Review of Love And Murder
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Review of Love And Murder
[Following is a volunteer review of "Love And Murder" by Dr. Irv Arenberg.]
5 out of 5 stars.
In "Love and Murder," Arenberg presents us with the personal life and death of Vincent van Gogh, a life filled with controversies. This academically advanced book on his life is a must-have. If you have ever wondered about the life of the enigma known as Vincent van Gogh, you will learn pretty much everything about him in the greatest detail in this book. Arenberg's book is a very personal yet engaging portrait of van Gogh's brief existence, and it does not seem as if you are studying art history from a lecture. Only a handful of words that students reading this would not know can be found here. By using van Gogh's letters, Arenberg traces van Gogh's emotional life and brings out the important relationships in van Gogh's letters: with women, his brother Theo, and his fellow artist, Paul Gauguin. Having provided such a rich and gripping setting of van Gogh's life, Arenberg then proceeds to convince his readers biographically that van Gogh's murder should be re-examined. Regardless of whether or not you concur, Arenberg permits the reader to explore the enigma of Van Gogh's death from a singularly original, compelling point of view.
The narrative opens with an exploration of the early life of Vincent van Gogh, ensnaring the reader in the world of the artist with profoundly evocative language. The idealism of youth is captured through the rivers and windmills of van Gogh’s native Brabant and the urban grit of The Hague, which paints the landscape and the figures of working-class men and women. Even after he has failed at some careers, the reader is nonetheless fully aware of the vital currents of life that could flow only from this artist. And despite the very sad note of the life that van Gogh lived, the river of electricity that is him carries the reader through to what can only be a heartfelt depiction of his art.
The story gets really exciting when it starts to deal with the time Vincent van Gogh spent in Auvers-sur-Oise, just north of Paris. Not that the rest of van Gogh's life isn't interesting, but the last 70 days of his life, which have long been shrouded in mystery, give a Biographer a lot of room to work with. And Don Margulies's Au Revoir to Auvers doesn't disappoint. He respects the police procedural enough to let new evidence in the case emerge as it would. The woman to whom van Gogh gave his ear doesn't appear in the story at all, and that's the right decision. (One of her great-great-grandnieces is, though, if memory serves; look for the pink flower in her hair.)
Dr. Irv Arenberg's "Love and Murder" is an enthralling book, but it's not an easy one to read. Why not? Because—unless you are a hardcore fan of Kim Cooper, and I am—you are going to get lost a lot. Those who are not okay with actually learning something while being entertained should beware of two particularly off-putting details. The first is the super-technical stuff related to the murder: Arenberg is positively (and admirably) obsessed with recounting every detail of the bullet and the human body's reaction to it, as well as the oral testimony of the closest living witnesses to the event.
The writing style of the book is excellent; the editing is perfect. There are no errors. The book is very well done overall.
Overall, Dr. Irv Arenberg's book "Love and Murder" is a truly enthralling mix of art history, genuine criminality, and incredible historical mystery surrounding the events of van Gogh's life and death. What you've got in the pages of this utterly fascinating book is simply this: a narrative that has the beautiful forward momentum of a well-designed whodunit, with the authority of a historian and art historian, the integrity of an engineer, and the downright passion of an unapologetic Vincent van Gogh fan challenged by a theory. Read this art book for a fresh look at a familiar yet still largely "unsolved" art story (though Arenberg makes a heck of a penetrating case).
******
Love And Murder
View: on Bookshelves
5 out of 5 stars.
In "Love and Murder," Arenberg presents us with the personal life and death of Vincent van Gogh, a life filled with controversies. This academically advanced book on his life is a must-have. If you have ever wondered about the life of the enigma known as Vincent van Gogh, you will learn pretty much everything about him in the greatest detail in this book. Arenberg's book is a very personal yet engaging portrait of van Gogh's brief existence, and it does not seem as if you are studying art history from a lecture. Only a handful of words that students reading this would not know can be found here. By using van Gogh's letters, Arenberg traces van Gogh's emotional life and brings out the important relationships in van Gogh's letters: with women, his brother Theo, and his fellow artist, Paul Gauguin. Having provided such a rich and gripping setting of van Gogh's life, Arenberg then proceeds to convince his readers biographically that van Gogh's murder should be re-examined. Regardless of whether or not you concur, Arenberg permits the reader to explore the enigma of Van Gogh's death from a singularly original, compelling point of view.
The narrative opens with an exploration of the early life of Vincent van Gogh, ensnaring the reader in the world of the artist with profoundly evocative language. The idealism of youth is captured through the rivers and windmills of van Gogh’s native Brabant and the urban grit of The Hague, which paints the landscape and the figures of working-class men and women. Even after he has failed at some careers, the reader is nonetheless fully aware of the vital currents of life that could flow only from this artist. And despite the very sad note of the life that van Gogh lived, the river of electricity that is him carries the reader through to what can only be a heartfelt depiction of his art.
The story gets really exciting when it starts to deal with the time Vincent van Gogh spent in Auvers-sur-Oise, just north of Paris. Not that the rest of van Gogh's life isn't interesting, but the last 70 days of his life, which have long been shrouded in mystery, give a Biographer a lot of room to work with. And Don Margulies's Au Revoir to Auvers doesn't disappoint. He respects the police procedural enough to let new evidence in the case emerge as it would. The woman to whom van Gogh gave his ear doesn't appear in the story at all, and that's the right decision. (One of her great-great-grandnieces is, though, if memory serves; look for the pink flower in her hair.)
Dr. Irv Arenberg's "Love and Murder" is an enthralling book, but it's not an easy one to read. Why not? Because—unless you are a hardcore fan of Kim Cooper, and I am—you are going to get lost a lot. Those who are not okay with actually learning something while being entertained should beware of two particularly off-putting details. The first is the super-technical stuff related to the murder: Arenberg is positively (and admirably) obsessed with recounting every detail of the bullet and the human body's reaction to it, as well as the oral testimony of the closest living witnesses to the event.
The writing style of the book is excellent; the editing is perfect. There are no errors. The book is very well done overall.
Overall, Dr. Irv Arenberg's book "Love and Murder" is a truly enthralling mix of art history, genuine criminality, and incredible historical mystery surrounding the events of van Gogh's life and death. What you've got in the pages of this utterly fascinating book is simply this: a narrative that has the beautiful forward momentum of a well-designed whodunit, with the authority of a historian and art historian, the integrity of an engineer, and the downright passion of an unapologetic Vincent van Gogh fan challenged by a theory. Read this art book for a fresh look at a familiar yet still largely "unsolved" art story (though Arenberg makes a heck of a penetrating case).
******
Love And Murder
View: on Bookshelves
