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The Center Of The World (2013)

by Thomas Van Essen(Favorite Author)

3.54 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1590515498 (ISBN13: 9781590515495)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Other Press

review 1: I'm a half-rabid Turner fan and ran across a mention of this book in the general info swirling around Mike Leigh's biopic coming to the US soon: Mr Turner. It won the Palme d'Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival. So I was expecting too much, something akin to standing in front of a Turner in a quiet museum gallery. But this book is another case of Great Idea/Indifferent Execution. It reminds me of Nancy Horan's 2007 bestseller, Loving Frank, about the complicated love life of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. That one was painful to read--the conception of the story was truly brilliant, but why couldn't it have come into the head of a better writer? The Center of the World is told in the same plodding tone. The characters are stubbornly one-dimensional and colorless--so unlike ... morea Turner!--and the reader has to bear up under numerous repetitions of the same action from supposedly different POVs. The voices all sound the same, whether coming to us from 18th century upper-crust England or 21st century middle class America, and none of them has a whit of poetic brilliance. Over and over again the author makes excuses for his own pale descriptive abilities by putting apologetic words in the mouths of his stiff and vapid characters. They tell us how little they can convey their sense of wonder, of color and power, how powerless they are to say what they feel. So the brilliant promise of the story escapes into helplessness. It's like looking of a copy of a copy of a copy of a Turner. I admire Mr. Van Essen for the keen imagination it took to conceive of this story, the research he did to bring the tools to the table, and the fact that he got it beautifully published. But oh it disappoints.
review 2: The premise--that a painting, presumably through the agency of the ancient gods, should wield such power over its viewers--is fascinating. Clearly art has psychological power over us, but could it have an almost physical control, expanding one's grasp of the world and its processes and at the same time becoming an addiction? From a literary point of view the book is mostly well done, except perhaps that the ending is not very satisfying. The historical characters are interesting and speak with a distinct voice from their own times. The plot provides enough suspense to hold the reader's attention in addition to the strong characters. I am repelled, however, by the moral universe of the work. Lying, cheating, stealing, and infidelity all seem to be justified in the end to obtain or keep the painting. Whatever the painting inspires in its viewers, such as feelings of grandeur, understanding of the universe, and appreciation of beauty, it does so by trashing friendship, honor, integrity, and love of others. All the pagan vices but none of their virtues. less

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