Rating: 
Summary: THIS BOOK INFUSES A LONG-AGO ERA WITH VITAL BREATH
Review: How many of us remember our days at school -- high school or college -- having the classics rammed down our throats, when a gentler method might have instilled in more of us an appeciation and love for the masterful works of Greece and Rome in their heyday? Ovid, of course (at least when I was in school, lo these many years ago) was glossed over by my teachers -- his works were far too seeded in the 'forbidden' emotions of physical love for the school boards of the day. Jane Alison's incredible novel THE LOVE-ARTIST brings Ovid, his contemporaries and their society vividly to life for the reader -- the story she tells is no cold biography, but a living, breathing imagined life. Her characters -- Ovid, and especially Xenia -- are enthralling, exotic, erotic and (most importantly) BELIEVABLE. Their thoughts and emotions and motives, as layed out for us in this enthralling tale, make for as compelling a read as I've come across in recent years. The story begins with Ovid being exiled from Rome by the emperor Augustus -- he is being transported through the Roman night seated on a wagon, flanked by two soldiers saddled with the boring (to them) duty of ridding Augustus of one more irritation. As the great poet begins to recall the events that led to his societal downfall, the rest of the story is told in a lengthy flashback. On holiday on the Black Sea, far from Rome, as his masterpiece THE METAMORPHOSES is about to be published, Ovid is seeking both relaxation from the tensions of life in Rome as well as inspiration. He knows that in order to regain favour in the eyes of the emperor, his next work must be not only astounding in its scope, but acceptable to the powers-that-be. Almost as soon as he sets foot on land after his long sea journey, he is astonished to see a beautiful, exotic, wild young woman shoot up out of the sea as if she had been launched by a catapult. She is Xenia -- gatherer of herbs, caster of spells, exorcisor of demons, reader of dreams and futures among the people in the remote region where she lives. She captures Ovid's imagination -- and his heart -- almost immediately. He sees in her all of the wild creatures from his METAMORPHOSES brought to life in a human being -- and he sees in her a muse, his inspiration for his next work. He becomes obsessed with her -- he must have her, he must bring her back with him to Rome. Xenia is fully aware of Ovid's work -- and she soon comes to realize that the lanky Roman who is watching her from his hidden (he thinks) spot in the woods is the great poet she has so long admired. She is not completely wild -- she can read Latin, and has devoured Ovid's books. She is equally obsessed with him -- she sees in him a great opportunity for immortality, to be famous. They set their sights on each other almost simultaneously -- and the machinations they first have in mind give way in both of them to love. The tale that follows -- with Ovid returning to Rome with Xenia -- is part love story, part mystery, a small epic of betrayal and magic and political power. Alison's writing is achingly lyrical -- it is perfectly suited to her subject, matching her imaginings of Ovid's life with the mood left us from the genius of his own writings. The story is enthralling and hard to put down -- and one of the finest novels I've read in some time. The experience was so rich that I didn't want it to end -- even as it whirled to its inevitable conclusion (which, thankfully, Alison's talents imbued with not a few surprises). This novel is a real treat.
Rating: 
Summary: Judge a book by its cover
Review: I admit, I sometimes judge a book by its cover. In this case, I was not disappointed. "The Love-Artist" is a rich work. During his banishment from Rome, the great writer Ovid meets Xenia (no, she's not a warrior princess). Xenia is known for her healing talents. She intrigues and inspires Ovid, who returns with her to Rome. But when Ovid decides to use her as the subject for his play "Medea," he creates situations meant to drive Xenia to the brink of madness. How does his muse cope with these manipulations and has Ovid take the charade too far? Jane Alison's writing is eloquent and full of great imagery and exacting emotion. The characters themselves are well developed and believable. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Wish It Were All True
Review: I loved David Malouf's, "An Imaginary Life" so I was sure I would love "The Love Artist" as well. I was not wrong; I do. While "An Imaginary Life" tells the story of the Roman poet Ovid's life after his exile, "The Love Artist" tells us about what led up to that exile. These details are all imagined, of course, but this book is so well-written and so enjoyable, one can't help but wish it were all true. "The Love Artist" is told in a frame. It opens with Ovid's arrest and exile, then flashes back to tell the story of the events leading up to that arrest and exile, until the Epilogue, set, once again, at the time of his arrest. At the time of his arrest, Ovid is Rome's most fashionable and famous poet and he has just finished Metamorphoses. Knowing he'd better leave Rome for awhile, he vacations on the east coast of the Black Sea, close to the home of Medea. While on holiday, he meets a beautiful young herbalist, Xenia, a woman with mysterious powers who will change the course of his life when she makes him her lover and he makes her his muse. Xenia and Ovid have the same wish in life, "To be known. To be remembered. To live forever." Ovid and Xenia return to Rome where it seems as though everyone except Augustus is quite pleased with Metamprphoses. Even Augustus's hated granddaughter, Julia, is entranced by it. Ovid, under the patronage of Julia, begins a new work, the now lost play, Medea. The above sets up many questions that have to be answered in the pages of this book. What happens when Xenia, now pregnant, discovers that the beautiful Julia is Ovid's new patron? Will Xenia commit the same heinous crime as did Medea? Will Ovid and Xenia find eternal life? What will be Xenia's ultimate fate and the fate of her children? You have to read the book to find out the answers. What we do know about Ovid is scant. We know that he was "probably" exiled because of Augustus's displeasure with The Art of Love. But what happened to his play, Medea? Only two lines remain. And why was Julia, Augustus's granddaughter exiled at the same time as was Ovid? While the characters in "The Love Artist" are fascinating to read about they aren't people anyone would care to know in real life. They are all plotting, secretive, and very selfish and self-centered in their bid for power and immortality. And yes, even bloodthirsty. None of the characters knows what the others are up to and, most of the time, neither do we. This heightens the suspense of "The Love Artist" and its eventual horror is made all the more terrible by virtue of being told in language that is lyrical in its beauty. Although Augustus seems to be the most fair and reasonable character in the book, we can't help but be fascinated with Ovid and the entrancing (but evil) Xenia. The fact that Alison could fashion a novel as rich and lush as "The Love Artist" from these tiny fragments of
history is not small feat. This is a lyrical, fascinating and dense novel revolving around the themes of corrupt love, a creativity that has destruction at its core and an unquenchable desire for immortality, a desire that will render a person capable of anything. Anyone who is interested in ancient Rome or in the poetry of Ovid should love "The Love Artist." It is engrossing and holds one's interest from the first page to the last. I only wish it would have been longer. I just wanted this book to go on and on.
Rating: 
Summary: A noble attempt at explaning a classical author..
Review: I wanted to like Jane Alison's "Love Artist". I really wanted to see if she could bring new life into the story of Ovid. Well, she didn't, and I was left feeling confused and a bit hallow. In this tale, Ovid meets an unusual "sorceress" named Xenia, and they fall in love, and he brings her back from the Black Sea coast to his Rome, where "Metamorphosis" has just came out. There, Ovid gains the patroonship of Augustus's only granddaughter, who dispises her grandfather so much she aborts a pregnancy, thus robbing him of heirs. Anyway, parts of the book are quite erotic, but I don't quite understand how it ended badly for them. Alison is too vague mostly, and this detracts from the story.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent first novel
Review: Jane Alison has written a terrific first novel in The Love Artist. I would recommend that the interested reader reads Ms Alison's novel and then reads David Malouf's An Imaginary Life, which is a truly great work of imagination. This is not to slight The Love Artist as to compare Jane Alison with David Malouf is a compliment indeed. I look forward to her new novel with much anticipation.
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Summary: Brief Look at Love and Transformation
Review: Jane Alison's novel, The Love Artist, takes a little that is known and a lot that is unknown concerning the writer Ovid and his banishment from ancient Rome and creates a beautifully written tale of love and transformations. The character of Xenia, a woman both from, but not of, the Black Sea area is the personality that the story revolves around. She is like Ovid's writing come to life and she inspires him to greater heights. The author makes this ancient world come alive and is successful in fashioning breathing personalities for both Ovid and Xenia. The story, though, at times feels like a novella and the fascinating character of Julia, the emperor's grand-daughter (who will share a fate with Ovid) sometimes seems lost behind the two major characters when she should have been given a little more space. That aside, this is a pleasant, sweetly-voiced novel about a man who will live forever.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Story
Review: The book starts off with the poet Ovid's being sent to exile in the first century A.D. Rome. Why could this extremely popular poet have done to cause the Emperor to send him away? The author spins a tale of a man looking for inspiration, who believes he has found it in a woman named Xenia, whom he meets on holiday by the Black Sea. Xenia returns to Rome with Ovid, becoming his muse and lover. When Ovid gains the Emperor's granddaughter as a patron for his newest (and he believes best work), lies and jealous thoughts starts to tear Ovid and Xenia apart. The writing captures you and takes you straight to the streets of Rome and into the lives of Ovid and Xenia. Yet, a couple of times I felt a bit lost, for the writing was a bit vague, and left things to the reader's imagination.
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational
Review: The other reviewers have summed up the book pretty well. I found the book extremely inspirational. The first half of the book generated 3 love poems (one of which is my favorite poem I have written to date) and the second half of the book generated two unusal love poems. Any book that can inspire five poems is powerful. I only give it 4 stars because, like the others, I found the story hastily summed up. Please read this book with an open heart to the beauty of love and art.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: This book is so boring that it makes other boring things seem interesting. Nothing happens - it is just a bunch of pretty description. Characters are vague and uninteresting. Plot is boring. I didn't even read the book - I wasted my time just scanning over the page praying to be done soon. And it is finally over. I never knew that 240 pages could strench on for sooooooooooooo long. Even 'Lord of Flies' seems interesting comparing to this. Hell, I'd rather be reading Stephen King than this. That is how bad it is.
Rating:
Summary: Boring
Review: This book is so boring that it makes other boring things seem interesting. Nothing happens - it is just a bunch of pretty description. Characters are vague and uninteresting. Plot is boring. I didn't even read the book - I wasted my time just scanning over the page praying to be done soon. And it is finally over. I never knew that 240 pages could strench on for sooooooooooooo long. Even 'Lord of Flies' seems interesting comparing to this. Hell, I'd rather be reading Stephen King than this. That is how bad it is.
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