The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro
I sat straight up on the seat. Couldn't believe my ears! The car radio is indeed talking about the Gardner Museum heist. Such a coincidence! I had just about finished reading a book based on it. Barbara Shapiro’s book was finished in one sitting not just for the mystery element but for the wonderful foray into the world of art. It was about forgeries mostly but I find myself unable to resist anything that provides information on classics. Be it art, music or books for that matter! The story starts off with a mention of the famous and heretofore unsolved art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 23 years ago. It adds an imaginary Degas painting to the original list of stolen artworks. The rest of the story is built upon this Degas painting. Such imagination can only lead to a good story. Shapiro has done well.
I sat straight up on the seat. Couldn't believe my ears! The car radio is indeed talking about the Gardner Museum heist. Such a coincidence! I had just about finished reading a book based on it. Barbara Shapiro’s book was finished in one sitting not just for the mystery element but for the wonderful foray into the world of art. It was about forgeries mostly but I find myself unable to resist anything that provides information on classics. Be it art, music or books for that matter! The story starts off with a mention of the famous and heretofore unsolved art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 23 years ago. It adds an imaginary Degas painting to the original list of stolen artworks. The rest of the story is built upon this Degas painting. Such imagination can only lead to a good story. Shapiro has done well.
And it really was on NPR news on March 18, 2013, the 23rd anniversary of the heist! The news was that the FBI now knows the criminals who did it but has no idea where the stolen paintings are. I do hope they will be returned to the museum where they belong. Isabella G is thought to be one of the first art collectors in the US and a pioneering woman at that. I would like her museum to get the paintings back.
Joseph Anton- A Memoir by Salman Rushdie
Any Salman Rushdie book is fair game one way or another. You might hate the man or love him but his writing genius is indisputable. I finished this hardbound book in one sitting! Reminded me of when I was reading Marquez's memoir. Engagingly written, great pain is taken to express his thought process while writing the book that started all the controversy. I have not read that book but I can see that perhaps most people who opposed it also never read it? To be honest I just didn't like the title and may not ever read it. But reading this book written about the life he lived in hiding under the name of Joseph Anton is worth it. It takes one into the writer's mind. Quite an intelligent and well read mind, mind you:-). It starts off with Rushdie's english education, the loss of his part of India during partition and the various phases of his career as a writer. The main focus however is on his life as Joseph Anton spent running away from place to place under police protection in England. I was surprised to find that he had to find, rent and pay for all the hiding places himself although his level of threat was second only to that of the Queen. He seems to have a keen memory based on how he explains each small incident so vividly. He also puts himself in the other person's shoe almost all the time in an effort to find the reasoning behind all the madness. I do hope to read his universally acclaimed novel Midnight's Children one day.
Any Salman Rushdie book is fair game one way or another. You might hate the man or love him but his writing genius is indisputable. I finished this hardbound book in one sitting! Reminded me of when I was reading Marquez's memoir. Engagingly written, great pain is taken to express his thought process while writing the book that started all the controversy. I have not read that book but I can see that perhaps most people who opposed it also never read it? To be honest I just didn't like the title and may not ever read it. But reading this book written about the life he lived in hiding under the name of Joseph Anton is worth it. It takes one into the writer's mind. Quite an intelligent and well read mind, mind you:-). It starts off with Rushdie's english education, the loss of his part of India during partition and the various phases of his career as a writer. The main focus however is on his life as Joseph Anton spent running away from place to place under police protection in England. I was surprised to find that he had to find, rent and pay for all the hiding places himself although his level of threat was second only to that of the Queen. He seems to have a keen memory based on how he explains each small incident so vividly. He also puts himself in the other person's shoe almost all the time in an effort to find the reasoning behind all the madness. I do hope to read his universally acclaimed novel Midnight's Children one day.
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