Based on the prologue, of any artist, Van Gogh might be the one for whom one would most want to study a biography, in order to understand the art. AndBased on the prologue, of any artist, Van Gogh might be the one for whom one would most want to study a biography, in order to understand the art. And that's as far as I've gotten.
About 1/3 of the way through, recognizing that any biography is one person's interpretation of another's life, albeit based on much, much research. At this point I can only think "poor, poor Vincent; how he suffers" and "omg--what he puts his family through!" Van Gogh is seriously f'ed up. And yet, what he left for the world . . . He's about to get into painting. Let's see how that goes.
Pg. 383 of almost 900, "Vincent began a series of images that would become the first indisputable masterpieces of his slow-igniting, fast-burning career." How this man struggled. The torments to which he subjected those closest to him. This biography is so painful to read. I find myself wondering how much is truly mental illness and how much is a reaction to the total, unbearable, unlivable predicament of having been born in the wrong time and place, of working in an era that cannot see the value of one's work. Wow. Either way, it does seem clear that the Van Goghs are the poster family for "dysfunctional." What pain, for everyone involved. It leaves me wishing that the episode of Dr. Who that involves visiting Vincent and bringing him forward in time, to see how valued his work became, were true.
I had to abandon this book, probably 80% through. I just couldn't take any more of Van Gogh's suffering.
This is a gloriously big, fat collection of what I anticipate will be wonderful sci fi. So Asimov, in his intro to the first book has a footnote to "TThis is a gloriously big, fat collection of what I anticipate will be wonderful sci fi. So Asimov, in his intro to the first book has a footnote to "The Nature of the Title," in which he explains that he uses "the masculine form only for simplicity, and [intends] it inclusively." I'm fully prepared to make allowances. For one thing, the original publication date was 1980, and the note tells me that at least he was trying. For another, this was compiled by Asimov (and others). I even overlook his, frankly, rather insane effort to explain society in his Foundation series. Asimov is a master. I was crushed when he died.
So, this huge collection of short stories remained on my "currently" shelf for ages. Inevitably, some of the stories were more compelling than others. All in all, I wish I liked short stories more, because I found some great work here by terrific authors. Much of what they do (or did; these are old) is short stories and, for me, collections of short stories tend to sit around the place forever....more
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