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Jul 02, 2011

K.D. rated it:

What I loved. Take note of the past tense. It evokes painful memories of the past. Things that we used to cherish and treasure that are no longer there. It evokes the feeling of losing something or someone either physically like a dead father or emotionally like an ex-lover. Come to think of it, there seems to me a big blur between physical and emotional losses. A dead father may not be physically present but emotionally, he still resides in our hearts. An ex-lover may still be there physically More...

15 comments like (19 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Shovelmonkey1 rated it:

I love Paul Auster. Having discovered him through the joys of the 1001 books list, I've now read almost everything he ever wrote and just when I was getting to the end of his stuff and wondering how I could get my hands on more Paul Auster stuff (short of holding a gun to his head and forcing him to write faster), along comes the literary off-shoot of Auster that is Siri Hustvedt. What!? I hear you yell in supportive indignation for Mrs Auster and her right to be recognised as a successful and t More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2008

Jean rated it:

The writing was rich and very compelling. It's been a long time since I've thought about characters when I wasn't reading about them. The bits about art, perception and time that were thrown in as the characters developed and progressed through the plot were moving too.

The story is divided into three parts. I was drawn into the first two parts completely. The third part I resented on some level. Thinking about it now, it's the mark of a well written and executed story because I More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2007

Mark rated it:

This is a tremendous book, and I was sorry that it had to end. I would appreciate a sequel, because Hustvedt has given so much intricacy to her characters; it would be wonderful to find out what happens to them. She mixes art, both modern and classical, into a novel with rich themes such as art's immortal quality juxtaposed with our mortal inevitability. (Her immense knowledge is not boastful like Byatt's, though.) She examines the many facets of love, unrequited love being the most painfully su More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 21, 2007

Caroline rated it:

It was a complete coincidence that I picked this book up at the library at the same time that I took out Paul Auster's Book of Illusions. As it turns out, the author of this book and Auster are married, and this book is dedicated to him. There are parallels in the themes they handle: loss of a child, deep and paralyzing grief, detailed descriptions of fictional pieces of artwork, vacations in Vermont. It's strange to read about those things from the perspective of two authors whose real lives ar More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Gemma rated it:

I consider this book to be truly wonderful. My fellow London commuters clearly thought I was crazy as I cried over passages on a number of trains. I think the past tense in the title succinctly communicates the loss dealt with by Hustvedt.

I didn't initially like the descriptions of the art installations, and had difficulty visualising them. As I progressed through the novel I began to enjoy them more.

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2008

Carolee rated it:

Because I've been engaged in a book club with three others--one who likes fiction, one who likes it with reservations, and a third who views it with trepidation--I've been thinking about why I like fiction so much. Modern fiction, classic fiction, whatever--what always draws me is the way human nature is portrayed. What does it mean to be human? Is it sad, broken, lonely, joyful, complicated? Yes.

This book is, for me, the dream of fiction, in that it tells us a story, and transports More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2008

Alan rated it:

Here is a big, ambitious novel about four talented, intelligent people -- artists and intellectuals in New York -- who first find love and friendship and then immense suffering. Bill, a talented and original artist, leaves Lucille, his emotionally stunted wife, for Violet, his passionate, vivacious model. Meanwhile their friends Leo and Erica live upstairs pursuing their own ecstatic marriage. The two couples have sons almost at the same time -- Mark and Matt. They vacation together in Vermont, More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2008

Ed rated it:

Ok, so Tobey recommended this one to me, perhaps not with much enthusiasm, but with at least a "it didn't suck" recommendation. I have to say that I agree, indeed, it didn't suck. The intellectual nature (lots of references to art history primarily) of the book was definitely compelling, and overall, I did enjoy the book. So my minor complaint (without spoiling too much) is that there were a couple sections where the book was slow, i.e., not much development of plot and/or character More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2007

Elyssa rated it:

This book had been sitting in my "to-read" pile and I am glad I finally read it. The characters were strong and interesting and the story kept me engaged. The setting of pre-gentrified Soho was an unexpected treat. Part way through, a segment of the novel felt familiar to me and after doing some internet research, I realized that it paralleled the Michael Alig drama that took place in NYC in the 1990s (Google his name for more details). The author's stepson was peripherally involved, s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 27, 2008

Evelyn rated it:

An amazing book. One of those you just can't put down.

The story plays out in three parts, and the first two were utterly transcendent. The third part is totally compelling, and I couldn't stop reading until I'd finished the book, but somehow the mid-portion of the last part felt a bit false, as if the author were trying too hard to capture the downtown Manhattan zeitgeist of the '80s and '90s. Still, the end was very moving and the characters and story are hard to forget.

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2007

Arwen rated it:

Sometimes a book just asks to be read. My friend Efrat left this at my house for me to read, and I hadn't quite gotten around to it until I opened the New York Times special real estate Sunday magazine of all things and saw a photograph of Siri Hustvedt's garden in Brooklyn. I took it as a sign that I should read her book, and fell immediately into the story. Some of the descriptions of art are a little tedious but the portraits of people are intense and beautiful. I feel like I'm learning more More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2008

Tara rated it:

All the words in this book soaked into me, got under my skin and pulled me beneath the surface. Hustvedt's characters breathe in the pages, and the two huge plot twists in the book hit me like body blows. The book centers around a group of friends and lovers who are all artists and academics, all searching for some kind of logic in human interrelations, never consciously realizing that the torturous social viruses and resulting self-loathing that they map out in their paintings and poems and b More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 23, 2008

Tina rated it:

So excited to be starting this!

Just finished 9/22 and really enjoyed it. I got really caught up in the middle 60% of the book and could not put it down. That meant for some much to late nights. I loved the characters and was talking back to the book as I read because some of their actions made me so mad! I can't remember the last time I've done that.

I can't say I was disappointed in the ending - although I wasn't thrilled with it. I did immediately go back and read th More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 26, 2007

Bess rated it:

It is rare that you can find a book with beautiful writing that you also can't put down. I read this book the way that I read a Harry Potter, in a furry to find out what happens the characters that I have developed such an affinity for. I sat in public and cried and cried for the characters, I could not stop reading this book. It is so much more than that though, it is a beautifully written and complex book about real life and real love and real relationships. It is all mimicked in the intri More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Sandra rated it:

One of the great things about the library is that I can take a chance on books that I'm not sure if I'll like, since I don't have to pay for them. One of the bad things about the library is that if that risk pays off, I've read a fantastic book, but I don't own it to re-read at my leisure. And it feels silly to buy a book I've already read, when there are so many books out there that I want to read and haven't yet. And this conundrum has risen again, thanks to What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt.
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May 03, 2011

Nicola rated it:

The second half of What I Loved might have made an enjoyably-erudite ‘thinking man’s’ thriller set in the art world of the ‘80s and ‘90s, but the meandering first half – about affluent Manhattanites and their dull, pretentious lives – makes the book, as a whole, perhaps admirable, but hard to like.

One often comes across perfectly entertaining novels that seem to have trouble getting started. Instead of plunging their reader straight into the action, they begin with ten pages of backsto More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Espen rated it:

This celebrated novel took me a long time to start - one of those I have had intentions of reading but never got around to. A birthday gift settled the matter - and it is a very good book, spending the first third drawing a large canvas and the rest ripping it apart. Following two families (the connection formed between art historian Leo Hertzberg and artist Bill Wechsler, their wives and eventually sons) in New York over 25 years, it opens slowly and then gradually accelerates into a thriller o More...

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Aug 26, 2010

Judy rated it:

Siri Hustvedt is married to author Paul Auster and is an amazing writer. This novel combines art, artists, friends, crime and psychology, all set in New York City and though it is something of a thriller, the pace ebbs and flows between page turner and literary beauty.

In 1975, art historian Leo Hertzberg begins a friendship with painter Bill Wechsler. They both marry and each has a son. The families, including both of Bill's wives, remain friends for 25 years. Through joys and traged More...

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Mar 27, 2010

Jenny rated it:

This cautious, detailed novel, set in New York City, is slow but well worth reading. It’s about the NYC art world, about marriage, and about understanding and being understood. The narrator, Lev Hertzman, is an art historian, and it’s the story of his friendship with an artist, Bill Wechsler. Surrounding both men are their wives and sons, and each character is drawn vividly through small expressive gestures.

Bill, the artist, depicts what he loves symbolically, while Lev, the art More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 09, 2010

Pierce rated it:

I was reading this for a while and said to dad at one point "It's very Paul Auster isn't it?" and then found out a) written by a woman and b) she is MARRIED to Paul Auster! So while it wasn't note-for-note or anything, and I realise they both write novels drawing from the kind of life they lead in New York, and are both obviously leading roughly the same life, still. Probably not a good thing that their tone and styles are overlapping so much.

Very much liked the first two thi More...

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Jan 15, 2010

Joselito rated it:

Reading this book is just like watching a Big Brother TV show. Your interest from start to finish is hooked by author Siri Hustvedt's smooth, forceful, detailed and no-frills narrative even though there is nothing spectacular about the plot. You keep on reading because the characters are well-developed and you want to find out what happens to them next.

The narrator is one of the male protagonists, Leo. You know, however, that the author is a female [author Paul Auster's wife:]. She e More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 06, 2009

Layal rated it:

This is the first book I ever read by her. At first, I hated it. My rule when beginning to read books is that the introduction has to be interesting. Or it should at least get me curious about what is yet to come. This book began in a queer way, one that I wasn't used to. I remember trying to read it from time to time but dropping it after a couple of paragraphs. One day, though, I was determined to at least TRY to read more than one page of this book. As I tried...I went past twenty...thirty... More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Khaya rated it:

The New York Times claims that this is a rare book -- both intellectual and a page-turner. Well, the former is true; the latter decidedly not.

Leo, the protagonist, is an art historian who develops a long-term friendship with Bill, an artist. Their friendship endures through tumultuous times -- parenthood, divorce, remarriage, tragedies with the children, etc., etc. There's a sort of mystery toward the end, though not a particularly satisfying one.

The writing was good, More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 27, 2011

Asa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Apr 29, 2010

Kate rated it:

About halfway through, I noticed a quote from an Elle writer in the book's front matter: "A deeply psychological crime novel..."; I was so confused at first, I had to check to make sure the pages of quotes weren't raving about another book. But yes, it is not inaccurate to call this a crime novel--those just aren't the terms I would use. Rather, I'd call this a requiem.

Leo Hertzberg, 71 and nearly blind, tells a story of two families that spans 26 years. The story is heavi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2011

Blair rated it:

I never learn. This book had been knocking around the house for a while, but I hadn't really been interested in reading it, due to a combination of factors but primarily because a) the cover didn't interest me and b) one of the most prominent quotes on the jacket describes it as 'a love story'. As I've said before, while I always appreciate well-written relationships/romances in books, defining something purely as a love story is pretty much a surefire way to put me off. So it was for no particu More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 06, 2011

Robin rated it:

Nearly a week after finishing this book and I'm still having a hard time deciding whether or not I enjoyed it. The first two-thirds of the novel was amazing, even hauntingly beautiful. The backstory is so artistic that I felt I was relating my own life to art while reading. The story begins to become muddled in the last third of the novel. Because Hustvedt was showing the reader a man's life? Or because she herself became distracted by the story? Less beautiful, more haunting but either way almo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 23, 2010

David rated it:

The second book in as many months that spoiled a fine effort in the beginning and middle with a rushed, incongruous end. It's not that the first two sections were without blemish---the narrative achieves a forward momentum but feels mechanical, plotting, at times even abusive; the author seems overly in love with critical theory and leaves it bare in her own story---but there was cause to hope for a redemption in the third act. Instead, what there is is this weird, almost Manichean struggle be More...

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Jan 10, 2010

Bookants rated it:

A compelling read, intense and deeply absorbing. I had to keep myself from reading the last bits of the book to find out what eventually happens and how the story ends. It starts off simple, but grows to be more complicated and mysterious. Every chapter leads you to wonder what eventually would happen to the character; it evokes question marks and it's not surprising to find yourself flipping back to the previous pages, re-reading some passages again to see if you've missed out on something impo More...

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