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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
As I wrap up the year of reading too many novels, I've learned to appreciate books in many ways.
This one truly needs to be appreciated in the context that it was written - as a titillating tale of art historical fantasy.
This one truly needs to be appreciated in the context that it was written - as a titillating tale of art historical fantasy.
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.55 stars rounding up to 5.
I had the good fortune of stumbling upon The Improbability of Love on the library shelf the other day. There is art, there is love, there is a lucky find in the junk shop that turns out to be the winning jackpot of an Old Master's painting, what's there not to love? But my initial optimism was quickly dampened when I came to Goodreads and found all the negative reviews here with very low stars but many “likes” from fellow readers. I doubted myself but read on anyway. I am so glad I did. Maybe this is just one of those books that is destined to divide its readers. I for one enjoyed it, very much.
Hannah Rothschild, the first woman chair of the National Gallery in London and a receiver of Commander of Order of the British Empire in 2018 for her services to the arts and to charity, writes convincingly about the dealings of the art world's elites. Having been through four years' of fine arts training myself, I find Rothschild's depiction of the inner workings of the traditional and contemporary art world and all its trappings exacting and exciting. This is not to say that she bores you with academic art talks. Quite the contrary! Rothschild's satirical caricature of her larger-than-life characters are outrageous funny and delicious. Her themed banquets inspired by the Old Master paintings makes you want to crawl into the pages in order to take a nibble out of the table, or just to be there to witness the glorious spectacle with your own human eyes. The absolute highlight for me was when the home-sick Russian oligarch walks through a real life Damien Hirst's legendary exhibition, his reaction to the spectacle is simply outrageous; and this scene right there, is living-vicariously-through-bookreading at its most scrumptious. Combining real-life and make believe, history and fiction, Rothschild spins a tight web with all the right and delicious ingredients.
I have to take some points off because I feel the book needs at least another 50 pages to do it justice. The ending is a touch rushed, as if our brilliant writer Rothschild suddenly run out of steam. *****SPOILERS AHEAD****** I would like very much to be there when Vlad and Grace hit it off. I would have loved to see Annie's face when she is declared innocent and to witness the sweet moment when Jesse comes to collect her when she is set free. I would have given top money to see frame-by-frame of how Rebecca is found out and brought down of her high horse. I wouldn't mind hearing Bart's dramatic carrying-ons when he is shot in the arm and maybe feigns a fainting spell in his outrageous regalia. In an alternative book universe, I would imagine the final chapter to be set in Annie and Jesse's new place in their new life together where everything is finally not only set right, but flourishes.
I had the good fortune of stumbling upon The Improbability of Love on the library shelf the other day. There is art, there is love, there is a lucky find in the junk shop that turns out to be the winning jackpot of an Old Master's painting, what's there not to love? But my initial optimism was quickly dampened when I came to Goodreads and found all the negative reviews here with very low stars but many “likes” from fellow readers. I doubted myself but read on anyway. I am so glad I did. Maybe this is just one of those books that is destined to divide its readers. I for one enjoyed it, very much.
Hannah Rothschild, the first woman chair of the National Gallery in London and a receiver of Commander of Order of the British Empire in 2018 for her services to the arts and to charity, writes convincingly about the dealings of the art world's elites. Having been through four years' of fine arts training myself, I find Rothschild's depiction of the inner workings of the traditional and contemporary art world and all its trappings exacting and exciting. This is not to say that she bores you with academic art talks. Quite the contrary! Rothschild's satirical caricature of her larger-than-life characters are outrageous funny and delicious. Her themed banquets inspired by the Old Master paintings makes you want to crawl into the pages in order to take a nibble out of the table, or just to be there to witness the glorious spectacle with your own human eyes. The absolute highlight for me was when the home-sick Russian oligarch walks through a real life Damien Hirst's legendary exhibition, his reaction to the spectacle is simply outrageous; and this scene right there, is living-vicariously-through-bookreading at its most scrumptious. Combining real-life and make believe, history and fiction, Rothschild spins a tight web with all the right and delicious ingredients.
I have to take some points off because I feel the book needs at least another 50 pages to do it justice. The ending is a touch rushed, as if our brilliant writer Rothschild suddenly run out of steam. *****SPOILERS AHEAD****** I would like very much to be there when Vlad and Grace hit it off. I would have loved to see Annie's face when she is declared innocent and to witness the sweet moment when Jesse comes to collect her when she is set free. I would have given top money to see frame-by-frame of how Rebecca is found out and brought down of her high horse. I wouldn't mind hearing Bart's dramatic carrying-ons when he is shot in the arm and maybe feigns a fainting spell in his outrageous regalia. In an alternative book universe, I would imagine the final chapter to be set in Annie and Jesse's new place in their new life together where everything is finally not only set right, but flourishes.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Starts off very slow, the story only picks up when you’re in 3/4 of the way and then it ends. Very little to no character development or plot.
dark
informative
medium-paced
Almost all the book group members finished this book but many felt that it was a tough one to get through with so many different characters and some confusion as to the actual story at the heart of the book. We felt that the beginning of the book was quite slow and there were a lot of unnecessary characters that caused confusion.
Many of the book group members enjoyed the bits in the book that were written from the point of view of the painting. We felt that these sections added a lot of interest to the book. We also really enjoyed the bits about painting restoration and how just five little dabs of paint can produce a whole person. We wanted more about this!
We enjoyed comparing the characters to see which was the most unlikeable amongst the "baddies" we felt that some of them were simply impassively, they just went along with things rather than tried to make things better. Whereas some of the characters were very actively bad and went about things very forcefully doing particularly bad things.
We wondered about some of the other characters like Barty. Do people like him really exist? He felt kind of like a caricature rather than a real person. We felt that although Delia and Morris were likeable they were also a little caricature like as well.
We also had a bit of a discussion about art and what it means and why it's sometimes so expensive.
Overall we gave this book 6 out of 10.
Many of the book group members enjoyed the bits in the book that were written from the point of view of the painting. We felt that these sections added a lot of interest to the book. We also really enjoyed the bits about painting restoration and how just five little dabs of paint can produce a whole person. We wanted more about this!
We enjoyed comparing the characters to see which was the most unlikeable amongst the "baddies" we felt that some of them were simply impassively, they just went along with things rather than tried to make things better. Whereas some of the characters were very actively bad and went about things very forcefully doing particularly bad things.
We wondered about some of the other characters like Barty. Do people like him really exist? He felt kind of like a caricature rather than a real person. We felt that although Delia and Morris were likeable they were also a little caricature like as well.
We also had a bit of a discussion about art and what it means and why it's sometimes so expensive.
Overall we gave this book 6 out of 10.