Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Girl In Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland


"A professor invites a colleague from the art department to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer--why has he hidden the important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War 2 and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in human lives. Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of the mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts, and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable."

A couple months ago, before I had ever heard of this book, I had an idea for a movie. That happens every so often, me getting ideas for things, but this one I liked in particular. I thought how interesting it would be to have a movie following the life of the main character, but only through the eyes of those she encounters. Would you ever know who she truly was, or would you only see what others wanted her to be?

So it was sort of serendipity that I picked this book up, because I didn't even realize until about halfway through it that it was almost exactly what my idea had been, and executed so beautifully. It just made me connect to it all the better. 

The main character in Girl In Hyacinth Blue  is the painting of the girl in hyacinth blue itself- something that sucked me in right away. Each chapter shows the painting in the hands of a different owner, and provides insight into how the owner connects to the painting. I loved that each chapter was strong enough to stand on it's own; the chapters had originally been published different places as short stories, which meant they didn't necessarily have to connect to each other, but the connections made the themes that much clearer. When you finished a chapter, you said goodbye to the characters in it, but Susan Vreeland did an amazing job at relating you to the characters and their story in the little time you had with them. 

The book was a sort of commentary on how art affects people. It draws out truths about ourselves that even we don't know, and this is what Susan Vreeland explores. The painting is at once the same and different in every chapter, because the characters see it through their own biased lens. If a character wants to escape, the girl in the painting may be looking out the window with longing. If a character wants to be rich, the girl may not be sewing because she doesn't have to. By this means you end up learning so much more about the characters than if you had simply experienced them the way they show themselves to the outside world.

Susan Vreeland's writing style is also incredibly gorgeous. Her descriptions are rich with detail, and the way she presents people, drawing on tiny mannerisms and perceptions, you understand exactly the person she is talking about immediately. I liked her book in part because she's one of those authors that I feel I think similarly to. Those ones where they say something, and you understand them exactly; one phrase can speak volumes. I think different people connect to different authors in this way-- I can read an amazing, classic book, and appreciate it, but not connect to it the way I connect to another book. The reason I bought this book was solely the first sentence. I could tell right then and there that I would understand it completely.

"Cornelius Engelbrecht invented himself."

And that sentence, right there, don't you understand exactly the kind of person being introduced?

The end wrapped up the ideas of the story so well, tracing the painting back to it's conception, when it was first painted by Vermeer. It focuses on how he wants to capture truth, and in this way he has to contemplate for long periods of time before painting. He wants to make things alive. I think Vreeland may have put a little of her own feelings into this chapter; her work is beautiful and and reveals the truths of human nature in a subtle and eloquent way. In the end, I think Vermeer creates something that tells a universal truth, and that lives long after it's creator dies.

The setting being in Holland made the story and culture so much richer, and I also fall for anything professor or art history related (this book had both) so you can understand how elated I was. This is definitely the newest addition to my favorites shelf ( Fahrenheit 451 and The Rebel Angels were getting a little lonely)- the writing was beautiful, the story was contemplative, the characters were vivid. 5/5 stars.

I also need to give a shout-out to the cover designer for the book, because that's what made me pick up the book in the first place, and it's so pretty I refused to mark it up at all. The hyacinth blue on the cover has got to be one of my favorite colors, and the picture window was unique. I love how spaced out the type on the pages is, too. It gives you room to think.

Read if you like:
-Art history
-Vermeer
-Scandinavia
-Short Stories
-World War II

FAVORITE QUOTES--
"If two people love the same thing, she reasoned, then they must love each other, at least a little, even if they never say it."

"People who would be that close to her, she thought, a matter of a few arms lengths, looking, looking, but would never know her."






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