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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
A many layered tale about a painting that a young chef, Annie, buys on a whim from a junk shop in London. Though she is working for two art dealers, she has no real interest in art, but is soon persuaded to try and find out the origins of the painting.
Meanwhile, a powerful art dealer, who built his family business as a German Jew who survived WWII, begins to desperately seek for a painting he had given a lover who unexpectedly died. Though his daughter doesn't understand why this painting is so important to her father, she begins to search for the painting and begins to uncover the history of the painting, as well as that of her father.
Suspense, a bit of romance, an array of interesting characters, and the history of an 18th century French artist all add up to make an entertaining tale.
Meanwhile, a powerful art dealer, who built his family business as a German Jew who survived WWII, begins to desperately seek for a painting he had given a lover who unexpectedly died. Though his daughter doesn't understand why this painting is so important to her father, she begins to search for the painting and begins to uncover the history of the painting, as well as that of her father.
Suspense, a bit of romance, an array of interesting characters, and the history of an 18th century French artist all add up to make an entertaining tale.
I go to London annually, and this year I do not think that I will be able to go during the summer months, so this book was a perfect get-away to said city. It was a lovely slab of cake to compliment my tea and to woo and appease my mind. The Improbability of Love made me appreciate art in a different light and I will certainly look at any great visual work in the same manner. This novel was amazing - it was modern, cheeky, loaded with historical facts, and ridiculously thought-provoking. It was hard to read and not feel like I was on a grand adventure, racing through time and different countries around the world. Merveilleux!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
I hated this. I've given it two stars because it takes effort to write a novel this bloated, but there is really nothing that I like about it. Even putting my personal preferences aside, I don't understand how it's been nominated for an award. It's very long-winded and the majority of the characters are pointless caricatures who have little real impact on the main plot. That doesn't stop them from getting plenty of chapters to themselves, wandering around London thinking about art. It's like the author wanted to describe everything she knows about the goings on of the art world in one novel, but it's just too much. And then there are the elaborate meals as well. I also hated the painting - as in, its voice was so irritating that I came to dislike it as a character. The Winkleman mystery at the heart of it kept me reading, but I would have much preferred for the rest of it to be pared down. I also found the love story quite saccharine, but I am a jaded old witch so that's probably just me. Maybe people who are very interested in the art world - and I don't mean the creation of art, but mainly just the buying and selling if it - will find this interesting, but it was definitely not for me.
In meinen Augen sollte so gelungene Unterhaltungsliteratur aussehen. Die Geschichte ist gut durchdacht und durchaus spannend, die Figuren sind liebevoll beschrieben und das Ganze lässt sich flüssig lesen. Die Autorin bedient sich einiger Klischees, was mich dieses Buch letztendlich unter Unterhaltungsliteratur einordnen lässt. Obwohl deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Distelfink zu erkennen sind, lassen sich diese Bücher kaum vergleichen. Liebhaber von Kunst und Kultur kommen aber auch hier auf ihre Kosten. Ich freue mich jetzt schon auf meinen nächsten London Urlaub und die Museen dort.
Interesting premise, some fun characters, but tries too hard & goes on for too long.
[Edit 18/05: I've bumped this down to 2 stars after writing a longer review on my blog]
A somewhat generous three stars, after the amount of time I spent trying to push through this before I could actually say I was enjoying it. It's too long - there's so much unnecessary description that could have been cut, as well as side characters who felt mostly irrelevant to the primary story arc and whose stories were delved far too deeply into given how little impact they really had on the main story. There was just far too much going on, and as such it was difficult for me to maintain my interest. Once I broke the halfway mark and got closer to the two thirds mark things started to pick up, but I definitely found myself skimming through chapters with characters who didn't interest me to push through the main arc to its conclusion.
A somewhat generous three stars, after the amount of time I spent trying to push through this before I could actually say I was enjoying it. It's too long - there's so much unnecessary description that could have been cut, as well as side characters who felt mostly irrelevant to the primary story arc and whose stories were delved far too deeply into given how little impact they really had on the main story. There was just far too much going on, and as such it was difficult for me to maintain my interest. Once I broke the halfway mark and got closer to the two thirds mark things started to pick up, but I definitely found myself skimming through chapters with characters who didn't interest me to push through the main arc to its conclusion.
incrível como duas frases podem fazer toda a diferença. encontrei o estopim da leitura em um trecho que faz lembrar Jair Bolsonaro no episódio de "não te estupro porque você não merece". faltam 5% pra eu terminar de ler esse livro, mas se antes eu não fazia questão de ler, agora faço questão de NÃO ler. por mais que eu acredite que essa não seja a voz da autora e o que ela pensa, não consigo ignorar que a passagem foi escrita pra ter um fundo cômico. sério, gente? sério mesmo?
não. apenas não.
somos melhores do que isso.
não. apenas não.
somos melhores do que isso.