My rating:

add to my books

The Jump Artist

by Austin Ratner (Goodreads Author)

3.89 · rating details · 54 ratings · 25 reviews

The Jump Artist, winner of the 2011 Rohr Prize in fiction, was praised as “a remarkable work” by Harper’s Magazine and featured in Publishers Weekly in 2009 as one of ten promising debuts. The novel is based on the true story of Philippe Halsman, a man who Adolf Hitler knew by name, who Sigmund Freud wrote about in 1930, and who put Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Life mag

...more

Paperback, 252 pages

Published May 1st 2009 by Bellevue Literary Press

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Books I wouldn't have discovered without Goodreads

70th out of 767 books — 704 voters

Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

Art & Artists in Fiction

40th out of 236 books — 331 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 306)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 17, 2010

Reese rated it

Shelves: via-goodreads

Having just finished Austin Ratner's THE JUMP ARTIST, I could give in to the temptation to add another rating to its ratings and avoid the challenge of reviewing it. But the work is important enough to be reviewed. This takes me to the "overwhelming question": "And how should I begin?" THE JUMP ARTIST is a book that does not have to be studied to be appreciated, yet it is a book that ought to be studied. I read it; I have not studied it. "So how should I presume" t...moreHaving just finished Austin Ratner's THE JUMP ARTIST, I could give in to the temptation to add another rating to its ratings and avoid the challenge of reviewing it. But the work is important enough to be reviewed. This takes me to the "overwhelming question": "And how should I begin?" THE JUMP ARTIST is a book that does not have to be studied to be appreciated, yet it is a book that ought to be studied. I read it; I have not studied it. "So how should I presume" to review it? Borrowing pieces of T.S. Eliot's "Prufrock" seems not altogether inappropriate since Ratner's use of quotations as epigraphs to chapters may call to mind Eliot's use of quotations. They orient us, and they suggest that "Time present and time past / Are both perhaps present in time future, / And time future contained in time past"
("Burnt Norton" 1.1-3).

"Perhaps" is perhaps the second-most useful word in any attempt to discuss THE JUMP ARTIST, the word "not" being perhaps the most useful. THE JUMP ARTIST is not biography, but the epigraphs prevent us from forgetting that it is also not fiction. Philippe Halsman, the subject of the book, does remind me of young war-devastated characters in some of Hemingway's short stories; and if Ratner's writing style were less poetic, less exquisite, I might have believed someone who handed me passages from THE JUMP ARTIST and told me that the work was Hemingway's. At times, I might also have accepted the lie that I was reading some work by Joyce that I've not read.

Ratner -- in a sense, a jump artist -- does not offer just biography or history or fiction or poetry or photographs or music; he gives us art. I can omit the word "perhaps" when I say, "THE JUMP ARTIST is art." It has speed bumps. Read it slowly. Don't jump over the beautiful. And don't miss certain truths: without divine intervention, nothing but a photo stops time; a photo is a place where art and fact meet; each of us "IS an island"; some, not all, islands have opportunities to choose between staying in the world for now and leaving it forever. (less)

like 5 likes

· see review

Oct 14, 2010

Eleanor rated it

This is an amazing book - each chapter starts with a quote that pertains to the chapter - a quote from many different sources - the first one is absolutely exquisite .. These quotes show how smart this author really is - and how much work he's done on the book -- masterful - just that aspect of the book. The writing is wonderful - the descriptions of a young man unfairly accused - of loss, of solitude - of strength and of weakness - is this a historical fiction? Is this a psychological study -...more

like 1 like

· see review

Sep 23, 2009

Grady rated it

An Absorbing, Literate, Impressive Debut Novel

Austin Ratner joins the ranks of physicians-turned-writers (Rabelais, Keats, Chekhov, Somerset Maugham, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Carlos Williams, Michael Crichton, Khaled Hosseini, etc) in this very impressive debut novel THE JUMP ARTIST, a 'fictionalized biographical novel' of Philippe Halsman, considered to be one of the world's top 10 photographers. Ratner proves himself to be not only a fine investigative historian, bu...moreAn Absorbing, Literate, Impressive Debut Novel

Austin Ratner joins the ranks of physicians-turned-writers (Rabelais, Keats, Chekhov, Somerset Maugham, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Carlos Williams, Michael Crichton, Khaled Hosseini, etc) in this very impressive debut novel THE JUMP ARTIST, a 'fictionalized biographical novel' of Philippe Halsman, considered to be one of the world's top 10 photographers. Ratner proves himself to be not only a fine investigative historian, but also a writer adept at exploring several languages and countries and enhancing the character perception of some very famous people. And he accomplishes this with a gift for story telling that promises he will be around for a significant new career!

THE JUMP ARTIST, a title given to Halsman as a photographer who achieved complex demands on celebrities who served as his models: 'Everyone jumps (quite literally) when Halsman commands.' But to understand this gifted photographer's approach to his art, author Ratner takes us back to Halsman's childhood when in 1929 he was accused and abruptly imprisoned for the death of his father - an unsolved incident when Halsman was hiking with his father, his father fell and died, and circumstantial evidence (real or placed) lead to an anti-Semitic kangaroo court convicting him of murder/patricide. Released from prison with tuberculosis and a broken spirit, Halsman's family and friends and nurse him back to health and Halsman discovers the art of photography, moves to Paris, and becomes - gradually and with the backing of such celebrities as Andre Gide and Albert Einstien - becomes a renowned photographer. Between the anti-Semitism that flooded Europe during and after World War II Halsman proved himself not only a survivor of his self-imposed guilt but also his surviving the purge of Jews.

Ratner makes his writing more solid by using quotes form the famous people in Halsman's life/story. For example, he introduces his book with Andre Gide's statement ' fiction is history which MIGHT have taken place, and history is fiction which HAS taken place.' Later in the book, when Halsman is photographing Gide he adapts the language of Gide to further create his drama: "Some people speak of 'finding oneself'.....but most people don't know what that means, They think of themselves as a mystery to be found out. But no one is a mystery. Everyone is what they always were. The courageous thing is to be who one always was and to find in the world those people and places that are like oneself.' Ratner unfolds his story slowly, carefully, rich with atmospheric descriptions of settings - from the filth and agony of prisons to the beauty of the Alps and the excitement of the streets of Paris. It all comes together to enhance our understanding of a man we know only as a famous photographer in a novel whose title not only recalls the 'jump technique' of a camera genius, but also the 'jump accident' of his father' that started it all. This is fine writing and a solid introduction to another physician novelist!

Grady Harp(less)

like 6 likes

· see review

May 03, 2009

Sarah Funke rated it

Compelling idea, executed in an original and thoughtful way. Some beautiful writing, to boot! I recommend this for anyone who likes DeLillo or Nabokov, for starters. Also anyone who likes books; thoughts; photography; Freud; the Dreyfus affair. "A River Runs Through It." Oh, hell, just get yourself a copy!

"He thought he saw a flower in her hair, but then saw it was just an empty glove in the hand of the woman sitting behind her."

"Philipp watched ...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Nov 29, 2010

Lobstergirl rated it

Recommended to Lobstergirl by: Kristy McNichol

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Austin Ratner's novel is the fictionalized story of the real-life Philippe Halsman, a Latvian Jew accused of killing his father on a hike in the Austrian Alps in 1928, his two trials, and his eventual freedom and escape to the U.S. as war begins, helped by the efforts of Varian Fry and Albert Einstein. He went on to have a storied career photographing the world's biggest celebrities: Einstein, Churchill, Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe; but, the book suggests, the trauma inflicted by both t...more
Austin Ratner's novel is the fictionalized story of the real-life Philippe Halsman, a Latvian Jew accused of killing his father on a hike in the Austrian Alps in 1928, his two trials, and his eventual freedom and escape to the U.S. as war begins, helped by the efforts of Varian Fry and Albert Einstein. He went on to have a storied career photographing the world's biggest celebrities: Einstein, Churchill, Salvador Dali, Marilyn Monroe; but, the book suggests, the trauma inflicted by both the circumstances of his father's death, and being unjustly accused of it, never left him.

Halsman, while not an entirely likable character, is a very sympathetic one. Any adolescent who has ever written something nasty about his parent in diaries or letters will be haunted by the way Halsman's innocent but ungracious words are twisted into something monstrous. "Help! I am being dragged across the entire length of the Alps," wrote Halsman to his girlfriend shortly before his father's death. "I can't stand another minute of this forced march." In the midst of the hike, Halsman's father sets off into the brush to relieve himself. Halsman next sees his father's body beginning to fall through the air. He assumes he has suffered a heart attack; the body is found lying face down in a stream. Dr. Karl Meixner, the deeply anti-Semitic forensic pathologist who performs the autopsy, finds wounds to the head and determines that Halsman has killed his father with a stone. In a repulsive attempt at gratuitous intimidation, Meixner shows Halsman his father's head in a jar ("a white organ the size of a pot roast"). The head will make a repeat appearance at Halsman's trial.

The epigraphs before each chapter, including excerpts from letters and journalistic accounts, bring us back from the realm of the partially-imagined to real history. "The Halsmann trial shows all who wish to see the massive influence and cohesion of Jewry. The Jew is master of the German people!" quotes a Nazi placard from Innsbruck during the second trial. Particularly fascinating is an excerpt from Sigmund Freud's memorandum "The Expert Opinion in the Halsmann Case," in which Freud, recruited by Halsman's defenders, asserts that "precisely because it is always present, the Oedipus complex is not suited to provide a decision on the question of guilt."

The language of the novel is vivid and poetic; something said by a witness at one of the trials "caused a quick reflex in the rumor monster, which siphoned air across its many gills and filled the courtroom again with whispering."

A slideshow of some of Halsman's most iconic works:
http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/halsman/halvic...(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Oct 23, 2009

Marvin rated it

Shelves: first-reads

This very literary novel is based on an obscure incident in the life of renown photographer Philippe Halsmann. In 1928, Halsmann was falsely accused and tried for the murder of his father. The incident, then known as the "Austrian Dreyfus Affair" revealed a rampant Antisemitism which was only starting to boil into the rise of Hitler and the resulting atrocities of World War Two. The Jump Artist follows Halsmann through the trial, his despair, and his recovery and triumph. Austin Ratner...more

like 4 likes

· see review

Dec 30, 2009

Susan rated it

Shelves: first-reads, will-swap, goodreads-authors

I had known of Philippe Halsman as a photographer but knew nothing of his personal life until I read The Jump Artist, a novel based on research into his life. Still, the book does not claim to be a biography, and the author has fleshed out the basic facts with his interpretation of Halsman's thoughts and deeds.

Halsman was accused of murdering his father while they were hiking together in the Tyrolean Alps, and spent time in prison. He was Jewish and lived in a very dangerous time...more

like 2 likes

· see review

May 06, 2009

Deborah Paris rated it

This is a fantastic book. It is a combination of a great literary work, a thriller, a psychological study, and an historical novel offering insight into a period that was the precursor to the holocaust. Phillipe Halsman, who is known as a photographer of Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, among others, had a painful and complicated history before his successful life. Falsely accused of murder by the anti-semitic powers in Austria in 1928, his tri...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Jun 19, 2011

Pam rated it

I picked out from awards listed in NYB Review(Prize for Jewish Literature). Interesting base to the story; a bit difficult to follow but in a way, wonderful in portraying the guilt, depression, anger ..and recovery of Philllipe on an emotional level. Somewhat a story-told-from-a-distance though as opposed to State of Wonder; Caleb's Crossing.

And, although you don't learn this from the novel itself, here is a site for some of his picture (and thus the insight into the title) http://www.google.com/search?q=philippe+......more

· see review

Nov 04, 2009

Jennifer rated it

Recommends it for: Jane, Julie, Robert, Jess

I found this book to be difficult to put down. It was suspenseful, heart wrenching, and thought provoking. I really became attached to Philippe and thought he was a very well developed character. I appreciate the author's use of symbolism and imagery. He has crafted an excellent read based around an actual event.

I would have loved to have heard more of his sister's story (what an amazing, persistent force) but recognize that this was Philipe's and his father's tale.

I ...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Jan 20, 2010

Kate Wickham rated it

Austin Ratner steeps us in the life of Philippe Halsman. We feel his torment from being falsely accused of killing his father in an environment overtly demonizing Jews. Ratner masterfully presents the life-long impact of Nazism and culturally ingrained anti-Semitism by non-Nazis on a family that escaped the horrors of death camps.

Ratner manages to entwine the personal rebellion of a young man against parental expectations, the strength and loneliness of embarking on the path to exp...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Feb 18, 2010

Betsy Seifter rated it

This has entered my canon of favorite books-- an overlooked piece of Holocaust history told in eloquent, stylish, condensed prose, charting the emotional journey taken by Philippe Halsmann, who transcended early tragedy (the death of his father, and a charge of patricide trumped up by Austrian anti-Semites) to become a leading photojournalist at Life magazine, photographing everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Winston Churchill. In the face of unimaginable horror, Halsmann found, through art and love...more

· see review

Aug 21, 2011

Naomi rated it

The Jump Artist is a wordplay of shadow and light cast over the fictionalized life of photographer Phillip Halsmann. The prose is spare and gorgeous, a surgeon's prose, cutting story with its clean, sharp blade. Phillip comes alive in all his deeply disturbed and disturbing fumbling through life. I wonder, though, if the coldness of the writing comes from Ratner's decision to stay so close to truth in writing this fiction. I never felt invited inside the pages.

· see review

Nov 25, 2009

Sue marked it as decided-not-to-read

Recommended to Sue by: The Forward

Shelves: jewish-themes

This is a fictionalized account of a fascinating and little-known incident that occurred in Austria, during the rise of the Nazis to power. From an on-line review:

"... based on the true story of Philippe Halsman, a man who Adolf Hitler knew by name, who Sigmund Freud wrote about in 1930, and who put Marilyn Monroe on the cover of Life magazine. The story begins in September 1928, when Halsman and his father were hiking in the Tyrolean Alps. While Halsman went ahead on the tra...more

· see review

Jan 31, 2010

Marla rated it

Primarily focuses on photographer's Phillip Halsman's life before he came to the United States. He was accused of killing his father while hiking in the Austrian Alps and was imprisoned for 4 years. When he was released, he lived in France for a few years and aided by Albert Einstein came to New York when France was invaded by the Nazi's. Ended rather abruptly. I wanted to know more but recommend this. Very well written.

like 1 like

· see review

May 14, 2009

Jackie rated it

Jump Artist is a masterfully written historical fiction, that captured my engagement into the life of the photographer, Phillip Halsman's life, from the first page until the last. The complexities of an adolescent boy's tragedies through fame and success as an adult, is captivating. Not to be missed.

· see review

Nov 30, 2009

Jamie rated it

Shelves: first-reads

For weeks now I’ve been too swamped with work deadlines to even think about touching a book, and when I do spare a few minutes to pick one up, it’s for one or two pages at a time. That said (and said so this will mean more than it would with my usual reading habits): I read The Jump Artist in two days straight.

I’m not sure which is more of a page turner, the true biography of Halsmann or its necessary fiction. Fortunately, the two are so artfully and organically woven that it’s nea...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Mar 10, 2010

Lindsey rated it

This was a well-written and captivating story. I did not know of Halsmann but found myself absorbed into his life both pre-fame and then, through my own research, in his professional life as well. His photographs were amazing and it was interesting to learn, albeit with artistic license, the story of the man behind the camera and the steps that led him to becoming the renowned man. I did however sometimes find that there were jumps within chapters that made it a little difficult to follow the...more

· see review

Jul 18, 2010

Linda rated it

Shelves: first-reads

Unfortunately, I only know English so all the foreign language that was in the book was lost on me. The story seemed to jump around and I was frequently having to re-read sections to figure out what happened. Maybe that's where the title came from because I couldn't understand why the Jump Artist was chosen. And now I have to google Halsman because the story ends in the 50s. I agree with another reviewer - his sister's story may have been a better tale to tell with her ability to make import...more

like 1 like

· see review

May 06, 2009

Jhrawson is currently reading it

Beautiful, vivid writing. Grabs you immediately. Surprising metaphors and similes.

like 1 like

· see review

Dec 06, 2009

Beth rated it

Well written, but prepare to be depressed.

· see review

May 29, 2009

Jonnie rated it

Enthralling. This book helps us learn how to live with the unimaginable, and it does so beautifully.

like 2 likes

· see review

May 22, 2011

Caroline Boch rated it

This book makes no sense. I cannot wait til I finish these last few pages so I can move on. Interesting story. But the way it's written is tremendously difficult to follow.

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 12, 2011

Briana Johnson rated it

Shelves: 2009

I received this book for free from Goodreads First Reads.

· see review

Apr 12, 2011

Anna M Lewis rated it

Shelves: art-literature

Loved this book!

like 1 like

· see review

Feb 10, 2012

Mary added it

Feb 06, 2012

Kimberly marked it as to-read

Feb 02, 2012

Mike marked it as to-read

Feb 02, 2012

Laura Brownlee is currently reading it

Jan 31, 2012

Charlotte marked it as to-read

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (2)

Genres

Historical Fiction

5 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About Austin Ratner

Austin Ratner’s first novel, The Jump Artist, won the 2011 Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature. It was praised as “a remarkable work” by Harper’s Magazine and featured in Publishers Weekly in spring 2009 as one of ten promising debuts. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and has also been honored with the Missouri Review Editors’ Prize in Fiction. He attended the University of Iowa...more

More about Austin Ratner...

Books by Austin Ratner

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About The Jump Artist

3 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Groups That Shelved The Jump Artist

Around the World in 80 Books

330 members

last activity 13 minutes ago

shelf: to-read

title link	preview: The Jump Artist
avg rating	preview: The Jump Artist Goodreads rating: 3.89 (54 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5784001-the-jump-artist?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267835140m/5784001.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5784001-the-jump-artist?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Jump Artist by Austin Ratner[/url]

The Jump Artist

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website