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Lust for Life

4.12 of 5 stars 4.12 · rating details · 6,972 ratings · 404 reviews

No artist has been more ruthlessly driven by his creative urge, nor more isolated by it from most ordinary sources of human happiness, than Vincent Van Gogh. A painter of genius, his life was an incessant struggle against poverty, discouragement, madness and despair.

Lust for Life skilfully captures the exciting atmosphere of the Paris of the Post-Impressionists and reconst...more

Paperback, 431 pages

Published February 1st 1990 by Arrow (first published 1933)

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Aug 20, 2012 Solor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Masterpiece !! Stone narrative is masterful, impressive, compulsive.
Certainly, the fact that the exceptional protagonist of the story is one of the most suffering artist ever existed, makes the flight of imagination to dramatize the Artist life an astounding feat of thorough research, sensibility and empathy.
Seemingly, Stone account isn't totally faithful to the facts and the troubled psychology of the man: it is evident the author effort to paint out the Artist as a Jesus Christ figure, pure a...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Eresia N. Winata rated it 5 of 5 stars

Whole time before i read this book, i always thought that Van Gogh must be very popular, well-accepted, and honored person at his age. I mean, oh come on, his painting even rumoured on over a trillion rupiah, what a fantastic price!

But what i found later was so unexpected!

Hard to say, but yes, Vincent Van Gogh was discarded by his people en bloc he lost the trust from his family. Started from the decision to leave his promising career on his Uncle's Gallery to begin opportunity in painting. Then...more Whole time before i read this book, i always thought that Van Gogh must be very popular, well-accepted, and honored person at his age. I mean, oh come on, his painting even rumoured on over a trillion rupiah, what a fantastic price!

But what i found later was so unexpected!

Hard to say, but yes, Vincent Van Gogh was discarded by his people en bloc he lost the trust from his family. Started from the decision to leave his promising career on his Uncle's Gallery to begin opportunity in painting. Then without income, Gogh depended his life fully to his younger brother, Leo, whose become the one and only person blessed him sincerely without any purpose. This was noticed by surrounding as Gogh's badness, and people start labelled him as parasite in Theo's life.

For Gogh, it was very hard to start painting. But as he practiced everyday, his natural gift in painting getting vivid. Even he moved to Greece to explore more and find any view to be his object. Finally time he spent there in Greece was the golden age for his maturity in painting. He met lot of extraordinary painter with their own and original stream on painting. But the shiny career did not on his side yet, he couldn't sell even one of his painting.

Gogh's love life was be in accordance with his painting career. He was also discarded and forgotten by all girls he loved. Thus, Irving Stone was described that Gogh -by his stressing life and extremity of exhaustion on painting- ever imagined that he loved by a girl next door. The hunger of attention he felt, made him being so passionately wanted a love from woman and as he couldn't get it in real life, he made it true in imagination!

Well, till the last time he passed away, i still can't understand why misery always following him. Even Gogh couldn't see that nowadays people high-esteemed his painting. People give him an honor and sympathy for his life, his struggle and his creation.

Hiks, so sad for him. I can feel CLEARLY his exhaustion, his hopeless, his struggle, the hottest day he spent in Greece. All is so madly made me sad. I hate knowing Gogh's facts, people (at that time) was so unfair to him!(less)

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Sep 28, 2012 Ra Kiutski rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite, historical-fiction

This is a book I can read in less than 24 hours

(24 hours for almost 600 pages in Indonesian translation)

I have a little problem with rating stars, I can't give this book only a 5 stars. It deserves a 10 stars!!

It's by far my most favorite book, I won't lend this book to anyone so then I can reread it whenever I want ;), I'll put it on my precious collection.

If I'm not wrong this is his word when he had a heated debate with Gauguin;
Van Gogh: 'It is not the language of painters but the language o...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Disha Acharya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir-biography

‘No excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness.’- Doctor Gachet (pg.412) This sentence spoken by Doctor Gachet best sum up the brilliant genius that was Vincent Van Gogh. What an amazing painter and individual, driven by the ‘lust for life’, his passion for art, just takes your breath away! What a lonely man, driven by a need for love and comfort but finding none save in his beloved brother Theo and his paintings.
This is a poignant, wonderful, inspiring and yet heart breaking story of V...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Alvi Harahap rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lust For Life is Irving Stone's biographical novel about the life of the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. Reading fiction is one thing but reading a biography calls for loads of patience. Unwittingly I started reading this book which goes by the name Lust for Life by Irving Stone.

And yet Lust for Life is a devastatingly sad chronicle of the life and paintings of Vincent. It struck me like a bolt of lightning that not a single canvas that Vincent produced ever went on sale. Vincent could be called...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Mikey B. rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a surprisingly good book, as I was leery of a novelistic approach to a biography. Sure there are some leaps and liberties taken, but for the most part it seems authentic.

The beginning is rather tedious with Van Gogh’s unreciprocated love for Ursula. This is strained and not particularly interesting. It has little to do with Van Gogh’s creation of art. After this episode the story picks up pace and is fast moving. The author does not dwell long on any particular topic. The chapters are...more

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Aug 22, 2007 Tory rated it 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book because it interested me on two levels. First, and ridiculously foremost, the authors name. Irving. The last name of my beloved John. And secondly, it’s a novel about Van Gogh. Van Gogh is nothing if not interesting.

Yet, I was surprised at just how into this book I was. I loved it. I loved Van Gogh’s story as an artist. I loved all that other artists in the story.

Can you imagine sitting at a cafe in Paris with the likes of Van Gogh, Toulouse-Laurtec, Cezanne, Gauguin, Zola an...more

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Apr 08, 2013 Holli rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-group, historical-fiction, literary-fiction

I really enjoyed this book. Stone did a good job getting inside Vincent's head and showing us the world as he experienced it. It is a testament to Stone's storytelling abilities that I found myself rooting for Vincent--hoping he would sell a painting, hoping that his seizures would abate, hoping that he wouldn't die so young afterall.

Now when I view Van Gogh's paintings, I understand them more and I know where they fit chronologically in his life and in his development as an artist. I also have...more I really enjoyed this book. Stone did a good job getting inside Vincent's head and showing us the world as he experienced it. It is a testament to Stone's storytelling abilities that I found myself rooting for Vincent--hoping he would sell a painting, hoping that his seizures would abate, hoping that he wouldn't die so young afterall.

Now when I view Van Gogh's paintings, I understand them more and I know where they fit chronologically in his life and in his development as an artist. I also have a better understanding of the artists who influenced him--both those who came before him and those who were his peers. I took the time to look up information about some of these artists and while not everything Stone included was accurate, it seems that he captured the spirit of each painter and the spirit of the times as the old rules were being broken and the world of art was being turned on its head.

While I was reading Lust for Life, I was also reading a book by Stephen Cope, The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey of Your True Calling. Cope gives examples in his book of people who have lived out their calling, or dharma--people like Beethoven, Robert Frost, Jane Goodall, Henry David Thoreau, etc. Van Gogh could easily have been one of Cope's examples. Stone gives voice to Van Gogh's calling in the following passage:

"In the Borinage he had slaved for God; here he had a new and more tangible kind of God, a religion that could be expressed in one sentence: that the figure of a labourer, some furrows in a ploughed field, a bit of sand, sea and sky were serious subjects, so difficult, but at the same time so beautiful, that it was indeed worth while to devote his life to the task of expressing the poetry hidden in them."

My favorite passage comes at the end of an argument with Gauguin about the nature of art in Book Six, Chp. 8. The whole passage is great, but especially this paragraph:

"The fields that push up the corn, and the water that rushes down the ravine, the juice of the grape, and the life of a man as it flows past him, are all one and the same thing. The sole unity in life is the unity of rhythm. A rhythm to which we all dance; men, apples, ravines, ploughed fields, carts among the corn, houses, horses, and the sun. The stuff that is in you, Gauguin, will pound through a grape tomorrow, because you and the grape are one. When I paint a peasant labouring in the field, I want people to feel the peasant flowing down into the soil, just as the corn does, and the soil flowing up into the peasant. I want them to feel the sun pouring into the peasant, into the field, the corn, the plough, and the horses, just as they all pour back into the sun. When you begin to feel the universal rhythm in which everything on earth moves, you begin to understand life….”

Another favorite passage comes late in the book when Vincent is talking with Dr. Gachet and Vincent says, "I would gladly exchange my calling for yours." Dr. Gachet holds a glowing yellow sunflower canvas before Vincent and says:

"If I had painted just one canvas like this, Vincent, I would consider my life justified. I spent the years curing people's pain - but they died in the end, anyway - so what did it matter? These sunflowers of yours - they will cure the pain in people's hearts - they will bring people joy - for centuries and centuries - that s why your life is successful - that is why you should be a happy man."
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Jan 29, 2013 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fictionalized biography is an oxymoron to me. How can I know how accurate or inaccurate the story is? Having said that, most of this was an enjoyable read. Getting to know my favorite artist, Vincent Van Gogh was a treat. I had no idea he discovered art rather late; that he toiled at painting for not much more than a decade, yet became an immortal.
His early life took so many twists and turns. When Van Gogh finally made his way to Paris and was hanging out with all the Impressionists and post-...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Magdalena Istrati rated it 5 of 5 stars

Am citit cartea la recomandarea unui mare iubitor de cărți și vreau să vă spun că este una dintre acelea care după ce o începi nu te mai lasă să pui mâna pe altceva până nu o termini.

Este un roman biografic ce prezintă viața tumultoasă a marelui pictor postimpresionist Van Gogh. Citind „Bucuria vieții”, am trăit alături de el chinurile unei crize de epilepsie, dar cu toate acestea, cartea nu mi-a dat un sentiment de compătimire, ci din contră toată admirația pentru marele artist care a știut să...more

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Oct 13, 2012 James rated it 2 of 5 stars

The ultimate irony of Irving Stone's biographical novel Lust for Life is that it succeeds so well at becoming a page-turning two-dimensional piece of writing while covering the life of someone who was disgusted by the superficial, depth-less manipulations of popular art. van Gogh, like Zarathustra's camel from the three metamorphoses, was tormented by a deep need to reverence life. But in this novel his torment is reduced to a cuddly teddy bear of misunderstood genius. Throughout the narrative,...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Paulina Nuñez Jiménez rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

EXCELENTE libro a la vista... Anhelo de vivir, la vida de Vincent Van Gogh
Siempre me han gustado las biografías, entender a la persona desde dentro, tratar de "recrear" su vida, en la medida de lo posible sin anacronismos o prejuicios, desde "sus zapatos". Y para esto, la obra de Irving Stone me ha sido un GRATÍSIMO regalo.
A nivel literario es una obra buena, ágil, sencilla de leer, eso en su forma, pues en su fondo es un libro que hay que disfrutar, reflexionar y compartir, dialogar... ¿será qu...more EXCELENTE libro a la vista... Anhelo de vivir, la vida de Vincent Van Gogh
Siempre me han gustado las biografías, entender a la persona desde dentro, tratar de "recrear" su vida, en la medida de lo posible sin anacronismos o prejuicios, desde "sus zapatos". Y para esto, la obra de Irving Stone me ha sido un GRATÍSIMO regalo.
A nivel literario es una obra buena, ágil, sencilla de leer, eso en su forma, pues en su fondo es un libro que hay que disfrutar, reflexionar y compartir, dialogar... ¿será que todos los genios tienen que sufrir una vida de desequilibrio? por definición están por encima de la media, serán siempre algo solitarios en lo más íntimo, pero ¿desequilibrados a nivel emocional? con el dolor que eso conlleva tanto en ellos como en quienes los rodean (porque este libro da a conocer también y en un papel trascendental a Theo, hermano de Vincent, cuyo final yo desconocía y me puso los pelos de punta...) Creo que pues que personas TAN excepcionales han de contar con un contrapunto, un polo proporcionado a la intensidad de su carácter para poder mantener el equilibrio, la salud de cuerpo y mente. Vincent lo buscó sin éxito en una vida familiar serena, necesitó de un punto ordenador, una referencia inamovible que no encontró tras haber perdido la fe y haber dejado el ministerio de pastor.
Repaso mentalmente una lista de personas excepcionales, geniales...y no he encontrado aún, alguno que se haya mantenido sano y fecundo en su expresión (pintor, escritor, compositor, etc...) sin Dios, y me viene a la mente el éxito de Juan Pablo II, personalidad riquísima, híper sensibilidad artística, estética, anímica, emotiva... una vida marcada por el dolor desde la infancia, a nivel familiar y nacional... creo que lo salvó su amor a Dios y en lugar de un gran genio perdido, consumido y amargado por Polonia, tuvimos un titán que visitó e iluminó casi todo rincón de la tierra....
Síntesis, un libro estupendo, voy tras de más obras del mismo autor y tras de más libros sobre la obra de Van Gogn... aceoto, o más bien PIDO sugerencias.
Pág. 33 "Cada uno de nosotros posee una integridad, calidad de carácter, Vincent-dijo Mendes mirando las tumbas de su padre y su madre que se hallaban junto a la otra-. Si nos tomamos el trabajo de observarla, hagamos lo que hagamos, lo haremos bien. Si usted hubiera seguido vendiendo cuadros, la integridad que hace de usted el hombre que es, lo hubiera convertido en un buen comerciante. Lo mismo se aplica a sus estudios. Algún día usted se expresará plenamente, sea cula sea el medio que escoja.
Pág. 170. "Vincent comprendió la profunda filosofía que emanaba del cuadro. Parecía decirle: "Saber sufrir sin quejarse, he ahí la profunda ciencia, la gran lección que debemos aprender, la solución del problema de la vida".
Pág. 364 "Usted de es un "gran nervioso", Vincent- le había dicho el Dr. Rey un día-. Nunca ha sido del todo normal. Es verdad que ningún artista lo es, de lo contrario no podría pintar. Los hombres normales no crean obras de arte. Comen, duermen, trabajan en forma rutinaria y mueren. Ustedes son híper sensibles a la vida y a la naturaleza, es por eso que son capaces de interpretar lo que nosotros no podemos. Pero si no tienen cuidado, esa hiper sensibiilidad los llevará a la destrucción".
Pág. 399 "ninguna alma excelente está exenta de ligera locura" ¿sabe quién dijo eso? Aristóteles"
Pág. 405: "Si yo hubiera pintado un solo cuadro como éste, Vincent, consideraría mi vida justificada. Empleé años enteros aliviando el dolor de la gente... pero al final se mueren lo mismo...Entonces, ¿de qué sirve mi trabajo? En cambio esos girasoles suyos... curarán el corazón de la gente..., les darán alegría..., durante siglo y siglos. He aquí porqué considero que usted tuvo éxito en la vida..., y es por eso que debería considerarse un hombre feliz".(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Venus rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, novel

مزرعه ای که گندم را می رویاند،آبی که در نهر می خروشد،شیره انگور،زندگی بشر، همه اینها یک چیز و از همند.در دنیا تنها وحدت وجود دارد.وحدت وزن،وحدتی که همه ما با آهنگ ان رقصانیم:مردم،سیبها،رودخانه،مزارع کشت شده،ارابه های گندم کش،خانه ها،اسبها،خورشید...ماده ای که تو را تشکیل داده،فردا در خوشه انگور راه خواهد یافت،چرا که تو و خوشه انگور از یک جنسید.وقتی من دهقانی را که زمین خود را می کارد،نقاشی میکنم،میخواهم اینطور احساس شود که این دهقان به زمین پیوسته است،مانند خوشه ای که از آن می روید،و آن زمین به د...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: art, biographies

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

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Sep 05, 2010 El rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early20th-centurylit, artsy-fartsy

Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh? Whoda thunk it. It's like choosing Charlton Heston to play Michelangelo. Oh, wait. That was done too.

I didn't expect to like this that much as I went into it. I read The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo and seem to remember thinking it was pretty okay, though strangely I can't recall where or when I read it. But I have this issue with books like this, historical fiction if you will. It's hard for me to suspend my disbelief in books fea...more

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Jul 08, 2009 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

After finishing Irving Stone’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” I turned to his other historical novel about an artist.

Aptly titled “Lust for Life,” the book covers the short painting career of Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh, who became an artist after failed stints as a teacher and minister. He was 27-years-old. Stone’s principal references were the hundreds of letters exchanged between Vincent and his chief patron, his brother Theo. Luckily, these correspondences survive.

Initially, the...more After finishing Irving Stone’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” I turned to his other historical novel about an artist.

Aptly titled “Lust for Life,” the book covers the short painting career of Dutch post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh, who became an artist after failed stints as a teacher and minister. He was 27-years-old. Stone’s principal references were the hundreds of letters exchanged between Vincent and his chief patron, his brother Theo. Luckily, these correspondences survive.

Initially, the artist’s somber palette: dark earth tones, lots of browns, mimicked the other Dutch painters. But at the encouragement of his brother, Vincent moved to Paris and discovered the brighter hues being used by the Impressionist artists. Van Gogh’s palette and subject matter brightened as well, but it wasn’t until he moved to sunny Arles, to paint the bright fields of the countryside that the struggling painter hit his creative stride. He also embraced the color most associated with his work: yellow.

“As the summer advanced, everything became burnt up. He saw about him nothing but old gold, bronze and copper, covered by a greenish azure sky of blanched heat. There was sulphur yellow on everything the sunlight hit. His canvases were masses of bright burning yellow. He knew that yellow had not been used in European painting since the Renaissance, but that did not deter him. The pigment yellow oozed out of the tubes onto his canvas, and there it stayed. His pictures were sun steeped, sun burnt, tanned with the burning sun and swept with air,” Irving Stone writes.

Most of van Gogh’s best-known works were produced during his time in the French countryside. He produced masterpiece after masterpiece as Stone writes:

“Every morning Vincent arose before dawn, dressed, and tramped several kilometers down the river or into the country to find a spot that stirred him. Every night he returned with his finished canvas, finished because there was nothing more he could do with it. Directly after supper he went to bed.

“He became a blind painting machine, dashing off one sizzling canvas after another without even knowing what he did. The orchards of the country were in bloom. He developed a wild passion to paint them all. He no longer thought about his painting. He just painted. All his eight years of intense labour were at last expressing themselves in a great burst of triumphal energy. Sometimes, when he began working at the first crack of dawn, the canvas would be completed by noon. He would tramp back to town, drink a cup of coffee and trudge out again in another direction with a new canvas.

“He did not know whether his painting was good or bad. He did not care. He was drunk with colour.”

Vincent’s frenzy certainly must have led to creative exhaustion. Although van Gogh only painted for ten years before committing suicide in 1890, he managed to create an enormous body of work, more than 2,000 pieces, including 900 paintings and roughly 1,100 drawings and sketches.

An oeuvre that is today worth billions of dollars, while he died more or less penniless with only his brother Theo to mourn his passing.

Stone’s novel is a good initial peak into the artist’s remarkable struggles.
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Aug 24, 2011 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a 5-star story, but a 4-star book (or maybe 3-and-a-half). Vincent is portrayed as a Christ-like figure in many ways, somebody who stays true to his principles, who does the right thing, somebody almost not of this earth. In fact, he had a lot of trouble living on this earth, as he completely did not fit into the society he was born into. The book by Stone does an admirable job of telling Vincent's story.

But there is something about the book that didn't work for me. The writing at times...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Chris Gager rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just started this morning. My edition is a paperback with Kirk Douglas as Vincent on the cover. I've seen the pretty good movie. Was Kirk like Vincent? Who knows... I was surprised to find out that the book was originally published only about 40 years after VVG's passing. I've seen many, many of his paintings both in the US and overseas, especially in the Nederlands at the Von Gogh Museum in A'dam and the Kroller-Muller Museum out in the countryside towards Arnhem.
Day one... pretty good so far....more Just started this morning. My edition is a paperback with Kirk Douglas as Vincent on the cover. I've seen the pretty good movie. Was Kirk like Vincent? Who knows... I was surprised to find out that the book was originally published only about 40 years after VVG's passing. I've seen many, many of his paintings both in the US and overseas, especially in the Nederlands at the Von Gogh Museum in A'dam and the Kroller-Muller Museum out in the countryside towards Arnhem.
Day one... pretty good so far. It's Hi-Fi so of course all the chatting is pure fantasy. Vincent is the ultimate earnest but possibly autistic(or with Asberger's) misfit. He had his mental health issues and that led to seriously bad self care for much of his adult life. Sad...
Day two... much like the movie. More romantic and emotional clumsiness/ obsession/bad luck ensues but at last and at least Vincent has found his true calling. The part about the Borinage is supremely depressing and anti-capitalism.
Day three... Now in Den Haag with Mauve as teacher/mentor. Breitner was there at the time and is mentioned. One of my favorites. Also Maris and Israels.
Day 4... No progress to due busy-ness but I did read a lot of the text of my VVG coffee table book. An excellent and more scholarly look at things. The author thinks that the Stone book(NOT a biography by the way) leans too heavily on the picture of the artist as intense and suffering semi-wild man. That's the pop culture picture we've been afflicted with for 100 years. The tortured genius... The Tim Roth portrayal in "Vincent and Theo" may be closer but we'll never know. Haven't seen that supposedly fine movie yet. I don't think that VVG could have written his very intelligent and thoughtful letters and produced 900 oil paintings(which show a definite progression and refinement of approach over the years) if he was mainly a nut job.
Day 5/slow progress... And the beat goes on in Vincent's life of personal dysfunction and artistic evolution. He's arrived in Paris(the author likes to skip over brief sojourns in other places as though they didn't happen) and the encounter with Impressionist painters(and painting), many of whom became friends. Vincent was never more than a partial Impressionist and learned to incorporate what he needed and move on to a more personal, idiosyncratic and modernist style. One of a kind...
One note: the author uses the term "threw down the gage"(as in giving an evaluation or judgement... "gauging") which I'd never heard before though it uses my name.
Day 5... Slow progress due to work schedule. Tomorrow should do it. VVG is meeting some famous painters in Paree but struggling to incorporate Impressionism into his work. You can see the progression in his paintings. So far he's conversed with Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaugin, Cezanne, Rousseau and Seurat. Bernard too? These chats are impressively bogus in authenticity but I guess the author had to give it a shot. No sign yet of Monet, Degas, Manet(dead I think), Renoir or Sisley.
Creeping along... Probably done tonight, though. Interest waning...
Finally finished last night. The ending's always the same for Vincent though there's debate about what actually happened. No gun was ever actually seen or found and that leads some to think he may have been shot by accident by boys out hunting. Whatever... It's amazing to think that at the time ov the VG brothers deaths Theo's widow was sitting on a pile of artwork that would be worth billions of dollars a hundred years later. Notes:
- Vincent's time at St. Remy is suggestive of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
- The author uses the phrase "burned out" or "burn out" in 1934. I didn't know it went back that far.
- He only cut off a small part of his ear. You'd think the author would have known that.
"La tristesse durera toujours"... The book is not particular well written but the subject matter is compelling of course. 2.75 rounds up to 3*. (less)

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Oct 09, 2011 Sli rated it 5 of 5 stars

Uh! Kakva knjiga! Još bolje, kakav život!
Uopće se ne kužim u slikarstvo, niti mi se Van Goghove slike sviđaju - ali život koji je taj čovjek vodio je jednostavno nevjerojatan! Preporučam svakome željnome životne strasti!
Za života neprihvaćen, a nakon smrti definitivna povijesna i neosporna umjetnička ličnost!
Na koricama knjige nalazio se podatak da je za života Van Gogh uspio prodati samo jednu sliku. Nakon 100 godina, više njegovih djela nalazi se među najskupljim platnima na svijetu. Život stv...more

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Jan 09, 2010 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Those fascinated by the 'difference' in an artists' character

Stone's genius for biographical novels was aided in this passionate and violent tale of Vincent Van Gogh by the three volumes of letters the artist wrote to his brother and mentor, Theo, without whom the world would never have had the magnificent paintings of his powerful last years as an artist.
I especially appreciated the observations by the doctors who tried to help the artist as his brain slid into insanity, burned out by years of passionate focus on his art to the neglect of his physical...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Seth Hanson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic historical fiction about the life of the brilliant yet tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh. About the only thing this guy had going for him in his difficult, traumatic life was a brother who believed in him and supported him unconditionally. If his brother hadn't supported him both financially and otherwise, the world probably never would have seen his work. But on the other hand, if Vincent hadn't also been so incredibly single-minded and so hell-bent on being an artist at any cost, then...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-things-france, historical-fiction

Written with a passion reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings, Irving Stone's "Lust for Life" is a fictionalized biography of the famed post-Impressionist painter.

Stone starts his story during Van Gogh's teenaged years, living with his strict Calvinist parents (his father was a predikant, a Dutch Calvinist minister), somewhat struggling against the strictures of his life. He himself becomes a Calvinist evangelist and receives a less-than-desirable assignment to a Belgian coal-mining town.

It...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Summary:

Irving Stone’s Lust for Life is a biographical novelization of the life of Vincent van Gogh. The novel is based on the many letters (approximately 700) written between Vincent van Gogh and his younger brother, Theo. Stone takes author’s creative license and invents dialogue, situations, etc. but many of the characters, places, and events are based on events which really happened and which were described in the brothers’ letters. The novel spans approximately ten years, from the time van...more
Summary:

Irving Stone’s Lust for Life is a biographical novelization of the life of Vincent van Gogh. The novel is based on the many letters (approximately 700) written between Vincent van Gogh and his younger brother, Theo. Stone takes author’s creative license and invents dialogue, situations, etc. but many of the characters, places, and events are based on events which really happened and which were described in the brothers’ letters. The novel spans approximately ten years, from the time van Gogh leaves home to become a missionary, to his death in Auvers-sur-Oise. Stone appropriately captures van Gogh’s temperament, as well as his passion for art, though never quite having been accepted as an artist in his lifetime, by critics or peers.

The Good:

Where to begin? Essentially, almost any and every aspect of this novel is “good.” The novel is written so well, so fluidly and vividly, that for much of the novel I truly felt like I was watching a movie. The characters – many of them historically familiar- came to life for me, were distinguishable from one another and were eerily true to the impression I had of many of these people (at least the ones I had heard of prior to reading this book). I appreciated especially that Stone recreated such a believable, seamless biography from letters composed between the two van Gogh brothers. It would have been simple to present this in epistolary form, but I think the beauty and connection between the reader and the characters (aka historical figures) is greatly enhanced by being presented in the biographical novel form. Not only was the novel entertaining and beautifully written, but as someone not too familiar with art history and the “schools” or relationships between these artists (Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Pissarro, Seurat, Degas, etc) I was pleased to have been able to learn so much and to appreciate the life and works of these men (and women) without necessarily feeling overwhelmed by all of the new information. I was impressed by the attention paid to each of the major artists and their particular artistic style: Seurat’s scientific/intellectual approach; Gouguin’s love of color; Rousseau’s imagination. I found myself running to my cell phone or laptop many, many times so I could look up examples of the artists’ paintings (sometimes specifically referenced, sometimes particularly styles – like pointillism – mentioned in dialogue) and this greatly enhanced the novel for me, in terms of connectivity and imagery. The minor characters, too, such as the miners, the weavers, the peasants, and van Gogh’s many “women” were also well established – something I found particularly endearing as van Gogh himself spent his greatest energies on representing beauty in the “real” people, and not the typical interpretations of the beautiful. I felt this was one of many ways in which Stone paid homage to the work and character of van Gogh, while telling his life story. I was quite impressed by the author’s desire to remain honest and respectful – Stone presents the reader with the good and bad, the instability and the romance – and he lets the reader make his own judgments (as van Gogh would strive to represent the spirit of the painting, without putting his own moral judgment on the model).

The Bad:

The one singular fault I could find with this novel is that, though I came to understand van Gogh’s life and time quite well, I don’t know that I particularly understand van Gogh much better. I certainly know more about his painting style, his relationships, his general character and family life. I learned much about his devotion to his brother and his respect for his parents. Yet, for instance, when van Gogh begins to go a bit mad (we get the impression this is induced by sun stroke) and that madness ultimately leads to his suicide, I don’t get a clear understanding of the “why?” What was really going on with van Gogh? He would have his episodes every three months, like clockwork, but does any real ailment actually happen like that? It seems, almost, that these episodes/fits were self-induced, but this is something the author does not hypothesize about – possibly because he means to speak strictly from the van Gogh letters and not put any of his own interpretations of the situation into the work. Still, I would have appreciated a better understanding of why, for instance, van Gogh was so disturbing to women – he had no wealth, no real income, and a boisterous character, certainly, but that the only woman he could claim as a wife (in name, not legality) was a prostitute, and even she left him – this seems, too, to say something about van Gogh’s personality that is particularly conspicuous from the novel. Vincent van Gogh also had no real friends – many people are said to be frightened of him, even. I am left with the impression that van Gogh’s temperament may have been instable for much of his life, but only became more pronounced in his later years – the inability to stay in one place, to go into passions over an idea (such as the artist’s commune) and then suddenly, without warning or reason, drop and dismiss the passions entirely. The sun stroke and the isolation in Arles perhaps further subjected van Gogh to his own mental instability. It is interesting that in Arles and St. Remy, where he begins to lose his wits (and is committed to an insane asylum), is also where he paints his acclaimed masterpieces – “ The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum”, the “Sunflowers” series, and “Starry Night Over the Rhone.” It’s almost as if van Gogh needed to work himself to mental exhaustion, to starve his body and wrack his mind to its limits in order to create his very best work. While some of these episodes are well written, and the decline is indicated clearly and orderly, I still found the reasoning, the underlying cause, missing.

Final Verdict: 4.5/5.0

Upon reflection and review, I find Lust for Life to be an almost perfect novel. It is well-written. It is, as far as I can tell, honest to history and the historical figures it represents. Stone does a masterful and delicate job of re-telling the life story of one of history’s greatest and most well-known artists. Though I would have appreciated more time having been spent on van Gogh’s mental decline, I did find the decline easy to follow and to witness. Some other elements, like van Gogh’s infamous alcoholism and “smoker’s cough” were left out (there was plenty of drinking – but a “problem” was not implied) which, perhaps, Stone did not find necessary, but I believe it detracts from some of the underlying problems (does a sober man really cut off his ear?). Still, though, the language, the relevance, the relationships, the characterization and emotion are all brilliant. Stone even makes an effort to present his characters in the manner which van Gogh would paint his own models and landscapes, an ingenious and, I’m sure, incredibly difficult task to accomplish. This has been one of the best pieces of biographical fiction I’ve ever read, and even one of the best novels I’ve enjoyed in my rather large reading history. I eagerly await the chance to read Stone’s “masterpiece,” The Agony and the Ecstasy which is another biographical novel, this one about Michelangelo.
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Sep 19, 2009 Maia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: before-1960, memoirs-and-bios

Although this is a fictionalized account of Van Gogh's life, it also counts as the artist's bio, of sorts.

I first read this book years ago in art school, trying to get my hands on every material i could on my favorite painters, Van Gogh prominent on that list. Then I re read it a few years ago when i found an old copy at a bookstore sale, and was amazed at how quickly and easily the writing pulled me in. As in 'The Agony and The Ecstasy' (on Michaaelangelo), here Irving Stone truly pulls out all...more

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Dec 05, 2012 Sonam rated it 2 of 5 stars

A fictional Historical Biography which had me hooked
its sad, very sad but its so beautiful, many parts had me crying
It taking a glimpse into the life of a man who struggled and yet always gave all that he had and worked with a fervor to put into art what he felt and to imbibe in every piece his emotions and himself

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Jan 24, 2008 Michael Oliver rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Art lovers

Recommended to Michael by: Rozanski

Bibliographic/Historical Novel of Vincent Van Gogh. Stone uses the correspondence letters of Vincent and his brother Theo as his core source material. It gives a better understanding of the artists process, along with describing the origins of some of Van Gogh's most famous works-- The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers.

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Nov 13, 2010 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

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

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Feb 10, 2013 Stan Vukajlovich rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love Van Gough's work and this book really captures his life. The part about when he was trying so hard to follow what he thought his family wanted him to professionally pursue makes you suffer much like he did. I wasn't aware that he usually painted his paintings in one day which is amazing for oil. I visited my tai chi master's Master who is also a very well recognized water color painter and he works very fast and wonderful, an amazing thing to see. To imagine someone working so rapidly in...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Antonini Ramon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: big-history, sophie

1

Buku ini ternyata pernah difilmkan? Pernah mendengar nama Van Gogh tapi tidak benar-benar tahu seperti apa dia. Tahu tentang profesinya sebagai pelukis tapi sebatas itu. Karena lagi senang mengumpulkan karya2 otobiograf atau non-fiksi, saya tertarik membeli buku ini. Warnanya sangat menarik, mengingatkan saya pada #CERITA CINTA ENRICO karya Ayu Utami. Buku ini agak tebal dan panjang, ukuran yang menyulitkan jika saya ingin membawanya dalam perjalanan untuk dibaca-baca di kereta atau angkot.

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May 04, 2013 Samar Khan rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found a ratty old version of this book at home and out of boredom started reading it.
I had no expectations and thought I wouldnt enjoy or be receptive to it, being someone who isnt really into Art or biographies.

I could not put this book down. I thought that the plot was gripping, and the writing superb!
The emotion and imagery was so well described that I felt every moment of the protagonists life!
Im generally very picky with books, but I simply dont have enough good things to say about this b...more

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About Irving Stone

In 1923, Stone received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. In the 1960s, Stone received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Southern California, where he had previously earned a Masters Degree from the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences.

When at home, Stone relied upon the research facilities and expertise made available to him by Esther Euler...more

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“How difficult it is to be simple.” — 18 people liked it

“It's so easy to love. The only hard thing is to be loved.
[Vincent Van Gogh]” — 17 people liked it

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