Reviews - Der Meisterdieb: Eine wahre Geschichte von Kunst, Obsession und Zerstörung

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5.29k reviews for:

Der Meisterdieb: Eine wahre Geschichte von Kunst, Obsession und Zerstörung

Michael Finkel

3.97 AVERAGE

formedtheories's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous informative medium-paced

lauraelsie's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition

3.0

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.” And he has a valid, if incomplete, point.

The 21st century embodiment of Oscar Wilde’s claim that “𝘈𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴.”, Breitwieser, probably the most prolific art thief in history, clearly did not steal for financial gain. But what truly motivated him is less clear cut. In this non-fiction journalistic essay the author tries to unpick the truth, but is hampered by an over reliance on Breitwieser as the main source, and a weird, barely repressed admiration for a man who remains completely unrepentant and oblivious to the wider impact of his actions.

Overall an interesting enough insight into a impressive, if sedate, true crime story - but one that could have been 25% shorter (the first half drags), and that really would have benefited from greater psychological interrogation of Brietweiser or the psychological impact of art, if a closer lens on his family and girlfriend was unachievable.

“𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳.”