An engaging exploration of what it takes to make art and, more importantly, what it takes to love those who make it.
When love and art collide in Sophie Stark’s life, art always wins.
Sophie, a filmmaker, is elusive in the way we're told only true geniuses can be. From a precocious age, she flits in and out of people’s lives, as her career moves from that of a cult favorite to the highest levels of fame. Though she’s the book’s focal point, her voice is never part of the story; instead, the reader only comes to know her from the perspectives of those who love and watch her, one person and one chapter at a time. Tragedy haunts each section as Sophie keeps choosing to put her art ahead of everybody she loves, whether it’s her college girlfriend, her ex-husband, or the people she crashes with in between relationships. With every betrayal, Sophie’s art improves, and her mental health crumbles further. The novel builds slowly, and, though its denouement is promised by the book’s title, it unfolds with a surprising depth of feeling. Articles by journalist Benjamin Martin appear between most of the chapters; his growth lends a quiet parallel to the growth of Sophie's career, which fleshes out the book nicely. North’s writing is assured and engrossing, though the voices of those who love Sophie are fairly similar, creating the effect of a Greek chorus rather than separate narrators. If we're to accept the cliché that human kindness is the price of great art, it's a welcome change to see a woman play the role of tortured artist and to hear instead from those who are left behind in her pursuit.
An engaging exploration of what it takes to make art and, more importantly, what it takes to love those who make it.Pub Date: May 19, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-399-17339-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This overlong (946 pages) and rather pretentious first novel concerns itself with the impasse of the modern intellectual, living in a world where everyone wears a false face of one kind or another, wanting to believe in something, and "knowing" too much to have faith in anything. The scene is Spain, Rome and Paris in Europe, New York City (mainly Greenwich Village) and a New England town in the United States, and at moments an unnamed Central American Republic. The characters, and they multiply- since Mr. Gaddis has tried to write a "novel without a hero", range from hipsters and homosexuals to spoiled Catholics and Puritans to aimless pseudo-intellectuals, town drunkards, and religious fanatics. In what is also a novel without a defined plot, the most interesting parts concern Wyatt Gwyon, as his various activities take him from forging old masters in New York to Spain where he attempts to find some kind of truth; and his father, a New England minister who converts himself to Mithraism- sun worship. But the main fault of the novel is a complete lack of discipline. Gaddis writes with ease and vigor about a Greenwich Village gathering, but repeats this sequence many times. He knows many odd facts about ancient religious and he injects them all. He is familiar with many languages, and there are passages in Spanish, Italian, French, German, Latin and even Hungarian. It is a pity that, in his first novel, he did not have stronger editorial guidance than is apparent in the book for he can write very well- even though most of the time he just lets his pen run on.
Pub Date: March 10, 1955
ISBN: 1564786919
Page Count: 976
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1955
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quick-witted and ultimately hopeful look at what it takes to make a marriage last.
A couple decides to save their relationship by attempting an open marriage.
Jessica and Mitch Butler have a happy marriage. Well, happy enough. Married for years with two children, it’s inevitable that they won’t feel the swells of passion every day, right? But when their three best couple friends get divorced around the same time, Jessica and Mitch start to reevaluate things. They thought their friends’ marriages were fine, but something tore them all apart. And, naturally, Jessica and Mitch start to wonder if the same thing could happen to them. So, to stave off the divorce that now seems inevitable, they try something dramatic: an open marriage. More specifically, an “evolved” marriage, one that allows each of them to have sex with other people, with several rules in place (no repeats, no one they know, etc.). Jessica immediately hits it off with a young, sexy bartender who sweeps her off her feet, but Mitch has more trouble connecting with women. And both of them realize, with help from their divorced friends, that dating is a lot different now that apps are on the scene. Although Jessica and Mitch’s plan may be a bit out of the box, their relationship and feelings are believable. Norman (We’re All Damaged, 2016, etc.) also creates a plethora of rounded, quirky side characters, including Jessica’s teenage therapy patient Scarlett and Mitch’s nerdy student Luke. When all of those characters come together in the story’s climax, the result is a scene worthy of a Shakespearean comedy.
A quick-witted and ultimately hopeful look at what it takes to make a marriage last.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984821-06-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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