Review of Love and Murder

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Alexander C Schmoock
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Review of Love and Murder

Post by Alexander C Schmoock »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Love and Murder" by Irv Arenberg.]
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love and Murder: The Final Days of Vincent van Gogh is an invite into the truth of what actually happened to the renowned artist named Vincent van Gogh. It's a doorway into defying the myth of Vincent van Gogh and his suicidal genius. It tells a lot about Vincent’s life and the people connected to him through his journey to creating some of the world’s most celebrated art pieces. This book follows his life from his period seeking asylum and recounts how he changed drastically there and was even considered cured of his madness. His self-portraits subtly depicted these changes occurring in his mind and eventually led to what would cause his tragic demise and the rumours of this creative schizophrenic who shot his ear off.
 
When I saw the painting on the book cover, I immediately wanted to immerse myself in its content. Art has always been an abstract topic, and one can only wonder and speculate on what goes on behind those smears of colors and aesthetic structures. This book did justice to those thoughts and questions in possibly any art enthusiast’s head. From exposing pure facts through ancient history to piecing together the man Vincent was, I enjoyed every part of the book. There were so many rumours about the man, and reading the book, I felt so much empathy for Vincent. He didn’t have the best childhood and wasn’t appreciated physically and emotionally by many, but he had a mind like pure gold. Underneath all the anti-social behaviour, he had a talent still celebrated to date.
 
It was such a great read, but due to its descriptive nature, some chapters, if not most, got really long, and I am not really a fan of elongated chapters. However, in some instances, detailed descriptions were definitely needed. Apart from that, it was an amazing read; the images, the storytelling, and the editing were all well done.
 
My rating for this book is 5 out of 5 stars. Great pacing, brilliant storytelling, and strategic placement of pictures are the qualities that earned it a perfect rating. I also have to add the fact that it was professionally edited. It’s a mark of a good writer to make the reader feel as though he is a part of the character’s life. Dr. Irv Arenberg did precisely that and helped open my eyes to different theories of what actually went down on that fateful day in July, the day of Van Gogh’s death.
 
I recommend this book to art enthusiasts and people generally interested in the history of art and the life of Vincent van Gogh. It seemed more like fiction to me at a point, so I believe many readers would find this to be a good read. The life of Vincent van Gogh was nothing short of exceptional.

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Love and Murder
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Kelly Tunstall
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Post by Kelly Tunstall »

The title of this book grabbed my attention straight away. Once I had read your review, along with the negatives, I cannot wait to read this book! He has spanned generations in the art field and seemed like a very misunderstood yet fascinating man. Thank you for such an informative review.
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