Book Review: The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

The story helped the miles pass as we listened to the 17 discs over several long trips. The Swan Thieves tells the sad story of a disturbed man and his obsession with a painting which he tried to destroy with a knife in the National Gallery, and the story of the painter and the subject of the canvas he attacked.

The two stories are meshed nicely by author Elizabeth Kostova. My traveling companions thought the purpose of the novel was to tell the story of the artist Beatrice, adding Robert Oliver only as an interesting way to tell her life story as a gifted but thwarted artist.

I thought the names of the people in the story were significant. Beatrice was adored by Robert Oliver and an inspiration for his art in The Swan Thieves, just as a different Beatrice was the muse for the poet Virgil in the Aeneid. Marlow the psychiatrist observes and tells most of Robert's story in Kostova's book, just as a different Marlow observed the crazed Kurtz in Conrad's The Heart of Darkness. The connections just popped into my mind as I listened to The Swan Thieves.

Reactions to the audio version: The voices matched the characters very well, I thought, except in the case of Beatrice. I could tell that the reader was not French and only trying to imitate a French accent for Beatrice. As a result, many of words sounded as if French speaking Beatrice was speaking English with a lisp. Beatrice's lisping bothered me till almost the very end of the audio. The other speakers, including Anne Heche as Robert's first wife, were excellent.

Art lovers and those who like women's fiction will enjoy The Swan Thieves, as will anyone eager for good storytelling.

The Sunday Salon: Ho, Hum week

Welcome to the Sunday Salon!  You can join in and sign up by clicking on the salon logo.

In between full time work, I did only two book reviews the past week. I tried to sneak in as many pages of reading as I could during lunch and breaks. I'm on the computer all day but can't blog, of course. It's been a busy but Ho Hum week.

Posted a review of The Writing on My Forehead: A Novel by Nafisa Haji (March 2009) for TLC Book Tours, plus a guest post by the author on writing.

The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett, detective fiction, also got a review, which I changed around a few times as I had a hard time expressing how I felt about the book. There was just so much to it.

I'm half way through The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata, a short novel about the beauty of the old Kyoto, the ancient capital, and about a young girl finding out that she is adopted. Straight forward and easy to read.

I reviewed a new mystery novel, Murder in the Palais Royal (Aimee Leduc Investigations, No. 10) by Cara Black, set in Paris. One of my favorite mystery series.

Then there is a love story, Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright, a debut novel which I've started but not yet finished!

On the 6-hour drive to and from Canada last weekend, we listened to 8 discs of the 17-disc audio of  The Swan Thieves: A Novel.  My hubby, who loves art and a good mystery, really liked it. 

It will rain tomorrow. Later, I'll take down the old robin's nest in the tall bush/tree outside my window. I think robins build new ones each year.

Ho, hum, time to turn in! What did you do last week?