This is the story of two men who first become friends in 1970s New York, of the women in their lives, and of their sons, born the same year. Both Leo Hertzberg, an art historian, and Bill Weschler, a painter, are cultured, decent men, but neither is equipped to deal with what happens to their children - Leo's son drowns when he's 12, while Bill's son Mark grows up to be a delinquent, and the acolyte of a sinister, guru-like artist who spawns murder in his wake. Spanning the hedonism of the eighties and the chill-out nineties, this multi-layered novel combines a plot of mounting menace with a deeply moving account of familial relationships and a superbly observed portrait of an artist, set against the backdrop of a society reaching new depths of depravity in its frenetic quest for the next fashion, drug and thrill.
What I Loved: A Novel
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Amazon Review
What I Loved is a deeply touching elegiac novel that mourns for the New York artistic life, which was of a time but now has gone--by extension, it is about all losses swept away by mischance and time. Half-blind and alone, Leo tells us of marriage and friendship, and makes the sheer fragility of what seemed forever not only his subject, but perhaps the only subject worth considering. Scholars Leo and his wife Erica admire, and befriend, artist Bill and his first and second wives--their respective sons Matthew and Mark grow up together until the first of a series of tragedies strikes. And things get gradually worse from then on, both because terrible things happen and because people do not get over them.
Part of the strength of this impressive novel is its emotional intensity and part is the context in which those emotions exist; these are smart and talented people, even the children, and we luxuriate, even when things are at their worst, in the sheer intelligence they bring to bear on their situations. It is also impressive that, for Hustvedt, intelligence is an end in itself rather than something that prevents tragedy or makes it more bearable. This is a powerful book because everything Leo knows makes him ever more the victim of exquisite pain. --Roz Kaveney
Review
'The New York that oozes from her pages is dazzling, sexy, darkly lit. But this is also a wide, sensuous novel - clever, sinister, yet attractively real. It lives and breathes and never apologises for itself ... I can't remember the last time I finished a novel and truly believed I'd absorbed the taste and span of an artist's career as well as the pains and joys of 30 years of his sexual and emotional life, but this one convinced me I had.' (Julie Myerson, Guardian )
'Hustvedt writes with chilling intensity, and with an intimate knowledge of New York ... eerie and atmospheric' (Kate Chisholm, Daily Telegraph )
'[Her] characters [are] so lovingly created, who endure such loss and heartbreak, that they'll have you weeping on to the pages while you try to work out what connects Charcot's hysterics to modern-day SoHo.' (Alice Fisher, Time Out )
'A dark, sexually charged and complex novel ... Rich in detail and visual imagery, this is a book to slowly savour and unravel.' (Eve magazine )
'An extraordinarily dense novel, with as much or as little scholasticism as the reader chooses to find. The symbolic motifs of childhood, from the story of Hansel and Gretel to the creation of imaginary companions, jostle with darker myths in the lives of these people; but there are also at least two fine love stories and many acts of kindness between friends. They do not deserve the tragedy which befalls them, but their very decency in the face of it has dignity and magnificence.' (Image magazine )
'Defiantly complex and frequently dazzling ... a truly memorable novel ... [Siri Hustvedt] has created a conceptually exciting work that demands we think, but which still allows us room to feel.'
'Hustvedt is a serious, ambitious writer whose novels are intelligent, involving and engrossingly textured, like the highest class of thrillers.' (Michael Thompson-Noel, Financial Times 20030215)
'A gripping intellectual read' (Hugo Barnacle, New Statesman 20030215)
'Hustvedt writes with chilling intensity, and with an intimate knowledge of New York ... eerie and atmospheric' (Kate Chisholm, Daily Telegraph )
'[Her] characters [are] so lovingly created, who endure such loss and heartbreak, that they'll have you weeping on to the pages while you try to work out what connects Charcot's hysterics to modern-day SoHo.' (Alice Fisher, Time Out )
'A dark, sexually charged and complex novel ... Rich in detail and visual imagery, this is a book to slowly savour and unravel.' (Eve magazine )
'An extraordinarily dense novel, with as much or as little scholasticism as the reader chooses to find. The symbolic motifs of childhood, from the story of Hansel and Gretel to the creation of imaginary companions, jostle with darker myths in the lives of these people; but there are also at least two fine love stories and many acts of kindness between friends. They do not deserve the tragedy which befalls them, but their very decency in the face of it has dignity and magnificence.' (Image magazine )
'Defiantly complex and frequently dazzling ... a truly memorable novel ... [Siri Hustvedt] has created a conceptually exciting work that demands we think, but which still allows us room to feel.'
'Hustvedt is a serious, ambitious writer whose novels are intelligent, involving and engrossingly textured, like the highest class of thrillers.' (Michael Thompson-Noel, Financial Times 20030215)
'A gripping intellectual read' (Hugo Barnacle, New Statesman 20030215)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Kate Hopkins
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
A rather surprising novel, which begins as a gentle, rather intellectual examination of the friendship between Leo (an art historian) and Bill (an artist, who works as a painter, sculptor and increasingly in mixed media), and their families, but which turns in the last third of the novel into a thriller, with Bill's extremely disturbed son Mark as one of the central figures. Hustvedt's language in the novel is beautiful, her characters compelling. I particularly admired her description of the collapse of Bill's marriage to the cool and remote Lucille, and his very happy second marriage to his former model Violet Blom, a writer on hysteria, eating disorders and cultural studies. Hustvedt also handled very well Leo's secret attraction to Violet, which runs side by side with his very real love for his wife Erica, a professor of English literature. There is much interesting discussion of culture and philosophy (I'd say you have to be of a fairly academic bent to enjoy the first half of the book, but most people who read Hustvedt would be) and Hustvedt also brings Bill's artwork wonderfully to life, particularly his paintings. Although I found the collapse of Leo's family life after a tragedy somewhat unexpected (and it might have been more interesting to have Leo's son survive - he would have been a strong contrast to Mark) Hustvedt also writes well and sensitively on grief, and how one might feel having lost a child. The second half of the book is a real page-turner, without ever becoming vulgar in any way, and with many interesting insights into child and adolescent psychology, even if the figure of Teddy Giles may seem slightly melodramatic (but then, many performance artists are!) And the conclusion, though it may not be exactly what the reader wants, is dignified and moving, showing that things can be salvaged even from wrecked lives.
A wonderful, big rewarding read: thought-provoking and also addictively readable. I've now bought all Hustvedt's other books and am enjoying them too.
A wonderful, big rewarding read: thought-provoking and also addictively readable. I've now bought all Hustvedt's other books and am enjoying them too.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
By International Cowgirl
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
What I Loved is a beautiful, sprawling novel about love and loss. Once you get past the first hundred or so pages, that is. Divided into three parts, the first third genuinely doesn't seem to know where it's going, with interwoven flashbacks that quickly become disorientating. Persevere, though, because the good stuff is yet to come. The book as a whole reads as if Hustvedt honed her literary skills during the course of writing it - and then simply didn't bother to go back and edit part one. The worst of it is that her narrator's voice doesn't ring true at first either. This is supposedly written from the perspective of an elderly man, but Siri Hustvedt is very much female - and it shows. For the longest time there's simply no avoiding the glaring fact that it's a woman speaking here, not a man. Then the novel takes a dramatic turn, and from that point onwards she seems to get into her strides, so to speak.
The method Hustvedt uses to get your attention is hardly original, but it's powerful nonetheless. I hadn't expected to care so much, but a growing affection for the characters had crept up on me somehow and from that point on I was hooked. In short, there's never been a more deserving candidate for the phrase `flawed but interesting'. In spite of the bumpy start there's some magnificent stuff here. This is (partly) a book about the outskirts of the New York art scene, and her lengthy descriptions of one artist's works are rendered stunningly well. Even potentially dry academic subjects are given life and vigour by Hustvedt's pen. Oddly enough, when the book moves into horror film territory, she really excels at the gory stuff - everything is fleshy and real, almost sickeningly so.
This final third of the book, a kind of psychological mystery story, reminded me fleetingly of `The New York Trilogy' by Paul Auster, to whom this book is dedicated. The fact that he's also Hustvedt's husband made me wonder if his literary influence had rubbed off on her somehow... But in the end this mostly magical book is unique to Hustvedt, I think. Not perfect by a long shot, but unforgettable nevertheless.
The method Hustvedt uses to get your attention is hardly original, but it's powerful nonetheless. I hadn't expected to care so much, but a growing affection for the characters had crept up on me somehow and from that point on I was hooked. In short, there's never been a more deserving candidate for the phrase `flawed but interesting'. In spite of the bumpy start there's some magnificent stuff here. This is (partly) a book about the outskirts of the New York art scene, and her lengthy descriptions of one artist's works are rendered stunningly well. Even potentially dry academic subjects are given life and vigour by Hustvedt's pen. Oddly enough, when the book moves into horror film territory, she really excels at the gory stuff - everything is fleshy and real, almost sickeningly so.
This final third of the book, a kind of psychological mystery story, reminded me fleetingly of `The New York Trilogy' by Paul Auster, to whom this book is dedicated. The fact that he's also Hustvedt's husband made me wonder if his literary influence had rubbed off on her somehow... But in the end this mostly magical book is unique to Hustvedt, I think. Not perfect by a long shot, but unforgettable nevertheless.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A. Davies
Format:Paperback
Pros
* The main characters are well written and involving. The author is remarkably good at writing from a male perspective, though that perspective is a narrow one, restricted to the New York intelligentsia.
* An exceptional and moving description of parental reaction - both physical and emotional - to the death of their child.
* The "thriller" element has a slow build-up, though eventually becomes a close examination of aspects of the "Nature/Nurture" debate on psychopathology; and this is convincingly explored.
Cons
* The setting is very rarefied - the New York art world. If you have no interest in this small group of self-important people, then it is difficult to care about them, unless the author works hard with emotional pathos.
* The author has included very elongated passages describing her conception (through her artistic character Bill) of conceptual artwork. Maybe this is post-conceptual i.e. describing an art-piece without actually creating it. However, I found it starts to pall rather quickly. I skipped these pages.
* The main characters are well written and involving. The author is remarkably good at writing from a male perspective, though that perspective is a narrow one, restricted to the New York intelligentsia.
* An exceptional and moving description of parental reaction - both physical and emotional - to the death of their child.
* The "thriller" element has a slow build-up, though eventually becomes a close examination of aspects of the "Nature/Nurture" debate on psychopathology; and this is convincingly explored.
Cons
* The setting is very rarefied - the New York art world. If you have no interest in this small group of self-important people, then it is difficult to care about them, unless the author works hard with emotional pathos.
* The author has included very elongated passages describing her conception (through her artistic character Bill) of conceptual artwork. Maybe this is post-conceptual i.e. describing an art-piece without actually creating it. However, I found it starts to pall rather quickly. I skipped these pages.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hustvedt is really very good!
Very Good writing. Could not stop reading it..the sadness prevails from the beginning, part of the plot was really forerseeable and yet I felt the need to go on.
Published 1 month ago by DRA LUISA MARIA R FLORA
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Consciousness itself is inexplicable. There is nothing ordinary in...
Set in the New York art world with a narrator Leo Hertzberg, a professor of art criticism and his wife Erica, living in a loft, with the studio of a painter William Wechsler and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Eileen Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
What i love about this book
There are some books that have a great plot, great characters or just have a great atmosphere...
What I loved hasn't got a particularly gripping plot nor are the... Read more
What I loved hasn't got a particularly gripping plot nor are the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Oolong
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read
The storyline grabs you, I couldn't put it down.
The plot of the story and the character's personalities is well developed, which gets you more involved in the read. Read more
The plot of the story and the character's personalities is well developed, which gets you more involved in the read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Priscilla
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ok read but derivative
Just recently read this book, as it was considered to be one of the great recent literary classics. I have to say it is an ok read. Read more
Published 22 months ago by T. Byrne
4.0 out of 5 stars
Don't judge this book by its cover!
A marvellous book - let down by an very unengaging title, and a perfectly awful cover illustration (which, as is so often the case, seems to have nothing at all to do with the... Read more
Published on 15 April 2011 by The Cosmic Whelk
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book, hooked from page 1.
This is a really excellent book. It brims with emotion, from despair to love (obviously) to a brilliantly written creeping terror. Read more
Published on 12 April 2011 by Book Worm
2.0 out of 5 stars
Jackson Pollocks
A good deal of paint was splashed about during the making of this book; if you are of a mind to spend a long time staring at it in order to make your own considered interpretation,... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2011 by Mark Hancock
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too long
I was really taken by the first part of the book although I did find the relationships of the protagonists a bit incestuous and not really like the real world which is exactly my... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2010 by Mr. R. Thornton
5.0 out of 5 stars
A compelling read.
The story the narrative of which is through the eyes of an ageing man is utterly convincing and it is hard to realise that the Author is a woman. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2010 by S. P. Newcombe
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