Leaving Van Gogh
by:
Carol Wallace (author)
In the summer of 1890, in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died two days later, at the age of thirty-seven, largely unknown despite having completed over two thousand works of art that would go on to become some of the most...
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In the summer of 1890, in the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died two days later, at the age of thirty-seven, largely unknown despite having completed over two thousand works of art that would go on to become some of the most important and valued in the world. In this riveting novel, Carol Wallace brilliantly navigates the mysteries surrounding the master artist’s death, relying on meticulous research to paint an indelible portrait of Van Gogh’s final days—and the friendship that may or may not have destroyed him. Telling Van Gogh’s story from an utterly new perspective—that of his personal physician, Dr. Gachet, specialist in mental illness and great lover of the arts—Wallace allows us to view the legendary painter as we’ve never seen him before. In our narrator’s eyes, Van Gogh is an irresistible puzzle, a man whose mind, plagued by demons, poses the most potentially rewarding challenge of Gachet’s career. Wallace’s narrative brims with suspense and rich psychological insight as it tackles haunting questions about Van Gogh’s fate. A masterly, gripping novel that explores the price of creativity, Leaving Van Gogh is a luminous story about what it means to live authentically, and the power and limits of friendship.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9781400068791 (1400068797)
Publish date: April 19th 2011
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Pages no: 288
Edition language: English
Somewhat disappointed by this book. I'd say it's because I love van Gogh so much, but my love for the artist is really the only thing that kept me reading. The writing was excellent, but nothing much happened in this novel. It could have been so much more. It's still fiction, so go ahead and make so...
Carol Wallace's "Leaving Van Gogh" tells the story of Vincent van Gogh's last days, through the eyes of Dr. Gachet. Friend, physician and portrait subject, Gachet attempted to relieve van Gogh's melancholy during his time in Auvers.The book is obviously well-researched, showing a variety of ways in...