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The Portrait |  | Author: Iain Pears
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy Used: $0.01
as of 3/14/2010 07:39 PDT details
You Save: $12.99 (100%)
Seller: fusillyg
Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 444828
Media: Paperback
Pages: 224
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 159448175X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781594481758
ASIN: 159448175X
Publication Date: April 4, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9781594481758 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
An art critic journeys to a remote island off Brittany to sit for a portrait painted by an old friend, a gifted but tormented artist living in self-imposed exile. The painter recalls their years of friendship, the gift of the critic's patronage, and his callous betrayals. As he struggles to capture the character of the man, as well as his image, on canvas, it becomes clear that there is much more than a portrait at stake...
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
 Wonderful. But don't read it. February 9, 2010
Bic (Illinois, USA)
Iain Pears deserves all of the praise he gets. An Instance of the Fingerpost--what a book. The Portrait is well worth reading, also. But may I suggest NOT reading it? Listen to it instead.
Not all books lend themselves to dramatic readings. Some are ruined by it. But Simon Vance's reading of the The Portrait is perfect. Yes, that's the word I meant to use. Perfect.
It's hard too judge whether I would have enjoyed the book on the page as much as I enjoyed it read aloud. But my guess is, as good as the book is on its own merits, Vance breathed extra life into it--and from the very first line: "Well, well, well."
A view to an announced murder September 14, 2009
Maria Teresa Cibabene (Gavi, Italie)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've found this novel very interesting and deep. And very unique, I must add: there is only one acting character, the murderer. From the very beginning you know this man, a former famous painter now a sort of a hermit, will kill his model, a powerful art critic. There is no described action, only the monologue of the painter talking to his model while painting his portrait. Through his words we get knowledge of his personal story, from his hopeless childhood in Scotlands to his arrival to London, then to Paris, and then back to London. We meet other characters, always through the painter's narrative, and apprehend how the critic toyed with their hopes and lives, leading a couple of them to a miserable death. When the portrait is finished, the painter kills this hideous man. You'll never know whether he manages to get away with it, or has to pay for his crime. Nevertheless, it's not an amoral novel: it's aim is to look below the surface and expose the cruelty of apparent do-gooders.
The language is accurate, with deep remarks about the condition of women at the end of the XIX century, the development of friendship and hate, guilt and innocence, the structure of colours, the significance of light and sea to human life.
An awesome book!
Good book July 21, 2009
Sixx chick (MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I am happy to say I really enjoyed it. Yes, it is strange-the whole book is one character's view. There is no dialogue. Even so, I really found myself wanting it to go on. There is history of art thoughout the book, which I found very interesting. Overall, I recommend this book!
I agree: Pears IS fabulous! December 26, 2008
Marianne
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I just finished "The Portrait" and am now reading "An Instance of the Fingerpost." Pears was recommended to me by a retired Stanford professor who knew I was trying to write historical fiction. "The Portrait" was the first book of his that I read, and I found it a fascinating exercise in voice-driven narrative. The ending was completely un-anticipated (in a good way). Now, having started "An Instance of the Fingerpost," I admire Pears all the more because the two books could not be more different.
I adore a writer who takes risks. He is brilliant.
the world of art and its vices :-) October 20, 2008
Aleksandra Nita-Lazar (MD, USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
In the monologue of the reclusive painter, Henry Morris MacAlpine, "The Portrait" reveals, why Henry has accepted the commission of his former protector and friend, the art critic William Nasmyth, to paint William's portrait.
Henry has invited William to his modest home on the island of Houat, just off the coast of Brittany, small and populated mostly by fishermen. Over the course of several sittings, Henry paints William's portrait, at the same time reflecting on the events from his life and their common past at the beginning of the 20th century.
Henry's monologue tells the reader more about Henry himself than about the viciousness of William - from Henry's youth in Scotland and apprenticeship in the printing shop, through the beginning of his painting career, time spent in Paris and his relationship with William. Evelyn, a young, independent woman painter, is introduced as Henry's love, and Jacky, the model, as her friend. The tragic events from the past unfold, and a sense of menace looms over as Henry describes his portrait plans for the triptych. All the fragments of the puzzle come together, creating a terrifying whole.
The form of monologue, used by Pears also in "An Instance of the Fingerpost" is an interesting tool, because the point of view is skewed and the narration is regulated by the character, who tells the story. Here, the monologue goes rather slowly, and many details initially seem irrelevant, but there is nothing superfluous. I was surprised by the subtle, but definite shift in my attitude to Henry, as I was reading -at first, I believed him and really saw William as a villain - towards the end I realized that Henry himself is not much better and his role in the tragedies he remembers and accuses William of causing, is at least as significant as William's.
The author's specialty, art history, is visible in the way Henry is shown as a painter - I loved his story about the design for a tin, when he felt like an artist for the first time.
The very end did not strike me as I thought it would. Maybe I counted on more emotionally moving imagery... But I liked the story and was happy to have read it - it got me thinking of the artists, their view of the world, their attitude and freedom.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 34
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