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melissafirman's review against another edition
3.0
I confess ... I completely picked up this book because of the cover.
(Admit it, you would have too.)
As one of the artists known as the Impressionists, Claude Monet's paintings have become among the most recognized and best loved in the world. However, as Claude and Camille makes very clear, his success was definitely not of the overnight variety. Monet's work was routinely dismissed and the success he did have came very late in his life.
Claude and Camille is a historical novel about the life of Monet and Camille Doncieux, who he met in a bookshop and who modeled for many of his now-well known paintings. The two fell in love and lived a life that can only be described as one that was solely dedicated to each other and Claude's art.
Perpetually believing and declaring that he was on the verge of some great success, Claude was constantly penniless and often owed money to everyone and anyone. When he and Camille weren't being evicted from one rented room after another, they were living with Claude's passel of artist friends.
Ah, yes ... the friends. These weren't just any ordinary, run-of-the-mill friends. (At the time they were, because like Monet, they all were poor and spent days imploring passersby and patrons in restaurants for a chance to sketch them for a few francs.) These BFFs of Monet's had names like Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Cezanne, Bazille, and Manet.
Their interactions make for some of the strongest parts of Claude and Camille. I loved reading about this group, their back and forth banter, their steadfast support of and belief in one another. They were always a day late and a dollar short, always borrowing money from someone's family member. They had grandiose plans for an independent exhibition of their collective work - which eventually did happen, but which took years to become more than a dream (again, due to the lack of money).
In some ways, I liked the relationship between the artists moreso than the one with Claude and Camille. Theirs was a love story, absolutely, but a frustrating one. At times, Claude was a little maddening; you wanted to shake the guy and tell him to man up and get a real job so Camille and his baby, Jean, would have a decent home and enough food on the table. (He often turned down "regular" jobs, such as working in his father's nautical supply business, that would have provided a stable income.) Claude left Camille for months on several occasions. He was also, if the dialogue is any indication of his real personality, a bit prone to melodrama and haughtiness.
Camille wasn't perfect either (she probably suffered from undiagnosed depression - who the hell could blame the poor woman?) and while she had the patience of a saint to put up with Claude's dreams, you have to give her credit for believing in the guy when others would (and did) give up on him. Still, she did so at a price to herself, giving up on her own dreams of writing and being an actress.
(This is, of course, easy to say in 2010. Back in the mid-1800s, things were a bit different.)
I enjoyed Claude and Camille, but there was something - I can't quite pinpoint what, exactly - that was a little flat. It might have been in the dialogue. It was certainly very interesting in terms of subject matter (especially in regards to the Impressionists' lives and friendships) but as a novel, Claude and Camille didn't rise to the level of being a stay-up-all-night type of captivating read. That said, if you're a fan of Monet's work or any of the Impressionists, and if you enjoy historical fiction and a good - but sad - love story, this is a satisfying read about one of the best known artists we may not have known this much about.
(Admit it, you would have too.)
As one of the artists known as the Impressionists, Claude Monet's paintings have become among the most recognized and best loved in the world. However, as Claude and Camille makes very clear, his success was definitely not of the overnight variety. Monet's work was routinely dismissed and the success he did have came very late in his life.
Claude and Camille is a historical novel about the life of Monet and Camille Doncieux, who he met in a bookshop and who modeled for many of his now-well known paintings. The two fell in love and lived a life that can only be described as one that was solely dedicated to each other and Claude's art.
Perpetually believing and declaring that he was on the verge of some great success, Claude was constantly penniless and often owed money to everyone and anyone. When he and Camille weren't being evicted from one rented room after another, they were living with Claude's passel of artist friends.
Ah, yes ... the friends. These weren't just any ordinary, run-of-the-mill friends. (At the time they were, because like Monet, they all were poor and spent days imploring passersby and patrons in restaurants for a chance to sketch them for a few francs.) These BFFs of Monet's had names like Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Cezanne, Bazille, and Manet.
Their interactions make for some of the strongest parts of Claude and Camille. I loved reading about this group, their back and forth banter, their steadfast support of and belief in one another. They were always a day late and a dollar short, always borrowing money from someone's family member. They had grandiose plans for an independent exhibition of their collective work - which eventually did happen, but which took years to become more than a dream (again, due to the lack of money).
In some ways, I liked the relationship between the artists moreso than the one with Claude and Camille. Theirs was a love story, absolutely, but a frustrating one. At times, Claude was a little maddening; you wanted to shake the guy and tell him to man up and get a real job so Camille and his baby, Jean, would have a decent home and enough food on the table. (He often turned down "regular" jobs, such as working in his father's nautical supply business, that would have provided a stable income.) Claude left Camille for months on several occasions. He was also, if the dialogue is any indication of his real personality, a bit prone to melodrama and haughtiness.
Camille wasn't perfect either (she probably suffered from undiagnosed depression - who the hell could blame the poor woman?) and while she had the patience of a saint to put up with Claude's dreams, you have to give her credit for believing in the guy when others would (and did) give up on him. Still, she did so at a price to herself, giving up on her own dreams of writing and being an actress.
(This is, of course, easy to say in 2010. Back in the mid-1800s, things were a bit different.)
I enjoyed Claude and Camille, but there was something - I can't quite pinpoint what, exactly - that was a little flat. It might have been in the dialogue. It was certainly very interesting in terms of subject matter (especially in regards to the Impressionists' lives and friendships) but as a novel, Claude and Camille didn't rise to the level of being a stay-up-all-night type of captivating read. That said, if you're a fan of Monet's work or any of the Impressionists, and if you enjoy historical fiction and a good - but sad - love story, this is a satisfying read about one of the best known artists we may not have known this much about.
cdcsmith's review against another edition
2.0
Well this was very disappointing. It felt contrived. This wasn't what I'd call a love story at all. If you're going to use so much fiction when writing a story about people who actually lived, maybe embellish it enough to make it seem like they really were in love. I know they kept saying the loved each other, but that isn't enough to me to believe it. It seemed there were whole parts of the story that were made up, but I don't understand why as it added nothing to the story as far as I could tell. I'm not even sure I would've liked this book if I knew nothing about the people it was written about.
abookishaffair's review against another edition
4.0
What's the story?:
From Goodreads: "In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.
But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.
His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet—and believed in his work—even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.
But Camille had her own demons – secrets that Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.
A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order."
My two cents:
I have always been fascinated by the Impressionist artists and Claude Monet is among my favorite artists. I didn't know much about his life and typically when I hear about Monet, I think of the great bearded artist in his latter years and not Monet as a young man.
It was really cool to see Monet as young man just starting out in his famous art career. It's so easy to look at great artists and only look at the art but not who they are as people. Even though Claude and Camille is a fictional book, I still think it shed a lot of light on who Claude Monet was as a person. It's hard to imagine that he had to struggle for so long in order to become recognized when his paintings are now recognized the world over.
The relationship between Claude and Camille is interesting. Camille becomes Claude's greatest muse and greatest supporter while still remaining a mystery to him in many ways. She seems to never be truly comfortable in her life with Monet. She can't give up her metropolitan city life for provincial life no matter how hard she tries. Their relationship is often tumultuous and negatively affects both Claude and Camille and their two children but you can see how they could be in love. You also can see how after Claude loses Camille, he is almost haunted by her for the rest of her life.
This is really a great book for anyone who loves an epic love story or anyone interested in art!
Mode of receipt:
I picked this book up from the library.
My rating:
4 out of 5 stars
From Goodreads: "In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.
But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.
His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet—and believed in his work—even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.
But Camille had her own demons – secrets that Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.
A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order."
My two cents:
I have always been fascinated by the Impressionist artists and Claude Monet is among my favorite artists. I didn't know much about his life and typically when I hear about Monet, I think of the great bearded artist in his latter years and not Monet as a young man.
It was really cool to see Monet as young man just starting out in his famous art career. It's so easy to look at great artists and only look at the art but not who they are as people. Even though Claude and Camille is a fictional book, I still think it shed a lot of light on who Claude Monet was as a person. It's hard to imagine that he had to struggle for so long in order to become recognized when his paintings are now recognized the world over.
The relationship between Claude and Camille is interesting. Camille becomes Claude's greatest muse and greatest supporter while still remaining a mystery to him in many ways. She seems to never be truly comfortable in her life with Monet. She can't give up her metropolitan city life for provincial life no matter how hard she tries. Their relationship is often tumultuous and negatively affects both Claude and Camille and their two children but you can see how they could be in love. You also can see how after Claude loses Camille, he is almost haunted by her for the rest of her life.
This is really a great book for anyone who loves an epic love story or anyone interested in art!
Mode of receipt:
I picked this book up from the library.
My rating:
4 out of 5 stars
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
A very touching novel, showing the beginning of the Impressionism group formed by Monet, Pissaro, Renoir among others. The book has a mixture of history and romance as well with some historical background also.
linwearcamenel's review against another edition
3.0
I was expecting a little bit more from this, that it might go into more depth of Monet's associations with other artists and his own career, but it really is mostly his love story with Camille. Which was beautifully written, I was just expecting something a little different. Reminded me very strongly of [b:The Paris Wife|8683812|The Paris Wife|Paula McLain|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320545874s/8683812.jpg|13556031].
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