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A review by marjorieapple
Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death by Laura Cumming
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
2.5
I really enjoy non-fiction books about the history of art or about specific artists and I have read several by audiobook. I read Thunderclap by audiobook. There does not appear to be any supplemental PDF of images to go along with this text. That's unfortunate because the complexity of the Dutch names and the painting titles made it difficult to look up the images online while reading. Its obvious Laura Cummings is deeply passionate about the subject matter: her father's role in her life, Dutch art, and the thunderclap. It seems like she has done a lot of homework. However, the documentary evidence just doesn't exist anymore and so she fills in several blanks with guesses. I found the writing style to be a tad too breathless for me, personally. Art history is not edge-of-your-seat stuff, even for those of us who love it. The memoir woven into the book meandered far and wide. She references current day catastrophes, Covid deaths, war zones in Algeria, color blindness, and more. I quite enjoyed some of these and found others somewhere between unnecessary and confusing. She refers often to her father, a Scottish painter and uses her knowledge of him to illustrate many of her suppositions about 17th century Dutch artists. However, I don't believe she names him, except to refer to him as "my father." I'm sure most readers will google him and his paintings to better understand her references.
I tried to read The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt late last year. While I loved Tartt's writing, the story was to unrelentingly tense, I had to give it up about halfway through--too stressful. However, I loved the set-up that introduced me to the painting, "The Goldfinch." I'm curious about the connection between Tartt and Cumming, and "The Goldfinch."
I wanted to love this book because I was deeply interested in the subject matter and revere The Women's Prize. I can't say disliked it. It was moderately interesting. Had I been able to see images supporting the text, I think I would have found it much more engaging. I thought the book was trying to do too much. And sadly, I thought it was book that mostly benefits the author, not the reader. I won't read it again. For any future someone researching Carel Fabricius, the facts are so woven in amongst memoir and guesses that I think "Thunderclap" would a difficult source to use. I can't say for certain since I just finished the book, but I doubt this book will stay with me except for knowing that the the thunderclap of the title occurred and how impactful it was to the city of Delft and its citizens. Cumming's research and the deep peek into the lives of all the artists she discusses, including James Cumming, is worth 2.5 starts. I liked it. If you are going to read it, if the physical book has illustrations, read that. If you read by audiobook, Laura Cumming reads the book. She has a lovely accent and voice, but I don't think she added in any tangible way to the reading experience.
I tried to read The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt late last year. While I loved Tartt's writing, the story was to unrelentingly tense, I had to give it up about halfway through--too stressful. However, I loved the set-up that introduced me to the painting, "The Goldfinch." I'm curious about the connection between Tartt and Cumming, and "The Goldfinch."
I wanted to love this book because I was deeply interested in the subject matter and revere The Women's Prize. I can't say disliked it. It was moderately interesting. Had I been able to see images supporting the text, I think I would have found it much more engaging. I thought the book was trying to do too much. And sadly, I thought it was book that mostly benefits the author, not the reader. I won't read it again. For any future someone researching Carel Fabricius, the facts are so woven in amongst memoir and guesses that I think "Thunderclap" would a difficult source to use. I can't say for certain since I just finished the book, but I doubt this book will stay with me except for knowing that the the thunderclap of the title occurred and how impactful it was to the city of Delft and its citizens. Cumming's research and the deep peek into the lives of all the artists she discusses, including James Cumming, is worth 2.5 starts. I liked it. If you are going to read it, if the physical book has illustrations, read that. If you read by audiobook, Laura Cumming reads the book. She has a lovely accent and voice, but I don't think she added in any tangible way to the reading experience.