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The drama of the story is set against the New York art scene. There is a lot in this book about perception of art (a common theme in Hustvedt’s books, I think, although this is only the third one I have read). I’m struggling to articulate something about Bill’s art (he paints and sculpts and places the pictures and sculptures in boxes or behind doors) and Mark’s life. It’s almost like Mark lives out something his father might have created, but Mark shows us the hidden elements that come from him being human and not just a work of art. I need to think about this a bit more. I read a review in The Guardian that says: "She (Hustvedt) is interested in the gap between the shared story and the individual reading." And it is almost as if Bill’s art is the individual reading and Mark’s life is the shared story. I really do need to think on that, though, as it could be complete rubbish! La segunda parte se inicia con un trágico hecho, y es muy de agradecer la inteligencia y delicadeza que la autora muestra al tratarlo, tan fácil de empujar al escritor menos hábil o respetuoso con el lector por el precipicio de un sentimentalismo de lagrimita fácil. También es digno de admiración su talento para construir el crescendo de tensión y suspense que es la parte final de la novela, un inquietante thriller que te agarra y no te suelta hasta casi el final.
The story focuses on our narrator, Leo Hertzberg, his wife, Erica, their son, Matthew and the family of Bill Weschler. I’m deliberately not saying much about Bill’s family as I don’t want to accidentally post spoilers. Leo recounts to us the lives of his and Bill’s families as they go from young adults to old people. There is tragedy, there is love and, being Siri Hustvedt, there is art and philosophy. Todo cuanto amé', de Siri Hustvedt, es una de las novelas más inteligentes que he leído últimamente. ¿Cómo calificar un libro de inteligente, por su erudición, por su estructura narrativa, por las ideas y pensamientos que desarrolla, por la trama...? Sin duda, 'Todo cuanto amé' cumple todos estos requisitos y algunos más. Hustvedt has mainly made her name as a novelist, but she has also produced a book of poetry, and has had short stories and essays on various subjects published in (among others) The Art of the Essay, 1999, The Best American Short Stories 1990 and 1991, The Paris Review, Yale Review, and Modern Painters. Bendrai visa Trace Moroney knygelių serija ("Kai jaučiuosi piktas", "Kai jaučiuosi geras", "Kai jaučiu pavydą" ir t.t.) yra puiki ir labai gerai tinkanti mažų vaikų susipažinimui su emocijomis. It is hard when you read a lot not to have one book remind you of another. This book reminded me of another I loved, Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. Like that book this one explores the life and times of two couples.Wonderfully intriguing characters. Hustvedt's description of Bill's artwork is so wonderful that it seems as magical as the real thing. I wish they existed. I wish I too could see and touch them. And the character analysis is marvelous. Here is a direct quote of a conversation occurring between father(Leo) and his young son(Matt):
Two books - both having 5 stars - can be so very different. Isn't that what makes literature so marvelous?! knyga skirta visai mažiems vaikams ir remiasi pozityvios psichologijos principais, todėl labai nustebau radusi joje tiek neiginių ir prastai suformuluotų sakinių, kaip antai: Leo Hertzberg, o narrador, é um intelectual judeu, professor de história da arte na Universidade de Columbia, escritor e ensaísta, que se apaixona por um quadro, uma pintura de uma mulher, que decide comprar, pintado pelo desconhecido artista Bill Wechsler – nascendo entre os dois uma “irrevogável amizade”. The painting Leo bought hangs in his apartment and is a touchstone for his telling of the story. He also keeps objects, artifacts and photos in his desk drawer - something I would describe as an alter. This drawer is another touchstone that helps advance the story, giving him an opportunity to tell the history of their Jewish families as well as the story of their lives. And what a story of life this is, in all it's complexity. No es raro que pase por nuestra mente la famosa novela de Lionel Shriver “Tenemos que hablar de Kevin” en algún momento de la lectura de esta novela, pues es, como ya muchos habrán adivinado, una novela sobre los hijos, sobre el deseo de tenerlos, sobre las conexiones que con ellos establecemos, sobre la responsabilidad que asumimos o nos echamos encima en la conformación de su personalidad, … “Supongo que todos somos producto del gozo y el sufrimiento de nuestros padres. Sus emociones permanecen grabadas en nosotros del mismo modo que la huella de sus genes.” … sobre el horror de perderlos, sobre el orgullo o la decepción y hasta la aversión que nos puede provocar su conducta, sobre la facilidad con la que nos engañamos acerca de sus virtudes y defectos, sobre como todo ello afecta a todas nuestras facetas de la vida.I had a hard time at first deciding if this novel was largely a character study or plot driven but so much happens and there is such depth in these relationships that I just stopped analyzing and became fully invested in how Hustvedt tell this story, she really does a most interesting tale justice. But he talks funny too, Dad." Matt stopped talking and I waited. I could see that he was thinking hard. My son thought with his face in those days. His eyes narrowed. He screwed up his nose and tightened his mouth. After several seconds he said,"He talks like me when I am pretending." Matt deepened his voice, "Like this - I'm Spiderman." Don’t get me wrong, the quality of Hustvedt’s prose is astonishing. What I Loved is filled with wholly-believable details. The sections of the novel that revolve around artwork and artists are clearly well-researched, and Hustvedt extracts beautiful and affecting symbols from the art that surrounds her characters. Hustvedt comes across as someone highly interested in the human condition. Kitap üzerine söylemek istediğim çok fazla şey var aslında, hatta çok sevdiğim bir kitaptaki kurgunun gerçeğe dönüşmesini okumanın heyecanı üzerine uzun uzun anlatmak istediklerim var. Lakin o kitabın ismini verdiğim anda bütün gizem dağılıp kitabın tadı kaçacağı için susuyorum. Umarım Can yayınları bu kitabı yakın zamanda yeniden yayın programına alır. Çok beğendim.
It doesn’t often happen, but this book really hit an emotional chord with me; days after I put it down, it kept on haunting me. The story itself is about a mix of family situations, relationship problems, moments of hapiness and despair, but also death and psychosis, and at a certain point it even evolves into an outright horror story. That sounds a bit trite but Hustvedts characters are people of flesh and blood, with big and small yearnings, very own psychological mindsets, uncertainties and wrong assumptions, and with very divers reactions on tragic events. They go through endearing, tender moments, but also through absolutely horrible experiences. The emotional load sometimes is so raw and realistic that the reading gets on the verge of the bearable (at one point it reminded me of Elena Ferrante’s early novels). Unfortunately, she chooses to probe her characters as if they were sliced up and put beneath a telescope. There’s little warmth in her characterization; she seems so intent on capturing her characters’ neuroses in fine detail that she forgets to make them compelling or likeable. The artwork that the protagonist directly engages with might be memorable and affecting, but the long descriptions of artwork that only tangentially relate to the plot become boring and repetitive. Reading a description of paintings you can’t see is a bit like hearing someone describe their favourite song – an ultimately empty experience.
I have rarely read a novel of such intensity. And it touches on so much: the art world as well as art itself, relationships of many kinds, family, love, loss, psychology and the outsider, the world that is New York City, personas......much more that I'm forgetting (or avoiding for spoilers sake). But then is is titled "What I Loved" and it lives up to it's title. Another thought about this book - love and sex and life are gorgeously intertwined; intellectually, emotionally and beautifully limned
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