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donnaehm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
sunfairest's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
5.0
anniew415's review
4.0
Wow this book is big... Such a detailed record of Vincent's life (& Theo's) but a lot of it is repetitive...same themes from the letters over and over again.
I did enjoy the analysis and revision of his death, however. It's completely logical and likely true. I would have appreciated other analysis from the biographers throughout to put things into better context for the modern reader.
I did enjoy the analysis and revision of his death, however. It's completely logical and likely true. I would have appreciated other analysis from the biographers throughout to put things into better context for the modern reader.
suekken's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.5
A VERY through book, it details every single little thing of his life so its extremely slow.
I enjoyed it because it changed it my perspective on Vincent because honestly he was not a very nice man and a terrible brother to Theo. There were times that I wanted to reach in the book and slap Vincent and tell him to stop treating his family like crap.
It also makes you wonder how much of a person's actions can be excused by their mental illness.
It was infurianting at times.
I enjoyed it because it changed it my perspective on Vincent because honestly he was not a very nice man and a terrible brother to Theo. There were times that I wanted to reach in the book and slap Vincent and tell him to stop treating his family like crap.
It also makes you wonder how much of a person's actions can be excused by their mental illness.
It was infurianting at times.
ewitsell's review
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
creaturefeatr's review against another edition
4.0
After reading this book, I have to separate what I thought I knew about Vincent Van Gogh—the myth of Van Gogh—and the realities of his life as they were presented. Van Gogh: The Life was undoubtedly an ordeal; with over 1,500 pages (or almost 45 hours of narration), delving into the life of Vincent is no small task. The authors thoroughly researched and provided crucial historical context (in both art and world history) to the events of Van Gogh's life and drew from an astonishing body of research regarding the artist. The resulting book chronicles his life, from his parents' wedding to his tragic death in 1889.
It is important to note that much of what is known about Vincent's life is through personal accounts of those who knew him and the enormous number of letters he wrote during his lifetime, often (incorrectly) conflated with diary entries. The aforementioned personal accounts are from those who lived during the austere and serious Victorian era (1820-1914), whose larger concerns (especially among the middle and upper class) were propriety and respectability. I mention this to provide important context to the accounts given. As for the latter-mentioned letters, the authors rightfully conclude that while valuable in their information, the letters must be viewed "through...various potentially distorting prisms" (p 1438) due to the complicated relationship (both confident and sponsor) Vincent had with his brother, Theo, who a large amount of the letters still existing were addressed to.
I finished this book with the powerful feeling that Vincent's tortured life has been romanticized since his death. By extension, the demons he struggled with have also been romanticized, whether that be his mental afflictions or his very nature of being "strange" in a strict society that prided itself on conformity.
In reading some reviews before reading the book, some who have approached this have struggled to reconcile the creative, misunderstood, good person they thought Vincent to be with what was presented to them within these pages. The duality of Vincent's nature lived side by side in his mind. He was both a passionate, poetic, and sensitive artist—with a penchant for alcohol and visiting sex workers—and unreasonable, unruly, often demanding, and prone to sometimes uncontrollable anger and the whims of his mind. He was often a victim of circumstance, of an unforgiving society, but also of himself.
I give this book 4.5 stars. The authors did a fantastic job researching and assembling the information they collected. They thoughtfully provided context to the world in which Vincent was living and shed light on the mysteries and myths of the artist. The authors also present a plausible explanation for the circumstances leading to Vincent's death and their reasons for supporting it.
I believe some antiquated terminology was used, especially concerning the sex workers that Vincent frequented. However, there were also some ill-chosen words used to describe Vincent's periods of depression, distress, and periods of high moods. Both of these complaints can be explained by the period Vincent lived, and I am not sure that there is any fixing that.
Vincent Van Gogh was a complicated man, and the authors shine an unflinching light on what was known about him.
It is important to note that much of what is known about Vincent's life is through personal accounts of those who knew him and the enormous number of letters he wrote during his lifetime, often (incorrectly) conflated with diary entries. The aforementioned personal accounts are from those who lived during the austere and serious Victorian era (1820-1914), whose larger concerns (especially among the middle and upper class) were propriety and respectability. I mention this to provide important context to the accounts given. As for the latter-mentioned letters, the authors rightfully conclude that while valuable in their information, the letters must be viewed "through...various potentially distorting prisms" (p 1438) due to the complicated relationship (both confident and sponsor) Vincent had with his brother, Theo, who a large amount of the letters still existing were addressed to.
I finished this book with the powerful feeling that Vincent's tortured life has been romanticized since his death. By extension, the demons he struggled with have also been romanticized, whether that be his mental afflictions or his very nature of being "strange" in a strict society that prided itself on conformity.
In reading some reviews before reading the book, some who have approached this have struggled to reconcile the creative, misunderstood, good person they thought Vincent to be with what was presented to them within these pages. The duality of Vincent's nature lived side by side in his mind. He was both a passionate, poetic, and sensitive artist—with a penchant for alcohol and visiting sex workers—and unreasonable, unruly, often demanding, and prone to sometimes uncontrollable anger and the whims of his mind. He was often a victim of circumstance, of an unforgiving society, but also of himself.
I give this book 4.5 stars. The authors did a fantastic job researching and assembling the information they collected. They thoughtfully provided context to the world in which Vincent was living and shed light on the mysteries and myths of the artist. The authors also present a plausible explanation for the circumstances leading to Vincent's death and their reasons for supporting it.
I believe some antiquated terminology was used, especially concerning the sex workers that Vincent frequented. However, there were also some ill-chosen words used to describe Vincent's periods of depression, distress, and periods of high moods. Both of these complaints can be explained by the period Vincent lived, and I am not sure that there is any fixing that.
Vincent Van Gogh was a complicated man, and the authors shine an unflinching light on what was known about him.
scarylions's review against another edition
There is entirely too much detail in this book. Reading it feels like a chore.
jadecobain's review against another edition
5.0
Just finished reading this amazing well researched book. Growing up I thought I knew the story of Van Gogh but clearly I didn't know the whole of it. It was heartbreaking reading how abandoned he felt.
The mood swings that he made me wonder what form of mental health was he suffering from paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar. The drs diagnosed him as having a rare form of epilepsy but I can't help but wonder if during our modern times if he would've gotten a different diagnosis.
I felt sad for Theo who spent most of his life and money on his brother who was slowly slipping into madness and eventually he would succumb to madness as well.
Reading about all the art that he produces in his life I can't help but wonder is there an attic or storage somewhere that holds his art that no one knows about? Many times his art was thrown in the streets or auctioned off. There is soo much that hasn't been found.
I like that his family saved sooo many of his letters that help fill in those blanks of his life.
Reading about his death I can't help but lean toward murder or accident.
Such an amazing book
"When I think the eyes of so many are fixed on me, who will know where the fault is if I do not succeed, who will make me reproaches....the fear of failure, of disgrace-then I also have the longing: I wish I were far away from everything."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"You failed before and now you will fail again...This painting of yours will be like all other things you started, it will come to nothing."~ Mr Tersteeg
"I believe Thomas A Kempis says somewhere, 'I never mingled with a human beings without felling less human.' " ~Vincent Van Gogh
"When one has fire within oneself one cannot keep bottling it up better to burn than to burst. What is in will out." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"Looking for a different light and a brighter sky." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"I would rather fool myself than feel alone, I think I should feel depressed if I did not fool myself about everything." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"I love the night with a passion. I love it as one loves one's country or one's mistress, with a deep, instinctive, invisible love.....And the stars! The stars up there, the unknown stars thrown randomly into the immensity where they outline those bizarre figures, which make one dream so much, which makes one muse so deeply." ~ Maupassant
"The grief that gathers in our hearts like water in a swamp."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"His is an impassioned temperament, through which nature appears as it does in dreams."~ Julien Leclercq
"I don't say that my work is good, but it's the least bad that I can do. All the rest, relations with people, is very secondary, because I have no talent for that. I can't help it."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"He will not be forgotten. These masterpieces. People must know that he was a great artist; posterity must honor him; the world must grieve that he was taken from us so soon." ~ Theo Van Gogh
The mood swings that he made me wonder what form of mental health was he suffering from paranoid schizophrenia or bipolar. The drs diagnosed him as having a rare form of epilepsy but I can't help but wonder if during our modern times if he would've gotten a different diagnosis.
I felt sad for Theo who spent most of his life and money on his brother who was slowly slipping into madness and eventually he would succumb to madness as well.
Reading about all the art that he produces in his life I can't help but wonder is there an attic or storage somewhere that holds his art that no one knows about? Many times his art was thrown in the streets or auctioned off. There is soo much that hasn't been found.
I like that his family saved sooo many of his letters that help fill in those blanks of his life.
Reading about his death I can't help but lean toward murder or accident.
Such an amazing book
"When I think the eyes of so many are fixed on me, who will know where the fault is if I do not succeed, who will make me reproaches....the fear of failure, of disgrace-then I also have the longing: I wish I were far away from everything."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"You failed before and now you will fail again...This painting of yours will be like all other things you started, it will come to nothing."~ Mr Tersteeg
"I believe Thomas A Kempis says somewhere, 'I never mingled with a human beings without felling less human.' " ~Vincent Van Gogh
"When one has fire within oneself one cannot keep bottling it up better to burn than to burst. What is in will out." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"Looking for a different light and a brighter sky." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"I would rather fool myself than feel alone, I think I should feel depressed if I did not fool myself about everything." ~Vincent Van Gogh
"I love the night with a passion. I love it as one loves one's country or one's mistress, with a deep, instinctive, invisible love.....And the stars! The stars up there, the unknown stars thrown randomly into the immensity where they outline those bizarre figures, which make one dream so much, which makes one muse so deeply." ~ Maupassant
"The grief that gathers in our hearts like water in a swamp."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"His is an impassioned temperament, through which nature appears as it does in dreams."~ Julien Leclercq
"I don't say that my work is good, but it's the least bad that I can do. All the rest, relations with people, is very secondary, because I have no talent for that. I can't help it."~ Vincent Van Gogh
"He will not be forgotten. These masterpieces. People must know that he was a great artist; posterity must honor him; the world must grieve that he was taken from us so soon." ~ Theo Van Gogh