- Paperback: 316 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (Mar 15 1995)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312131178
- ISBN-13: 978-0312131173
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 14 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,683,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
From present-day New York to 17th-century Holland, this imaginative, enthralling first novel conjoins the marginalized struggles of two creative, impoverished and sometimes desperate men separated by more than three centuries. The first is famous Dutch painter Frans Hals, known only through his surviving works and the town archives of Haarlem, which contain information pertaining to marriages, births, deaths and a number of legal disputes. The second is Peter Van Overloop, a perennial Columbia graduate student who is hired by a Manhattan art dealer to translate and help authenticate several recently discovered volumes of an apparent Hals diary. As Peter works on the project he quickly identifies with the tumult and uncertainty of the artist's life: Peter himself, rendered temporarily homeless by a fire in his apartment, shuttles from place to place as he delves deeper into the ever more intriguing chronicle. Growing fond of the diarist's wry humor, wisdom and resilience through continuing hardship, Peter worries, even as he verifies each date and name, that some inconsistency will prove this character he so admires to be a fraud. Kernan writes evocatively of both Peter's modern-day Manhattan and Hals's Holland from 1616 to 1664. The artist's voice as he comments on painting and events in his life (from his early 30s into his early 80s), wittily enumerating his own foibles along with the strengths and meannesses of those around him, is seamlessly crafted and captivating. Cleverly offset by Kernan's contemporary frame, these beautifully realized diaries brim with timeless insights on matters both lofty and mundane. Four-page color insert.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
YA-A tale of two cities, 17th-century Haarlem in the Netherlands, and 20th-century Harlem in New York City, and two struggling artists, one the real-life Dutch painter Frans Hals, the other a Columbia University graduate student named Peter Van Overloop. The link is a set of diaries, supposedly written by Hals, found in a garage and passed from one person to another until they are finally entrusted to Van Overloop to translate and authenticate. From a clever weaving of fact and fiction emerges a vivid portrait of the artist and his era, offering comparisons with the contemporary young man's life and time. A four-page color insert showing some of the paintings referred to by Hals makes these "diaries" all the more realistic and engaging.
Pamela B. Rearden, Centreville Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Pamela B. Rearden, Centreville Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
On April 29, 1992, Christopher Barnett, the twelve-year-old son of Don Barnett, a successful Honda automobile leader who had just bought a farm near the eastern tip of Long Island, found a large packing case buried under a thick mat of stale hay in the barn loft. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
On April 29, 1992, Christopher Barnett, the twelve-year-old son of Don Barnett, a successful Honda automobile leader who had just bought a farm near the eastern tip of Long Island, found a large packing case buried under a thick mat of stale hay in the barn loft. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Completely engaging, original, pull-you-along fiction.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lost Diaries of Frans Hals: A Novel (Paperback)
I can't believe I let this book sit in my "to be read" pile for two years. I was sucked into the story right away. I don't know anything about painting or the Dutch, but this book is fantastic! Very funny and wonderfully detailed. I am SO intrigued by the author's mixing of fact and fiction. Time to do some sleuthing of my own on the internet...
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, seductive novel,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lost Diaries of Frans Hals: A Novel (Paperback)
This book slowly seduces you into rooting for the diaries, the writer and the translator. Are the diaries by Frans Hals or not? You want them to be...but how could they be -- there is a separation of over 300 years! The author weaves an intricate pattern of present and past lives with the characters of Hals(?) and the translator. I read this in a week and just got SUCKED in. Buy and read if you like books with inserts from the past intermingled with the present.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Frans Hals lives,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Lost Diaries of Frans Hals: A Novel (Paperback)
We were amazed with wonder looking at his paintings in Amsterdam during a recent trip. This delightfully intriguing book combines factual historical events and people with a delightful story. Even if your interest in paintings consists of whitewashing the fence, this book will keep you page turning.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
