Invisible River
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Review
`An evocative reminder of how it feels to be young' ----Guardian
`A moving, poetically written novel, and its themes are of enduring interest: love, loss, responsibility, friendship, loneliness and the importance and meaning of art' ----Scotsman
`McEwen writes with such conversational ease and displays such an artist's eye that the novel rarely fails to charm. Who knew innocence could be so engaging?' ----Financial Times
`A truly gifted writer' ----Independent on Sunday --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
`A moving, poetically written novel, and its themes are of enduring interest: love, loss, responsibility, friendship, loneliness and the importance and meaning of art' ----Scotsman
`McEwen writes with such conversational ease and displays such an artist's eye that the novel rarely fails to charm. Who knew innocence could be so engaging?' ----Financial Times
`A truly gifted writer' ----Independent on Sunday --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
Praise for The Big House 'Brilliant ... A book of immense skill and unique vision. This is true talent' Maggie O'Farrell 'McEwen captures the innocence and excitement of childhood ... Touching, poetic and utterly unsentimental, The Big House is a mesmerising debut' Observer 'Strange, sad and beautifully written' Shena Mackay 'A true work of art' Allan Massie
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
N.B. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS ONE SPOILER.
The novel begins with Eve escaping from her widowed and alcoholic father in Cornwall to attend an art school in London. The first 180 pages or so (of 300) have no real plot development: Eve meets lots of new people (twelve in the first sixteen pages, all except one known only by their first name), which conveys well enough the experience of the first few days at college. We have a lot of description of studio life - mostly among a single-sex group of four young women. A male student emerges, as a significant character for Eve, around page 160; but he then disappears for well over a hundred pages. For the rest there is lots about Eve's response to colours and about various techniques that are pursued by her and her friends, and a lot of walking about London. I found none of this very interesting; and the style is flat, with very short sentences, its only colour being constant references to colour, and that becomes very tedious in the end.
As I said, around page 180 there is the first idea that the novel might actually have a plot, when the father, about leaving whom Eve has from time to time expressed some guilt, is found dead. This leads to some pages of real depth about Eve's grieving, and there are moments of sadness in her once she is back at work with her friends. But again, nothing much happens, except that at one point the girls go to an anti-war demonstration, and Eve is slipped something into a drink there which give her hallucinations - needless to say, again with lots of colours.
McEwen was herself at art colleges, and the novel feels intensely autobiographical, possibly even in regard to Eve's feelings about her father. If I am right in this, the events in the book must be very much more meaningful and interesting to her than, regrettably, it is to me.
The novel begins with Eve escaping from her widowed and alcoholic father in Cornwall to attend an art school in London. The first 180 pages or so (of 300) have no real plot development: Eve meets lots of new people (twelve in the first sixteen pages, all except one known only by their first name), which conveys well enough the experience of the first few days at college. We have a lot of description of studio life - mostly among a single-sex group of four young women. A male student emerges, as a significant character for Eve, around page 160; but he then disappears for well over a hundred pages. For the rest there is lots about Eve's response to colours and about various techniques that are pursued by her and her friends, and a lot of walking about London. I found none of this very interesting; and the style is flat, with very short sentences, its only colour being constant references to colour, and that becomes very tedious in the end.
As I said, around page 180 there is the first idea that the novel might actually have a plot, when the father, about leaving whom Eve has from time to time expressed some guilt, is found dead. This leads to some pages of real depth about Eve's grieving, and there are moments of sadness in her once she is back at work with her friends. But again, nothing much happens, except that at one point the girls go to an anti-war demonstration, and Eve is slipped something into a drink there which give her hallucinations - needless to say, again with lots of colours.
McEwen was herself at art colleges, and the novel feels intensely autobiographical, possibly even in regard to Eve's feelings about her father. If I am right in this, the events in the book must be very much more meaningful and interesting to her than, regrettably, it is to me.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
How extraordinary to open a new novel by an author you have grown to love and discover that her heroine was setting off from your home town on the same journey that you have made many, many times.
Eve is leaving her home in Cornwall to go to art school in London. Her emotions are caught perfectly. Cornwall is lovely, but when you are young and your head is full of dreams you want more. There are places to go, people to meet, sights to see, such a big world to explore ...
But Eve worried about her dad. There had only been the two of them since her mother died when Eve was just five years old, and she loved him dearly. He had been a good man, a thoughtful and creative man, but his loneliness had pulled him towards alcoholism.
Soon though she was caught up in a new life. The joy of finally being at art school, of being part of the big city, of being part of a new group of friend who have dreamed the same dream...
Through Eve's eyes I saw London afresh, I relived student life, and most of all I saw the colours of her exciting new world, the art she sees, and the art it inspires.
There are wonderful colours, wonderful imagery on every page, lighting up a simple coming of age story.
The world is seen through the eyes of one girl, one girl living entirely in the present.
That meant that her friends' characters are not explored in any detail, that practical concerns are neglected ... but for me that didn't matter, living with Eve, seeing the world through her eyes, was wonderful.
I loved seeing London again, visiting the galleries that I have missed since I left - this book reminded me just how much I would love to be able to visit the Rothko Room at Tate Modern again - and I loved being an art student.
I loved her relationships with her friends, her fellow students, her tutors. And I particularly liked Miss Pym, the college secretary, who I suspect was named after a certain lady novelist ...
I must confess though that I was a little disappointed when the story briefly returned to Cornwall. Although the setting was very, very close to home it wasn't my Cornwall, it was an idealised Cornwall, seen not through the eyes of a native but through the eyes of a visitor.
Not a major issue, you wouldn't notice it if you didn't live here, but I fear that I was beginning to gush, so I had to mention it.
Cornwall and London meet when Eve finds her father slumped on her doorstep. She can't cope and shouts at him to go. He disappears and, desperately worried, she realises that she is all she has and that she must find him.
Eve has to reconcile her love for her father with her need to live her own life.
She sees London's darker colours, and they are reflected in her art.
This is the real coming of age ...
Invisible River is a quiet book, driven by character and not plot, with a lovely narrative voice, rich colourful prose and a moving emotional journey.
A lovely book to wander through.
And now it is gone I am left wondering what will happen to Eve and her friends, and wishing that I could step back into their world ...
Eve is leaving her home in Cornwall to go to art school in London. Her emotions are caught perfectly. Cornwall is lovely, but when you are young and your head is full of dreams you want more. There are places to go, people to meet, sights to see, such a big world to explore ...
But Eve worried about her dad. There had only been the two of them since her mother died when Eve was just five years old, and she loved him dearly. He had been a good man, a thoughtful and creative man, but his loneliness had pulled him towards alcoholism.
Soon though she was caught up in a new life. The joy of finally being at art school, of being part of the big city, of being part of a new group of friend who have dreamed the same dream...
Through Eve's eyes I saw London afresh, I relived student life, and most of all I saw the colours of her exciting new world, the art she sees, and the art it inspires.
There are wonderful colours, wonderful imagery on every page, lighting up a simple coming of age story.
The world is seen through the eyes of one girl, one girl living entirely in the present.
That meant that her friends' characters are not explored in any detail, that practical concerns are neglected ... but for me that didn't matter, living with Eve, seeing the world through her eyes, was wonderful.
I loved seeing London again, visiting the galleries that I have missed since I left - this book reminded me just how much I would love to be able to visit the Rothko Room at Tate Modern again - and I loved being an art student.
I loved her relationships with her friends, her fellow students, her tutors. And I particularly liked Miss Pym, the college secretary, who I suspect was named after a certain lady novelist ...
I must confess though that I was a little disappointed when the story briefly returned to Cornwall. Although the setting was very, very close to home it wasn't my Cornwall, it was an idealised Cornwall, seen not through the eyes of a native but through the eyes of a visitor.
Not a major issue, you wouldn't notice it if you didn't live here, but I fear that I was beginning to gush, so I had to mention it.
Cornwall and London meet when Eve finds her father slumped on her doorstep. She can't cope and shouts at him to go. He disappears and, desperately worried, she realises that she is all she has and that she must find him.
Eve has to reconcile her love for her father with her need to live her own life.
She sees London's darker colours, and they are reflected in her art.
This is the real coming of age ...
Invisible River is a quiet book, driven by character and not plot, with a lovely narrative voice, rich colourful prose and a moving emotional journey.
A lovely book to wander through.
And now it is gone I am left wondering what will happen to Eve and her friends, and wishing that I could step back into their world ...
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book should have been called "a long list of 'profound' things I did today". I lost count of the number of sentences that followed the "I did this, and then I did that and then this happened. I thought about this and that and this" pattern.
Some of the language was beautifully descriptive and evocative, the key word being SOME. Mostly it was overdone and a bit exhausting to read at times- particularly the pseudo-philosophical parts towards the end about invisible realities and all that jazz. The dialogue was clunky and awkward- particularly a phone conversation between the character Cecilia and the protagonist (Eve) . McEwen is trying too hard to be profound here, and convey great depth and meaning with very few words; and it was just a bit painful. Also, real human beings (particularly young people like these characters) don't ever really talk to each other is this manner.
The characters were shockingly undeveloped. The character Bianca, for example; who Eve befriends at art college (which I'm sure is meant to be Chelsea), has no personality other than being Italian. Likewise Eve's 'relationship' with Zeb, a sculptor from the year above seems conjured from thin air. There is no build up, very little conversation between them, and no character development of him- we know he has long black hair. I'm literally struggling to recall any other detail about him because there just aren't any. This meant that later near the end of the book, when one of the characters comments that Zeb is 'in love' with Eve, I had to laugh a bit. It was so implausible. The whole book had a sort of foggy feeling, as if McEwen were trying to recall elusive memories of her own experiences at art college, which have been obscured and changed by the passing of time. The reader therefore feels similarly disconnected- like you are seeing the events of the characters lives through a really dirty window, and never know exactly what is going on.
Also, I am an art student living in London; and the only part of this picture of art college that I could relate to was the description of the critical reviews with tutors- these were brilliantly accurate, and are therefore clearly something McEwen remembers from her days at art college. No sense of the buzz of art school was created, due to the fact that no one else seemed to go to the bloody school! Her descriptions created the impression that the place was deserted apart from Eve and her small group of friends. In reality people literally fight over studio space.
However,
The descriptions of London are good, and she manages to create an interesting picture of the city. She also creates a very real sense of Eve's excitement at leaving her home town, and experiencing for herself all the possibilities that London has to offer. And her relationship with her father and her memories of her mother (with a possible suggestion of post natal depression) are the start of something interesting. However, these interesting elements are just not explored AT all, which I found incredibly frustrating.
It could have been a brilliant book, but in my opinion, it just wasnt.
Rant over
Some of the language was beautifully descriptive and evocative, the key word being SOME. Mostly it was overdone and a bit exhausting to read at times- particularly the pseudo-philosophical parts towards the end about invisible realities and all that jazz. The dialogue was clunky and awkward- particularly a phone conversation between the character Cecilia and the protagonist (Eve) . McEwen is trying too hard to be profound here, and convey great depth and meaning with very few words; and it was just a bit painful. Also, real human beings (particularly young people like these characters) don't ever really talk to each other is this manner.
The characters were shockingly undeveloped. The character Bianca, for example; who Eve befriends at art college (which I'm sure is meant to be Chelsea), has no personality other than being Italian. Likewise Eve's 'relationship' with Zeb, a sculptor from the year above seems conjured from thin air. There is no build up, very little conversation between them, and no character development of him- we know he has long black hair. I'm literally struggling to recall any other detail about him because there just aren't any. This meant that later near the end of the book, when one of the characters comments that Zeb is 'in love' with Eve, I had to laugh a bit. It was so implausible. The whole book had a sort of foggy feeling, as if McEwen were trying to recall elusive memories of her own experiences at art college, which have been obscured and changed by the passing of time. The reader therefore feels similarly disconnected- like you are seeing the events of the characters lives through a really dirty window, and never know exactly what is going on.
Also, I am an art student living in London; and the only part of this picture of art college that I could relate to was the description of the critical reviews with tutors- these were brilliantly accurate, and are therefore clearly something McEwen remembers from her days at art college. No sense of the buzz of art school was created, due to the fact that no one else seemed to go to the bloody school! Her descriptions created the impression that the place was deserted apart from Eve and her small group of friends. In reality people literally fight over studio space.
However,
The descriptions of London are good, and she manages to create an interesting picture of the city. She also creates a very real sense of Eve's excitement at leaving her home town, and experiencing for herself all the possibilities that London has to offer. And her relationship with her father and her memories of her mother (with a possible suggestion of post natal depression) are the start of something interesting. However, these interesting elements are just not explored AT all, which I found incredibly frustrating.
It could have been a brilliant book, but in my opinion, it just wasnt.
Rant over
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