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A review by thebobsphere
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall
4.0
I remember reading an article by Marie Kondo stating that if we keep books longer than two years on the TBR stack, there’s a possibility that we won’t read them and when we do, we won’t like them.
Well she is WRONG
Having read and hated Sarah Hall’s second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, I admit I was bit curious to see if this would provide the same reaction. In actuality I rather liked it. The book is ambitious, interesting and manages to tell a strong story.
How to Paint a Dead Man comprises of four narratives: One is a painter who likes doing still lives of bottles, narrative two is a blind artist who visits his grave, three is an up and coming artist who corresponds with the painter and the fourth narrative consists of the up and coming artist’s daughter recounting her career as a curator and is mourning her dead twin.
Although it sounds complicated, Sarah Hall manages to weave all the narratives together coherently and touching upon themes such as grief (death features quite a bit here), how painting techniques have evolved and how art can reflect life. I have probably said in the past that I am a sucker for intertwining narratives and this worked for me.
Saying that it’s not perfect, as in Electric Michelangelo, sometimes I find Sarah Hall’s writing style to be a robotic and now and then that occurs. However Sarah Hall does give each narrative a different voice so to counteract the stiff prose, there are moments where it becomes delicate, not unlike a painting itself.
To go back to Marie Kondo’s nonsense: How to Paint has been on my TBR for 14 years and I actually enjoyed it. That’s all I’m saying.
Well she is WRONG
Having read and hated Sarah Hall’s second novel, The Electric Michelangelo, I admit I was bit curious to see if this would provide the same reaction. In actuality I rather liked it. The book is ambitious, interesting and manages to tell a strong story.
How to Paint a Dead Man comprises of four narratives: One is a painter who likes doing still lives of bottles, narrative two is a blind artist who visits his grave, three is an up and coming artist who corresponds with the painter and the fourth narrative consists of the up and coming artist’s daughter recounting her career as a curator and is mourning her dead twin.
Although it sounds complicated, Sarah Hall manages to weave all the narratives together coherently and touching upon themes such as grief (death features quite a bit here), how painting techniques have evolved and how art can reflect life. I have probably said in the past that I am a sucker for intertwining narratives and this worked for me.
Saying that it’s not perfect, as in Electric Michelangelo, sometimes I find Sarah Hall’s writing style to be a robotic and now and then that occurs. However Sarah Hall does give each narrative a different voice so to counteract the stiff prose, there are moments where it becomes delicate, not unlike a painting itself.
To go back to Marie Kondo’s nonsense: How to Paint has been on my TBR for 14 years and I actually enjoyed it. That’s all I’m saying.