promising and i stuck with it, but it's totally not worth the trouble by the time you get to the end and realize what's been going on. plus it seriously stood out to me that the author went into vast amounts of detail about the FAT characters and how disgustingly fat they were, and he would use every possible given chance to expand on those details, while not going into much detail about any other attributes. i mean really, i like characterization and realistic bodies, but the author took it too far and this was over the top disrespectful.
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book didn't know what it wanted to be. Was it an intelligent read about classical art and the world of art forgery? Was it a mystery uncovering the theft? Was it a book with witty banter? It wanted to be all these things, and yet it fell short everywhere.
There were too many characters for the witty banter to make sense. The author kept flipping back and forth between French, Italian, and English, but never going back to verify what the French and Italian translated to (thank goodness for reading comprehension).
Then the 'big reveal' happened too quickly with too many 'gotchas'! that I wished I DNF it.
Charney is intelligent, and clearly wanted to share his knowledge with us. But perhaps 3 less characters, a little more character development, and maybe another 50 pages, and he may have had it
There were too many characters for the witty banter to make sense. The author kept flipping back and forth between French, Italian, and English, but never going back to verify what the French and Italian translated to (thank goodness for reading comprehension).
Then the 'big reveal' happened too quickly with too many 'gotchas'! that I wished I DNF it.
Charney is intelligent, and clearly wanted to share his knowledge with us. But perhaps 3 less characters, a little more character development, and maybe another 50 pages, and he may have had it
mysterious
slow-paced