What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt
Genre: Contemporary/Literary Fiction
Dark, delicious, sensual, creepy…
For one of my first reviews, it’s only fitting that I review a book that successfully grabbed me by the nosehairs and dragged me, bumped and bruised, through an emotional, psychological, and intellectual ride like no other.
Leo Hertzberg is an art historian. He falls in love with a painting, meets the artist, and two families instantly become friends. Leo is married to Erica, Bill (artist) is married to Lucille, but that soon changes when Bill divorces anal Lucille and marries Violet. Don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler. You find that out by page 50 or so.
This book is so hard to describe because there’s SO MUCH going on. It chronicles 25 years of Leo’s life and all of the major things that can happen within such a large frame of time. Love, loss, tragedy, terror. And I do mean TERROR. The first 1/3-1/2 of the book seems like a meditation on life, art, friendship, relationships, love, pop culture, psychology….maybe a little history thrown in. Then, BOOM, the rest of the book is a psychological thriller. I can’t bring myself to say too much about specific plot points as it might ruin the experience for a potential reader, so I’m being purposely vague here.
The book made mention of a ton of things I love. The art world in general…the world of galleries and snobs, creative people that must create much like they must breathe, turbulent emotions that accompany art and artists, and, of course, trends and sensationalism. There was also a good deal of talk about studies in psychology including hysteria, famous works of art, artists, fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, films, and even the graphic novel Maus, by Art Spiegelman.
What I Loved is a very emotional read that brought me to tears on several occasions. It also made me feel queasy with dread at times. Hustvedt is a vivid writer, and either she’s very knowledgeable about a ton of topics or she’s a great researcher. While the two major genres encompassed by this book (epic saga and psychological thriller) wouldn’t seem to naturally go together, they flow seamlessly and make for a believable, involving book.
Just go pick it up. Maybe you can explain it better than I can.
Dark, delicious, sensual, creepy…
For one of my first reviews, it’s only fitting that I review a book that successfully grabbed me by the nosehairs and dragged me, bumped and bruised, through an emotional, psychological, and intellectual ride like no other.
Leo Hertzberg is an art historian. He falls in love with a painting, meets the artist, and two families instantly become friends. Leo is married to Erica, Bill (artist) is married to Lucille, but that soon changes when Bill divorces anal Lucille and marries Violet. Don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler. You find that out by page 50 or so.
This book is so hard to describe because there’s SO MUCH going on. It chronicles 25 years of Leo’s life and all of the major things that can happen within such a large frame of time. Love, loss, tragedy, terror. And I do mean TERROR. The first 1/3-1/2 of the book seems like a meditation on life, art, friendship, relationships, love, pop culture, psychology….maybe a little history thrown in. Then, BOOM, the rest of the book is a psychological thriller. I can’t bring myself to say too much about specific plot points as it might ruin the experience for a potential reader, so I’m being purposely vague here.
The book made mention of a ton of things I love. The art world in general…the world of galleries and snobs, creative people that must create much like they must breathe, turbulent emotions that accompany art and artists, and, of course, trends and sensationalism. There was also a good deal of talk about studies in psychology including hysteria, famous works of art, artists, fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, films, and even the graphic novel Maus, by Art Spiegelman.
What I Loved is a very emotional read that brought me to tears on several occasions. It also made me feel queasy with dread at times. Hustvedt is a vivid writer, and either she’s very knowledgeable about a ton of topics or she’s a great researcher. While the two major genres encompassed by this book (epic saga and psychological thriller) wouldn’t seem to naturally go together, they flow seamlessly and make for a believable, involving book.
Just go pick it up. Maybe you can explain it better than I can.
posted by Anonymous at 3:34 PM
2 Comments:
Andi, I'm reading this now, so I've avoided the bulk of your review. I'd like to respond to it once I'm done, though.
We're writing non-spoiler reviews here, eh?
Ya, I was just worried about you spoiling for me and vice-versa. :)
Post a Comment
<< Home