Rating:  Summary: Sometimes Life is Wonderful; Sometimes Life is Hyacinth Blue Review: This bittersweer yet vibrant novel has many highlights that reward the reader throughout. Author Vreeland paints an amazing history of a mysterious and hidden work of art, making character after character come to life as she describes their various ownerships of this painting. The journey of the painting throughout the text will fascinate readers with an appreciation for classical art or art history. Vividly depicted scenes demonstrate the heart-felt desire for artistic beauty felt by many, despite social class standing or unbringing. As with any commodity, art and art collecting is deeply intertwined with monetary considerations, fashion and power. All these factors influence the owners, and the history of the picture.Written originally as several related, but separate short stories, each chapter takes you back to another tale of the painting and its possessor. Supplimental naratives were written to fill in historical gaps; each story remains a complete tale in itself. Put together in reverse chronological order, this literary device works to stunning effect in this novel. The mystery of whether or not this painting was actually created by a famous old master, and how it began its long, fascinating journey are kept under wraps until the final chapter, when all the pieces and emotions rendered throughout come to a sad and realistic climax. This is not necessarily a happy work. The focus is frequently on sadness and loss, but always realistically portrayed. Sometimes life is wonderful, but sometimes life is something else. The author was fighting a potentially terminal illness at the time of writing, admitting later that it heavily influenced her style during the writing process. Like Newton's Law of Action and Opposite Reaction, she really connects with the fact that most times, where there is a gain by one person, there is a loss by another. Or to get something, or keep something that you need, you have to give up something else with tremendous value. That's life. This book is highly recommended for its originality and honesty, the exceptional use of reverse chronological order, and a beautiful and fluid story. There is an interview with the author at the end of the book, as well as a brief reader's group guide with discussion questions. Girl in Hyacinth Blue is most accurately rated at 4.33 out of 5.00 stars, rounded down to 4 stars.
Rating:  Summary: "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" an unexpected treat Review: "Girl in Hyacinth Blue," like "Girl With A Pearl Earring," explores the legacy of Dutch master painter Jan Vermeer. It is a fictitious account revolving around the discovery of a previously unknown Vermeer painting as viewed from several historical eras as the painting falls into the hands of new owners (done in reverse chronological order). The novel begins in the present, with a German math teacher confiding to a colleague about his father's stolen Vermeer, dubbed "Girl in Hyacinth Blue." The rest of the novel is a series of short stories that trace the lineage of the painting: the Jewish family in Antwerp that Otto Engelbrecht (the father of Cornelius, the math teacher) had stolen the painting from, an adulterous Frenchwoman in exile, a husband remembering his first love, a Dutch family in 1717 that rescued an infant in a flood, the father of the infant, and finally Vermeer's inspiration for the painting. Full of lush details that bring the various historical eras into sharp focus, Vreeland's descriptions paint the fictitious "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" not only as a remarkable painting ("certain brush strokes subtly changed their tint," "the russet of the girl's skirt glistened like maple leaves in autumn sun," "creamy yellow light the colour of the inner petals of jonquils illuminated the girl's face and reflected points of light on her shiny fingernails," "the blue in the girl's smock, which hung in graceful folds of that luscious deep blue of the early hyacinths when the blooms are just beginning to open"), but as a captivating presence in the lives of its owners. Sweeping across several generations and owners from all walks of life, "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" is a fascinating read about the impact of true art on daily life, and the legacy of a truly gifted painter.
Rating:  Summary: A Real Worth While Read!!! Review: This is the first time I've ever read anything by Ms. Vreeland and I found her topic and storytelling to be very entertaining and very descriptive. This story tracks the path of a painting thought to have been created by Vermeer and we follow it from present day to back to the day it was created. This is really a story that is made up of several short stories each standing on it's own and the different effects this one painting had on each owner. I found this to be a very entertaing read and look forward to reading my by this very talented author!
Rating:  Summary: An Amazing Read Review: Girl in Hyacinth Blue, a book of historical fiction by Susan Vreeland, is an amazing read. Though there are eight separate stories in this book, they are all connected. It all takes place in the Netherlands, a believable setting since that is a real place. Also, each detail Vreeland includes about the villages and cities for settings make them seem very real. The story begins with a teacher at a boarding school who has inherited a painting from his father, and he believes it to be a Vermeer painting. The first chapter tells how this painting affects the man and what he feels about it. Nearing the end of the chapter, it is unsure what will happen to the painting, if it will be kept or destroyed. After being introduced to the painting, the following seven chapters tell a story of many other people connected to it. They have all been affected deeply by it in some way or another. Susan Vreeland is very descriptive in her writing. As I read, I can just paint a picture in my mind of each thing as she describes it. I also liked the way she divided the book into eight stories that are all connected, because you get to see how an object that passes through numerous generations can really affect people more than it seems to. It's also fun to explore all different times in history, as this book begins in the present and goes back to the late 1600's. Susan Vreeland especially develops the painting, the Girl in Hyacinth Blue, as the main character. As I read through the story, I could eventually just imagine every detail of the painting and was amazed at how an object could be such an inspiring character. The painting affects every supporting character in some way, and really makes this an enjoyable book. Also, the other characters use plenty of dialogue, making it easy to imagine each person as they came along and know how they talked and felt about things. I would recommend this book for teens or above. This would be an especially good book for people who enjoy art. However, the topics discussed in the book are ones all kinds of people could relate to. The book covers many of the things that people go through in their life, which includes love, natural disasters, and death. Overall, I think lots of people would find this book exciting and interesting to read since it is very different from any book I have ever read. It has eight very different and amazing stories that make this book a fast but very awesome read.
Rating:  Summary: A Fascinating Journey Through Time Review: When a shy, private-school math teacher, Cornelius Engelbrecht, discovers a canvas thought to be a Vermeer, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, a touching and beautifully-written book, begins a fascinating journey back through time to trace the history of the painting. Engelbrecht's father's dying words had been, "An eye like a blue pearl," referring to the female figure in the painting, that of a young woman in a blue smock and rust-colored skirt, standing beside an open window. Although Cornelius feels captivated by the painting, he also feels a sense of shame at how it came to be in his father's possession. From the revelation of what, exactly, the elder Engelbrecht did, we then move backward through time from the point of view of one owner to another, all the way back to the painting's point of origin. Each time the painting changes hands, there are high hopes, a time of optimism, until it finally falls into Cornelius' hands and he realizes how it has been tainted by history. The single thread running through each story, the one that connects each character, is this lovely painting, the painting of the Girl in Hyacinth Blue. One of the most fascinating things about this lovely little book are the details of family life and the history that can be found in each vignette. Like the painting, each "story-within-the-novel" seems to be a frozen moment in time and Vreeland's language in painting her own word portrait is both formal and concise as she offers lush detail and wonderful insight. Much in the book is tender and sad and it truly touches the heart. We feel the pain of these characters and identify with their suffering. They are real people and we can almost believe the painting is real as well. The central section of the book, and the one that is most fascinating, is called "Morningshine," and focuses on a Dutch family who are isolated in their farmhouse and surrounded by floodwaters. The following passage is indicative of Vreeland's beautiful, but rather spare, prose: "Saskia opened the back shutters and looked out the upstairs south window early the second morning after the flood. Their farmhouse was an island apart from the world. Vapors of varying gray made the neighboring four farmhouses indistinct, yet there was a shine on the water like the polished pewter of her mother's kitchen back home. Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so, she thought. But it wasn't so. And the cow would have to stay upstairs with them until it was so, however long that was, stay upstairs messing the floor and taking up half the room." The above-passage clearly shows Vreeland's talent for evoking a sense of time and place. This is in evidence throughout the book and makes it highly atmospheric and charged with the energy of the times. Moments of serendipity are scattered through Girl in Hyacinth Blue as are the harsh realities of the times: hunger, poverty, misery. At one point, in Saskia's story, she is scolded by her husband for feeding their hungry children the seed potatoes he intended to plant in the spring. This is a fascinating and extremely well-written book, a little masterpiece, just like the Vermeer it creates. It is a book that will appeal to readers of popular literature and those with more literary tastes as well as to art lovers everywhere. Beauty, says Vreeland, is necessary to life. Judging from the beauty of this book, beauty might be just as necessary to life as are next season's seed potatoes.
Rating:  Summary: In a word: dull. Review: This book is utterly DULL, and I don't often say that about many novels. I usually trudge through to the end of most books I start, as I consider myself a tenacious reader and think it a bit unfair to give up on a book before reading it in its entirity. I could not, however, finish this flat, characterless, plotless series of disjointed stories. YAWN!
Rating:  Summary: So boring barely read it... Review: I had such a banal time reading this tedious book I stopped reading within a few chapters. Uninteresting, undetailed, not at all intricate... if other children besides me have read Girl with a Pearl Earring, I could certainly make no comparison. This book completely drew my attention elsewhere... to the table, to the chairs and other things around me. I found myself being lured by that beautiful cover. But the book is so terrible...
Rating:  Summary: Good painting, bad story Review: This cover represents the beautiful painting of a young girl... but do not be fooled. With boring characters and a "safe" storyplot, this story is a child's version of Girl with a Pearl Earring, but it doesn't really work... after a few pages, I find myself sarcastically enticed about this book. Yawn!
Rating:  Summary: Good Vacation Book Review: I wish I had read this before I read The Girl with the Pearl Earring. That book overrode any references this book makes with regard to Vermeer's genius. But that is not to say the books are similar. It's just that, particularly in the final chapters, Vermeer's genius is too shallowing presented. The Vermeer in this book is a fictional work, and the treatment, following its provenance back through time, is a worthy idea. How much do we wonder at the hands throughout time that have held a masterpiece? Consider how rapt we were at the history of The Red Violin. Each chapter explores the times and personal hardships of its historical owners, but each owner, I think, is dealt with in a summary way. Each life could have been dealt with more thoroughly. But I found that one could easily leave off reading this at the end of a chapter and that's why I called it a good vacation book. I also found that Vreeland used the painting as a sort of talisman, bringing good fortune to the good, and bad luck to others, with a couple of exceptions. All in all an interesting idea, well worked.
Rating:  Summary: Unusual and enlightening Review: Like "The Lady and the Unicorn," or "The Bark of the Dogwood," this book is a wonderful and balanced cross between literature and a page turner. Great story, great characters, and great author make this one of the most enjoyable reading experiences you'll ever have. Also recommended: "The Bark of the Dogwood" and "The Lady and the Unicorn."
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