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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
Skillful POV use, to show a likeable character (Evelyn) entirely through the eyes of an unlikeable narrator speaking to an unlikeable listener. I guessed some of the twist ending but not all of it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Murder
Ordinarily, a book like this (almost purely character-driven) would not hold me for long, but thankfully it was only 200 pages long, and Pears' style was compelling enough to keep me going, even though he telegraphed the ending probably halfway through.
A subtle little psychological study of an artist and his subject, an old "friend" and art critic, with a surprising twist at the end. A little bit like [b:Possession|41219|Possession|A.S. Byatt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311978255s/41219.jpg|2246190]—but not so sophisticated and quite a bit darker.
A monologue spoken by a painter while he is painting the portrait of his former friend, an art critic. From the start you know something terrible is going to happen, so you keep on reading. So good!
I picked the book based on the narrator - Simon Vance can do no wrong - and I liked the story. An artist paints his old mentor, an artist who is now an art critic.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Misogyny, Sexism
"The Cask of Amontillado" meets The Lighthouse. Interesting premise but the middle 50% of the book wasn't too exciting.
Picked up from the booktable at the BookCrossing Convention because I loved [b:An Instance of the Fingerpost|15888|An Instance of the Fingerpost|Iain Pears|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348769619s/15888.jpg|950198]. Henry is truly scary, right from the start. While there were times when I got fed up of his self-pity it is hard to see how the novel could have been written more tightly. Glad I read it, even though not all of the experience was exactly enjoyable.
"...paintings exist only in the beholder's mind..."
"I know how hard it is to acquire good technique. I acquired mine by constant labour and study, year after year, day in and day out. It did not come naturally or easily,...
To get what you want--exactly the effect you have in your mind and no other--you have to have mastery, otherwise you are like a man trying to speak English with only a limited vocabulary. Unless you have that range, you end up saying what you can say, not what you mean."
"I know how hard it is to acquire good technique. I acquired mine by constant labour and study, year after year, day in and day out. It did not come naturally or easily,...
To get what you want--exactly the effect you have in your mind and no other--you have to have mastery, otherwise you are like a man trying to speak English with only a limited vocabulary. Unless you have that range, you end up saying what you can say, not what you mean."