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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
I read this book over a short period of time (a couple days) and that was probably was good because I am not sure I would have stuck with it if I was reading it at a more leisurely pace. There is a lot of jumping between time for each character and I found that confusing. Each chapter switches from one character to another and to another time. I enjoyed learning about the art and history of artists and their "union" rules. I read it for book club and this book was a perfect example of why I love being in a book club. I enjoyed the book enough and it is one I would not have read if it wasn't for book club. It got 'meh' ratings from everyone at book club.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Artfully written; I’d pick up another one of Dominic Smith’s books for the language alone. That said, I would’ve liked to feel closer to Ellie as a character; she felt more like the idea of a woman in her midtwenties than an actual woman, while Marty got to be a bit more self-actualized.
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow moving, the tone, both of the narrator and the book itself was a bit morose. Not interesting to me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Sexism
It is well written and descriptive.
Dominic Smith writes elegantly. There are sentences so beautifully expressed that I had to go back and read them 3 or 4 times. So stylistically this book appealed to me very much. The character of Marty is engaging and endearingly drawn - by turns witty and wise. For me the book was at its best in the set pieces in which Marty is the focus. The character of Ellie was less successful.
This is not a criticism but I am not fond of books which move between time zones and story lines. I like my reading to be linear and become frustrated at being thrust back to 1636 at a time when I am totally engaged in the 1955 story. It breaks up the narrative drive and unfocusses your reading attention.
So, I think this is a fine book, but it didn't pull me in and have me reading deep into the night; whilst it was beautifully crafted, and some of the descriptive passages were memorable, it left me strangely untouched.
This is not a criticism but I am not fond of books which move between time zones and story lines. I like my reading to be linear and become frustrated at being thrust back to 1636 at a time when I am totally engaged in the 1955 story. It breaks up the narrative drive and unfocusses your reading attention.
So, I think this is a fine book, but it didn't pull me in and have me reading deep into the night; whilst it was beautifully crafted, and some of the descriptive passages were memorable, it left me strangely untouched.
medium-paced
This book was incredible. The flow through time and across the different characters kept me engaged throughout. It made me want to take a walk through our local museum and ponder the stories behind many of the painting there too.
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What an interesting/odd book. I expected a plot-driven art heist/counterfeit-coverup, and instead got a character study of a grief-stricken 15th century artist (Sara), a naive 1950s art student turned art historian (Ellie), and a troubled businessman/art collector (Marty). I enjoyed the triple timeline - 1630s, 1950s, and 2010s, and I particularly enjoyed following the tragic story of Sara de Vos herself. I also learned a number of interesting things about the art industry. Beyond that, though, the story was a bit too 'quiet' for me, with ultimately not a big fallout from what was built up as the potentially career-ending revelation of Ellie's youthful forgery. Furthermore, I was appalled at the absolute cruelty of the way in which angry, entitled Marty courted and bedded a young Ellie only to humiliate and abandon her as punishment for 'duping' him out of his family heirloom. The eventual resolution between those two characters was not particularly satisfying, either.
Quote I bookmarked:
3:09:44: "She remembers this feeling from Katherine's death: her insistence on being methodical. Wrap the body, fold the linens, send word for the coroner, hold the ragged hem of grief like a specimen between two fingers until you are alone and the windows are shuttered."
Quote I bookmarked:
3:09:44: "She remembers this feeling from Katherine's death: her insistence on being methodical. Wrap the body, fold the linens, send word for the coroner, hold the ragged hem of grief like a specimen between two fingers until you are alone and the windows are shuttered."
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death
Minor: Miscarriage, Abandonment
I was really moved by the scene at the beginning of the book featuring a dying, beached whale that people from all across the Netherlands had come to observe and touch and paint and study. What an interesting portrait into life in the 1600s.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book was a meandering masterpiece that somehow pulled together multiple threads slowly (oh so slowly) into a story about a painting and the lives it touched. It’s a meditation on the lives of the wealthy and the poor. But somehow despite there being no driving force urging you on.. you can’t help but finish.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced