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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
If you loved The Nightingale, you will LOVE Fugitive Colors by Lisa Barr. Riveting, Suspense Filled, Emotionally Driven - just a few adjectives I would say describe Fugitive Colors, Lisa Barr's debut novel.
I've read quite a few novels written about World War II, this was the first novel about Art in WWII. Lisa Barr's characters were very well developed, and the story line is very thorough.
I have more to say, but I am still processing...
Recommended to anyone who reads Historical Fiction.
I've read quite a few novels written about World War II, this was the first novel about Art in WWII. Lisa Barr's characters were very well developed, and the story line is very thorough.
I have more to say, but I am still processing...
Recommended to anyone who reads Historical Fiction.
How do I even begin to describe this book? Lisa Barr did a phenomenal job with this novel. I could feel the love, the friendship, the pain, the betrayal, the urge of revenge. I could see the paintings being described, smell the paint, feel the passion, hear the anger; every sense was exploited beautifully in this book.
Julian makes for an incredibly sympathetic and likable character. His journey from Yakov to Julian is heartbreaking and necessary. He has a desire and a need to paint and be an artist. It is in his fingers, driving him to burst from Hasidic Jew to Parisian expat joining the rush of artists in Paris. His art was his life and his life was his art. Joining a group of German and Jewish artists on his first day in Paris changes his life forever. He finds love and friendship but along with that he finds the greatest trials he could ever face. Each page you turn it feels as if Julian could not possibly face anymore pain and punishment at the hands of the Nazis and his old friend but he reaches bottom several times.
This book is simply incredibly. I could not put it down. It has love, friendship, greed, Nazis, WWII and, at the end, a possible glimmer of hope. Be prepared to feel completely destroyed for the people in this novel but also be prepared to not stop reading. I think this is my new favorite book. It really makes you ask yourself how far would you go for your passion and how far would you go for revenge?
Julian makes for an incredibly sympathetic and likable character. His journey from Yakov to Julian is heartbreaking and necessary. He has a desire and a need to paint and be an artist. It is in his fingers, driving him to burst from Hasidic Jew to Parisian expat joining the rush of artists in Paris. His art was his life and his life was his art. Joining a group of German and Jewish artists on his first day in Paris changes his life forever. He finds love and friendship but along with that he finds the greatest trials he could ever face. Each page you turn it feels as if Julian could not possibly face anymore pain and punishment at the hands of the Nazis and his old friend but he reaches bottom several times.
This book is simply incredibly. I could not put it down. It has love, friendship, greed, Nazis, WWII and, at the end, a possible glimmer of hope. Be prepared to feel completely destroyed for the people in this novel but also be prepared to not stop reading. I think this is my new favorite book. It really makes you ask yourself how far would you go for your passion and how far would you go for revenge?
dark
emotional
reflective
I am a huge fan of Lisa Barr's work, so it pains me to rate Fugitive Colors only three stars. While I enjoyed parts of the book, I just could not get into the story itself. The story had a lot going for it but fell flat in my opinion. I struggled to engage with the characters and felt that the story dragged at times. Through the first part of the book, Lisa Barr slowly builds a back story about her three main characters, and because of this, I found myself getting bored and losing interest. Once I got to the second half of the book, it started to pick up and I saw where Lisa was trying to go with the story.
One thing that I really enjoyed about Fugitive Colors is that it told a different story and perspective about WW2 and the Nazi regime, compared to other historical fiction novels I have read. Fugitive Colors really highlighted artists and what they experienced and went through, along with what happened to famous art during this time. If you are a fan of historical fiction and art, I would recommend reading Fugitive Colors by Lisa Barr.
****
All Yakov Klein wants to do is become an artist. With his parents not accepting his passion, he leaves Chicago and heads to Paris to pursue his dreams. Once in Paris, he rebrands himself as Julian Klein and meets Felix von Bredow, a German aristocrat, and Rene Levi, a young French artist. The trio quickly becomes best friends, until two women — Adrienne a talented French artist, and Charlotte an artist's model and also a prostitute — come in between their friendship. Adrienne is Rene's girlfriend with whom Julian secretly is infatuated with, and then there is Charlotte whom Rene is sleeping with, and Felix is in love with.
With their friendship on rocky terms, the three men head to Germany to study with a famous German expressionist. Once there, Felix is pressured into joining the family business when his father asks for his help to create a plan to destroy Germany’s modern artists, and soon Felix becomes involved with the Nazi party. As the Nazis rise to power what's left of the men's friendship is torn apart. Felix's jealousy toward his friends' artistic talents begins to consume him. Julian is asked to become a German spy. And Rene is feeling the pressure from loved ones to leave Germany and go back to Paris. Meanwhile, Jewish painters are being persecuted and killed and their artwork is being confiscated. Soon the men are caught up in the Nazis' plans to destroy modern art and are in great danger.
One thing that I really enjoyed about Fugitive Colors is that it told a different story and perspective about WW2 and the Nazi regime, compared to other historical fiction novels I have read. Fugitive Colors really highlighted artists and what they experienced and went through, along with what happened to famous art during this time. If you are a fan of historical fiction and art, I would recommend reading Fugitive Colors by Lisa Barr.
****
All Yakov Klein wants to do is become an artist. With his parents not accepting his passion, he leaves Chicago and heads to Paris to pursue his dreams. Once in Paris, he rebrands himself as Julian Klein and meets Felix von Bredow, a German aristocrat, and Rene Levi, a young French artist. The trio quickly becomes best friends, until two women — Adrienne a talented French artist, and Charlotte an artist's model and also a prostitute — come in between their friendship. Adrienne is Rene's girlfriend with whom Julian secretly is infatuated with, and then there is Charlotte whom Rene is sleeping with, and Felix is in love with.
With their friendship on rocky terms, the three men head to Germany to study with a famous German expressionist. Once there, Felix is pressured into joining the family business when his father asks for his help to create a plan to destroy Germany’s modern artists, and soon Felix becomes involved with the Nazi party. As the Nazis rise to power what's left of the men's friendship is torn apart. Felix's jealousy toward his friends' artistic talents begins to consume him. Julian is asked to become a German spy. And Rene is feeling the pressure from loved ones to leave Germany and go back to Paris. Meanwhile, Jewish painters are being persecuted and killed and their artwork is being confiscated. Soon the men are caught up in the Nazis' plans to destroy modern art and are in great danger.
I don’t understand all the 4-5 star reviews and the award given to the author for this book. I managed to finish it but had to put it down at times. It was described as a fast paced thriller which it is not. It reads more as a suspense novel, but with uneven pacing. The first third of the book is somewhat plodding, although the pace picks up after that. I tried to like the main protagonist, Julian, but his repeated spineless behaviour became nerve racking. Again and again he would argue with one of his friends about the wisest course of action and ALWAYS gave way to the other person, ALWAYS leading to disaster. This pattern went on way too long.
It was also unbelievable that two Jewish young men, who were already suspicious of the person inviting them, would travel to Nazi Germany. Then the abrupt 20 year jump toward the end without much filling in on Julian’s day to day life (where exactly was he living all that time?) other than a statement he was obsessively investigating Felix, came across as a “let’s wind up this story now” device.
The dialogue was quite overly dramatic at times as well to the point of not being realistic.
I finished it because I really don’t like quitting on a book, but I was really disappointed.
It was also unbelievable that two Jewish young men, who were already suspicious of the person inviting them, would travel to Nazi Germany. Then the abrupt 20 year jump toward the end without much filling in on Julian’s day to day life (where exactly was he living all that time?) other than a statement he was obsessively investigating Felix, came across as a “let’s wind up this story now” device.
The dialogue was quite overly dramatic at times as well to the point of not being realistic.
I finished it because I really don’t like quitting on a book, but I was really disappointed.
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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:
No
They never think that we are capable of outsmarting them—saving our paintings before they have a chance to destroy them. Julian shook his head in disbelief. "I see. The goal is to save the art but not the artist?" "It is the art that matters to all of us. We come and go but our art lives on."
Fugitive Colors
Lisa Barr
•
Lisa Barr can write a book for me any day. After devouring her upcoming March release Woman on Fire (and if you missed my interview with her, you can find it in my Instagram Highlights) I set out to read her backlist. Lisa and I discussed the fact that both Woman on Fire and her first novel, Fugitive Colors, weave in the degenerate art movement led by Hitler to demonize and destroy all the modern art in Europe. For Barr, it stems from a dark personal history as her father is a Holocaust survivor.
•
Barr is a master at plot structure and Fugitive Colors was every bit as suspenseful as Woman on Fire - in no way did it feel like a freshman novel. She crafts setting, character and story so expertly but for me it is the way she brings us historical fiction and humanizes a horrific but important piece of history; her career as an investigative journalist is so apparent because her grasp of history and her passion for art shine through her fiction.
•
I swore off most historical fiction a few years ago after feeling much of it had become formulaic (exactly the way I feel about thrillers) but if you put Lisa Barr and art history between the covers of a book, I am here for it.
•
I said this about Woman on Fire and I'll say it about Fugitive Colors as well - these need to be movies! The writing is so vivid and the story so exciting, I could see it as I read and I'm not even a big movie goer so that is saying a lot.
•
Last note is that I found this on audio and it was SO well done. Multi narrator presentation that was so well performed. Highly recommend that option.
•
Fugitive Colors
Lisa Barr
•
Lisa Barr can write a book for me any day. After devouring her upcoming March release Woman on Fire (and if you missed my interview with her, you can find it in my Instagram Highlights) I set out to read her backlist. Lisa and I discussed the fact that both Woman on Fire and her first novel, Fugitive Colors, weave in the degenerate art movement led by Hitler to demonize and destroy all the modern art in Europe. For Barr, it stems from a dark personal history as her father is a Holocaust survivor.
•
Barr is a master at plot structure and Fugitive Colors was every bit as suspenseful as Woman on Fire - in no way did it feel like a freshman novel. She crafts setting, character and story so expertly but for me it is the way she brings us historical fiction and humanizes a horrific but important piece of history; her career as an investigative journalist is so apparent because her grasp of history and her passion for art shine through her fiction.
•
I swore off most historical fiction a few years ago after feeling much of it had become formulaic (exactly the way I feel about thrillers) but if you put Lisa Barr and art history between the covers of a book, I am here for it.
•
I said this about Woman on Fire and I'll say it about Fugitive Colors as well - these need to be movies! The writing is so vivid and the story so exciting, I could see it as I read and I'm not even a big movie goer so that is saying a lot.
•
Last note is that I found this on audio and it was SO well done. Multi narrator presentation that was so well performed. Highly recommend that option.
•
The beautiful prose paints a stunning picture, and makes a dark, tragic tale sing with life.
I absolutely loved this story, that I am wanting more! If you are a fan of historical fiction you have to read this! Set in the mid 30s, just before the explosion of WW 2, Julian Klein, budding artist, goes to Paris to learn from the masters. Instead he gets swept in the rivalry and friendship of Renee Levi and Felix Von Bredow. The story travels from Paris to Germany where modern art was stolen, confiscated from art houses, collectors homes, sold and auctioned by the Nazis, and used to fund German warfare. There is jealousy, deception, love and passion. A really great read!
I received this novel through Goodread's First Reads. The beginning section in Paris is interesting enough and immerses the reader in art, though not the art scene of Paris of the time, but instead how art effects the lives of the characters. This effect of art is the driving force of the plot, but the reader loses this for some time as the action moves to Germany. From then on, the plot is continuously brutal and desolate as the characters make the same repetitious mistakes. The writing was not gripping enough for me to want to continue reading about characters I admired being thwarted again and again. Some characters seem to not change enough while the identities of others swing across the spectrum. However, the ending redeems whatever faults the middle of the book has and completely changed my opinion of the novel, but I don't know if this is due to the actually quality of the writing or my own sentimentality
Friendship, loyalty, love, obsession, betrayal, art, and war. What more do you need for a good story?
Julian Klein has always loved art even though it was technically against his religion. As a child, he stole art books from the library and taught himself to draw and paint. As an adult, he journeys to Paris in 1933 to attend a well-known art school. However, on his first night there, he meets three avant-garde artists, Felix, Rene, and Adrienne, who invite him to ditch conformist art school and paint with them. He agrees. They form a bond that revolves around art.
With a love triangle, art, and persecution, this book encompasses so many human emotions. I loved Lisa Barr's writing style and the depth of the research it took to write this book. I won it as a Goodreads giveaway and I'm very glad I did!
Julian Klein has always loved art even though it was technically against his religion. As a child, he stole art books from the library and taught himself to draw and paint. As an adult, he journeys to Paris in 1933 to attend a well-known art school. However, on his first night there, he meets three avant-garde artists, Felix, Rene, and Adrienne, who invite him to ditch conformist art school and paint with them. He agrees. They form a bond that revolves around art.
With a love triangle, art, and persecution, this book encompasses so many human emotions. I loved Lisa Barr's writing style and the depth of the research it took to write this book. I won it as a Goodreads giveaway and I'm very glad I did!