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127th out of 261 books
—
155 voters
The Tattoo Artist
by
Jill Ciment (Goodreads Author)
In 1970, Sara Ehrenreich boards a small plane and returns to New York City with much fanfare; she will be featured in Life magazine. She has not left Ta'un'uu–the South Seas island upon which she and her husband, Philip, were marooned during a storm–in more than thirty years. Sara doesn’t know that man has landed on the moon. She has never seen a ballpoint pen. Her body is...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
October 17th 2006
by Vintage
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Brilliantly told. The premise - the avant-garde descending on the "savages" for no other reason than their misguided, self-enamored quest for true ethnic art, only to be up for a momentous wake-up call - may seem a tad self-evident and tired, but what Jill Cement accomplishes here is beautiful. For me, who's never cared much for tattoos, it was a fabulous journey into the world of (self)expression, physical beauty, and skin-deep judgement. I look at heavily tattooed bodies somewhat differently n...more
The story is simple: rich young idealistic Jewish Marxist artists lose money in Great Depression; try to regain status by cashing in on "primitives"; become stranded in the wilderness; lose hope, comfort, life; find something that has no name. Try to go back. Can't.
In only 200 pages, Ciment manages to reveal a world and mind as vast as human nature. Art. Culture. Masks. Adornment. Civilization. Home. Creation and destruction. Leaving and returning. Vanity and assimilation. And of course the big...more
In only 200 pages, Ciment manages to reveal a world and mind as vast as human nature. Art. Culture. Masks. Adornment. Civilization. Home. Creation and destruction. Leaving and returning. Vanity and assimilation. And of course the big...more
Mar 13, 2011
Jessica
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
tattoo artists, obv.
Dude, if I were some big-shot Hollywood-type chick, my people's ass would be on the phone this instant with Jill Ciment's people's ass securing the movie rights to this book. The Tattoo Artist would make such an awesome film! It's so intensely visual in this way that would be great to see shot with a huge budget and put on a big screen. Awesome face tattoos! Period settings! Jungle and beaches! Sex! Violence! Extreme weather! Arty stuff! And because it was short and did have very tight structure...more
My fingers are a bit sensitive today hitting keys trying to find the right words for this unique story. I will be cautious, about my love for this book, I will recommend it, but I don't want to go over the top confessing my thoughts, I don't want it to be a let down for anyone else by "talking it up".
With that said, I would like to get my own copy of this book, so it can be buried with me. I want to lie under a beautiful tree on a beach or a mountain top and read it in the afterlife. Oh, I have...more
With that said, I would like to get my own copy of this book, so it can be buried with me. I want to lie under a beautiful tree on a beach or a mountain top and read it in the afterlife. Oh, I have...more
By the end of the third sentence, I was hooked.
The structure of the book is just about perfect. Sara, the protagonist, tells us in the prologue exactly what has happened and where she'll be by the end of the book. You already know the plot before you get to the first chapter, but you don't know the story.
Ciment does an amazing job with Sara's voice. Even though the story is past tense, you forget and get caught up with what's going on and feel like you're experiencing it in present time. When Sa...more
The structure of the book is just about perfect. Sara, the protagonist, tells us in the prologue exactly what has happened and where she'll be by the end of the book. You already know the plot before you get to the first chapter, but you don't know the story.
Ciment does an amazing job with Sara's voice. Even though the story is past tense, you forget and get caught up with what's going on and feel like you're experiencing it in present time. When Sa...more
First of all, potential readers should know that this is not a novel about modern day tattoos, but about a woman that fancies herself an artist. The first part is about this woman, Sara and her life as a struggling artist in New York in the 1920's going on 30's. Her and her lover Phillip bored me to tears. In all fairness, I am not an artist, so perhaps fabricating art out of people's old gold teeth may appeal to others. It just did not appeal to me. Part two is interesting. It introduces the is...more
I picked this up from the library bc it looked OK and I needed a book to read on vacation. I did enjoy the book once the characters left Manhattan and got to Ta'un'uu in the South Pacific. I was bored and annoyed by the female character being used by her boyfriend for "art" while they were in NYC and I was also not really impressed by the historical/art references (Diego Rivera, etc). The characters were whiny until they accepted the native culture and I disliked both of them pretty much through...more
Jan 15, 2008
Lauren Tamraz
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2006,
seriously-good-fiction
Excellent story about a shipwrecked artist who falls in with indigenous tattoo-ing tribe in the South Pacific during the 1930's (?)Seriously good read.
I loved this book. I had a chance to hear Jill Ciment read from this book when she received the Kafka prize in Rochester a few years back, and purchased the book at the reading, but only just now got around to reading it. I wish I had read it sooner. She makes this a lovely musing on art and its power to shape our identities, and on how our personal expression is both a mask and a revelation. I certainly enjoyed Ciment's unique ability to say so much with so little. The language, and the story,...more
Nov 04, 2009
Catherine
added it
I couldn't put this book down! It's a fantastic little novella (200 pages) about an artist who visits a South Seas island to purchase masks for rich collectors and ends up stranded there for 30 years. She learns the art of tattoo from locals and uses her body as a blank canvas, tattooing every inch. Ok so this story may not appeal to everyone but I personally want to write Hollywood and beg them to make a movie! Beyond the adventure story it should appeal to people interested in historical novel...more
American Modernist painter Sara, is stranded on a South Pacific Island for 30 years. Her story begin as a Lower East side shopgirl who falls in love with a Marxist revolutionary. They create art throughout there tumultuous marriage, and end up trying to collect native masks from a South Sea Island at the start of WWII. After the death of her husband, she learns the art of tattooing from the natives. Her life story is painted onto her own body to help her cope with the grief.
The author transports...more
The author transports...more
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS:
It is impossible to read this novel without becoming emotionally involved in it and to put yourself in the shoes of several of the characters. So many pivotal turns made me question what I would do should I have been in the same situation. When Phillip died I was balling. I felt so sad for him and my heart was literally breaking for Sara.
This novel read more like a memoir than a body of fiction. Ciment has a gift for telling stories and her writing takes over one's...more
It is impossible to read this novel without becoming emotionally involved in it and to put yourself in the shoes of several of the characters. So many pivotal turns made me question what I would do should I have been in the same situation. When Phillip died I was balling. I felt so sad for him and my heart was literally breaking for Sara.
This novel read more like a memoir than a body of fiction. Ciment has a gift for telling stories and her writing takes over one's...more
Walking through the library recently, I saw this book, totally judged it by it's cover and checked it out. I couldn't stop reading it until it was done, yet it didn't leave me emotionally attached to it either. I loved the story, it was unique and beautiful, and I swear there were times I could feel the pain of the tattoo needles. There were times I wanted to choke Phillip and moments I wanted to cry for Sara. It weaves beautiful artistic images in your mind as you read, and the only way I can d...more
A quick but somewhat disappointing read. The concept sounds awesome in theory, but Ciment's execution is overly simplistic and general. I had almost no feeling for the characters, whose interesting backstories are completely rushed, and I found the metaphors — seamstress who turns to the tattoo needle, Jewess marked not at the concentration camp, but by another tribe — to be a little light for my tastes. In fact, the story doesn't really get involving until the final chapter, when Sara returns t...more
So real that I thought I'd seen this woman on the cover of Life magazine in the 50's. Story of two bohemian artist types who go to a remote South Pacific island, and not rescued as was the original plan. They are first tortured by being tattooed by the natives. Over time, the central character becomes a tattoo artist herself and she ends up with a fully tattooed body as does her American partner. She is rescued 30 years later and becomes a cover girl (woman) for Life magazine. I could have sworn...more
My one complaint about this novel is that I wanted more. The story is well crafted and concisely rendered. Perhaps a little too concise? There are brief, but lovely moments of reflection and inner dialogue that build a sense of the main character, Sara, without entirely revealing her. The reader is kept at a respectable distance - a device that I found entirely interesting. By the end of the story you realize that you know little more about the basic narrative than what you read on the book jack...more
The premise of the plot caught my attention and was perhaps the strongest part of the book. Avant-garde Jewish artist Sara and her wealthy husband Philip live, work & play in Manhattan until the Depression sends them off to the South Pacific in search of native art. They end up stranded on an island with a people who tattoo their life stories on their flesh.
Ciment dwelt so long on Sara's New York past that I felt a bit cheated. Sara lived on the island of Tu'un'uu with its people for 30 year...more
Ciment dwelt so long on Sara's New York past that I felt a bit cheated. Sara lived on the island of Tu'un'uu with its people for 30 year...more
A great premise for a story, and at times 'The Tattoo Artist' was quite engaging, but overall the story fell flat. I felt that the author didn't dig deep enough – one never truly gets to know/understand the main character Sara, or the people from the island where she lives. Also, at times Ms. Ciment would finish sections of the novel with these supposedly deep one sentence or so pronouncements, and quite frankly it got to be a bit irritating. I could feel the author's presence more than the char...more
Once the characters made it to the South Pacific, I found it much more interesting. I felt the pacing was off a bit, and would like to have learned more about Sara's 30 years on the island. I wondered about a few things-was it ever addressed how she never seemed to become pregnant? Wouldn't she have wanted to learn more about the Holocaust vs. the moon landing? My opinion went up as I read on, but some of the shifts seemed uneven.
I ended up liking the main character and feeling sympathetic towards her and Phillip even though they were both horribly arrogant and well, I don't think anyone really like Phillip except for Sara and I think even she was having her doubts. What bothered me though was the way they got their tattoos and how they got stuck on the island. I don't know, it just didn't fit to me.
The book itself is short, an easy long weekend read.
The book itself is short, an easy long weekend read.
Not sure what I expected? But I read this in 1 evening @ the gym...more like a novella....? Interesting story and i'm sure i missed alot of underlying meanings that members of my bookclub might hone in on, but i was just a little disappointed. Perhaps I'm too happy ending oriented?? It's an intriguing story,
but @ times i questioned how believable it was. I did enjoy a bit of history and tiny inside look to the world of art though.
but @ times i questioned how believable it was. I did enjoy a bit of history and tiny inside look to the world of art though.
found the first part of the book completely captivating, and was excited to see where it would go. but was disappointed by the predictable twist and quickly lost interest. really hoped they could have taken that whole "white woman among the savages" trope to a different, critical level. instead, the indigenous characters aren't even named and are used solely to make the main character more interesting...
When I first read the back of this book, I had wanted to read it so bad. But it sat on my bookshelf for really long time, until just recently. I believe that I had high expectations for Ciment's book. Those expectations were not only filled, but were overflowed by the time I finished reading The Tattoo Artist. The book had me non-stop reading for quite some time until I managed to finish. If you haven't picked this book up, I highly suggest that you do.
The Tattoo Artist fully explored the meaning of tattoos to different people and how people can make the most out of a stuation. As Sara became a Tattoo artist in her new island home that she becomes elder after spending 30 years there, we learned that tattoos have meaning behind them and how much things change in the years. I fully enjoyed this book. Jill Ciment did a wonderful job showing the emotions and customs of the people of the time.
The pacing of this novel was a bit uneasy, which didn't make for the best reading experience. The time in NYC at the beginning dragged while the more interesting parts on the island were glossed over. I never warmed to Philip. The natives on the island were apparently flawless, something I hate in any book. The mention of Mrs. Crusoe only confirmed that this book was taking itself too seriously.
The premise, story, settings, and conflicts in this novel are all provocative and creatively imagined and created. It is thoughtful questioning of what is an artist and the motivation to create art. Somehow the narrator, main character Sara, was too wise and too innocent at the same time. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and getting lost in the settings because of the author's precise details.
Although short, this book made a huge impression on me. The contrast of the two lives the character led and the lessons she learned along the way seemed real and unapologetic. I wish it had been longer only because I was sad to see it end. I read this book while living abroad and felt that the loneliness, longing, and confusion that one feels in a new culture were all beautifully expressed.
Great read! It's the story of a couple of artists who, in the 20's, become stranded on an island in the Pacific, far from their home in New York City. The island people have a very different take on art, how to define a canvas and what it means to tell a story. Clement takes us to another time in a far away place and renders the narrative in a way that feels deeply relevant.
I read this a long time ago and had to re-read it again since it is one of those books that stays with you and you think about in different situations. The amazing transformation of this woman and her life written on her body was so foreign to me that it makes me wonder and think, could I have handled it? Don't miss this book. A really really great read.
This is a short novel about a woman who returns to New York after thirty years living on an island in the Pacific among natives who practice tattooing as a part of their spirituality. It would be difficult to summarize the plot more than that without running through all of it.
The prose is beautiful and Ciment really touches on a full spectrum of ideas: socialism, capitalism, money, religion, spirituality, childhood, old age, love, voyage, home, homesickness, and art. What I most admired, thou...more
The prose is beautiful and Ciment really touches on a full spectrum of ideas: socialism, capitalism, money, religion, spirituality, childhood, old age, love, voyage, home, homesickness, and art. What I most admired, thou...more
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Jill Ciment was born in Montreal, Canada. She is the author of Small Claims, a collection of short stories and novellas; The Law of Falling Bodies, Teeth of the Dog, The Tattoo Artist, and Heroic Measures, novels; and Half a Life, a memoir. She has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts, a NEA Japan Fellowship Prize, two New York State Fellowships for the Arts, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Pr...more
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“If you look closely you'll find all my lovers inscribed on my skin.”
—
62 people liked it
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Dec 28, 2008 08:43am