The Man in the Picture

(41) I did not like this as much as ‘The Woman in Black.’ Her novels are essentially novellas - fairly well-written ghost stories to tell around a campfire. In this one, a professor and amateur art collector comes into possession of an oil painting of a carnival scene in Venice. The painting seems to draw viewers in, waking them from sleep to peer at newly noticed creepy details. Someone wanted this painting very badly and one dark night over drinks, this professor tells one of his old students the whole story. A jealous lover, a vengeful curse - are there new people going missing who seem to pop up in the picture with looks of abject terror on their faces? Surely not, as the painting was made in the 1700’s…

There was rather show more heavy foreshadowing which at times is an effective way to generate psychological tension, but in this case seems to make the story too predictable. I was a tad freaked by ‘Woman in Black,’ but not this one. Honestly, at times despite the brevity, I was ready for the punchline.

I won’t hurry to get another one of her novellas. I wish she would write a nice thick gothic haunting tale. These stories beg for more contextual detail and characterization. Overall though, a quickly read vacation read, but don’t expect to be scared. show less

A damn-near perfect ghost story: Atmospheric and genuinly creepy.

It's short length is also great- no atrificial padding, no useless exposition. The language economic without being barren. A lot of popular horror writers I could mention might learn a thing or two here... It also have this timeless quality i find really appealing. It might take place last year, or thirty, or sixty years ago.In my opinion, this adds to the story rather than subtracts from it.

Susan Hill is doubtless one of the finest writers of horror alive today, taking the traditional victorian ghost story and gently ushering along into the 21st century without making much fuss about it.

Susan Hill is a master at creating atmosphere, painting living pictures with words. And the images she creates in this book are as eerie as the title painting, which seems to be a living, growing, menacing thing. Perhaps not since Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray has the story of such a sinister painting been penned by an author.

What to say without spoiling the rich surprises? This is a storyteller's book, a volume of stories within stories. By the firelight on two winter's nights, Oliver's old professor, Theo Parmitter, tells Oliver the eerie story of a painting which hangs in his rooms at Cambridge -- including the story told to him by a previous owner, whose life the painting cursed. Indeed, this painting seems to be a pox upon show more anyone who has contact with it -- as Oliver will learn all too tragically in the end.

This short (145 small-sized pages) book packs a powerful punch. Five stars! show less

This book is part of the Favorite Book of 2011 Roundabout. LilyKlip's favorite.

I liked this book :-) It had a lot of things I like: a bit of mystery, a good story teller, a bit of doom & faith.
How all male possessors of a painting are doomed, and thus their relatives, because of something that has happened in the days that the narrator of the story, Theo, an old college professor, was still young.
I think it is a good story. Told with as many words and elaborations neccessary. Maybe not a ghost story in the literal sense of the word, but it is weird, eerie, unsettling.

I'll see if there are more stories by Susan Hill that I might pick up. This was a good appetizer.

Oliver's former tutor tells him the story of a strange painting hanging on his wall - a scene of the Venice carnival, cursed by a former owner and still exerting a powerful influence over all who have contact with it.

This is a subtly spooky Gothic novella, eerie and atmospheric, and very well written. Thoroughly recommended (although possibly not for reading late at night or shortly before a trip to Venice).

When I heard that this novella was loosely inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, possibly my favourite book of all time, I was eager to give it a try! It's my first Susan Hill, but knowing her reputation for chilling writing I reckoned I'd be in safe hands. Happily, I wasn't disappointed, and found The Man in the Picture a thoroughly absorbing little read.

It is really a story within a story within a story. The first narrator is Oliver, a Cambridge alumnus visiting his old professor Theo in his college digs. One cold night, sitting by a roaring fire, whisky in hand, Theo tells Oliver how he came to own one of the art works in his collection, a macabre painting depicting a crowded Venetian carnival scene. Within his story, in turn, is show more the bizarre experience of the Countess who owned the painting before him. Between these three Hill conjures a tale of menace and vengeance, peeking into the sinister corners of Venice and the history of a terrifying picture with a life of its own, the entire novella suffused with the theatricality of the Carnivale and the scent of oil paint.

This is a quick read, but a wonderfully atmospheric one that I think pays an interesting kind of homage to The Picture of Dorian Gray without trampling all over it. Hill handles her Russian doll trio of narrators beautifully, so that each is distinct from the others and I never got confused - which could easily have happened given that everything hinges on one work of art. I wouldn't say it is a surprising novella, because I could see where it was all leading, but it was still delicious to just sink into it for a day and immerse myself in the spooky story and the darker side of the masked celebrations whirling through the streets of Venice. Recommended! show less

A story within a story, within a story, that turns out, IT'S WITHIN A STORY!

Evil bitter women, blameless men, more women as side-casualties and folks enjoying narrating stuff.

Read it before identifying Susan Hill's tropes (talked about here) so I didn't much mind the portrayal of women because I saw it as an analogy for other things and didn't quite place them within the saint/witch classic sexist dichotomy she loves using in her other novels as well. I loved the idea of an evil painting sucking men in, and would have liked to learn more about its origins and creation. It reminded me a lot of a duMaurier story of a newlywed couple that goes on a European country for their honeymoon and end up also having ghostly problems. But then again show more Hill is clearly influenced by Daphne and maybe that's why I love them both, sexist tropes and all. show less