Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland ISBN: 0-670-03267-0 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: 05 February, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Dull
Comment: I was so excited when I picked this book up. I really enjoyed Girl in Hyacinth Blue and thought this book would be as good. Big disappointment.
I was only able to read the first 50 pages and then I had to give up. I could not get into the characters or the story- I was especially disappointed with the character of Emily. I felt Vreeland did a poor job of telling us who she was- other than she likes nature and native cultures. I found everything about the writing dull and drab- from her descriptions of things to the characters themselves. I found myself not caring what was happening in the story and there was no help from Vreeland to try and create any interest or excitement for this story. Also, even though I'm an avid reader, several times I didn't understand what was going on- her transistions from one scene to the next were terrible!! For instance, in one part we meet a man and it's not until many pages later we learn his name. This confuses things. She talks about her sisters, but it's many pages later we learn their names & not too much else about them. And at 50 pages, I still hadn't figured out where this story was leading- what was its purpose? What would make this book worth finishing?
I'm sorry to say I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. There have only been a handful of books in my life that I have not finished and this is one of them! Be warned.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Entertaining and Beautifully Written Story
Comment: Susan Vreeland's THE FOREST LOVER is the magnificent story of a woman who has a burning desire to be recognized in her field. The trouble is that she lives in Victoria, British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century. Females in business are maligned, especially one who would make a living at painting. Emily Carr is such a woman, a woman far ahead of her time.
Vreeland examines the emotional makeup of a woman who goes against the protocol of decency for a well-bred girl in Victoria. She embarrasses her three sisters by her repeated forays into the wilderness north of Vancouver to paint native Indian tribal people and their totems. She is obsessed with the idea of picturing them on canvas to preserve a dying heritage. None are interested in her venture, and her sisters are defiant in their resolve against her work.
Despite their objections, Carr ventures forth into the Canadian wilderness to paint trees, totems and the people she learns to love. Her best friend and soul mate is an Indian mother, Sophie Frank. Sophie is an artist in her own right; she makes baskets to sell in Victoria. A Christian, she uses her proceeds to purchase gravestone markers for her dead children. who have fallen to "white men's diseases."
Carr obtains family trust fund money from her sister Dede to travel to France to study with the great painters of her day. She has become discouraged by her inability to paint the totems with the passion that will tell a tale, and so she studies the works of Van Gogh, Matisse, Modigliani and Picasso, imitating their techniques. However, she is unsatisfied with her results and leaves for home. Carr again will go to the wooded islands and splash color on canvas to leave a totem's legacy for future generations. She fears the poles will be gone to collectors before she can paint them and returns with impassioned frenzy to her first love, the native tribes she adores.
THE FOREST LOVER is Carr's story, though the friends she makes are fictionalized by the author. However, her paintings are placed throughout the book and are real. In addition to Sophie, Carr befriends a French fur trader, Claude, and a crippled misfit, Harold. She has a penchant for the unusual in people as well as in art. She longs to earn recognition as an artist, but the recognition escapes her until late in her career, when she's about to give up. Vreeland has researched Carr's life extensively and paints her own word picture of the struggling artist with compassion. Credits are listed at the end of the book.
I highly recommend THE FOREST LOVER for its educational value as well as for its entertaining story. Carr is a study in obstinacy, persistence and passion. Vreeland should receive kudos for her extensive research and beautifully written story. The New York Times bestselling author of GIRL IN HYACINTH BLUE has produced another fine piece of writing.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
Rating: 5
Summary: An Inspirational Story
Comment: The details in this story make this book a literary vision. I finished The Forest Lover a week ago and cannot stop picturing the places that the main character, Emily Carr, visited while on her quest to paint native villages, people, and totem poles. I still feel as though I was on the scene with Emily.
The story tells of a woman who is turned off by high society and their so-called morals, and particularly inspired by two people some would consider to be misfits. Emily's adventures and experiences teach her to become a very strong woman and to follow her convictions.
I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this story. I have read Susan Vreeland's two previous books, Girl In Hyacinth Blue, and Passion of Artemesia. I have looked forward to reading her third book, whatever it would be, and was completely delighted with The Forest Lover. The details in this book surely come from exhausting amounts of research which must have taken Susan Vreeland forever to collect. This book was truly worth the wait!
Thanks again Ms. Vreeland... Whatever's next, I'll be waiting...
 |
Title: The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier ISBN: 0525947671 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 29 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
 |
Title: The Birth of Venus : A Novel by SARAH DUNANT ISBN: 1400060737 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
 |
Title: Holy Fools : A Novel by Joanne Harris ISBN: 0060559128 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 03 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title: The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier ISBN: 0452284449 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title: The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland ISBN: 0142001821 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 31 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
