Vincent Van Gogh was the son of a clergyman, though his extended family were quite prosperous art dealers. He was expected to go into the art business as well but grew frustrated by having to sell terrible art to wealthy clients who couldn't discern the difference between talent and rubbish. Accepting a ministerial position in an impoverished Belgian coal mining community, he was inspired by the rough and downtrodden faces surrounding him, and he eschewed his comfortable lodgings, nearly starving himself while giving most of his allowance to the locals he asked to model for him as he made his first forays into crude drawing. Becoming malnourished, weak and physically and mentally ill while chasing his passion but never realizing success would prove to be recurring circumstances for the rest of his life.

When I placed this book on my TBR I had no particular interest in Van Gogh, but I had just read the author's breathtaking and unforgettable biographical fiction book, The Agony and the Ecstasy, about Michelangelo. This book echoes some of the same themes, including the fine line between genius and madness and an artist's willingness to starve themselves or live in squalor in pursuit of their craft. I referred frequently to online images of Van Gogh's drawings and paints as they were mentioned in the narrative. Vincent's brother Theo was astonishingly, almost mind-blowingly supportive. It was heartbreaking, though, as he, as well as Vincent's friends and acquaintances, continuously encouraged him for years upon years, but always cruelly regretting that, alas, they could not yet exhibit any of his work. Would his mental health ultimately have fared better if they had? This work being fiction, it naturally piqued my curiosity to learn how much was factual and how much speculative, so next I'll have to pick up Heiligman's biography, Vincent and Theo. ( )

Jedno z najvýznamnejších diel svetovej literatúry vychádza v novom vydaní takmer po dvoch desaťročiach. Je výsledkom mohutného dojmu, akým na Irvinga Stona zapôsobili obrazy Vincenta van Gogha, s ktorým sa zoznámil v Paríži v 20. rokoch minulého storočia. Na základe štúdia zachovanej korešpondencie, autentických dokumentov a spomienok žijúcich súčasníkov veľkého maliara napísal príbeh, ktorý sa zaradil k najčítanejším dielam svojho žánru. Smäd po živote vraví nielen pravdu o živote geniálneho umelca, vyplnenom prácou a utrpením, ale zároveň odhaľuje základné skutočnosti o jednej z najvyšších ľudských činností – o umení. ( )

I've long been an admirer of Van Gogh, as an artist and a man. This is a a fictionalized book of his life,....but pretty close to fact. I liked this alot.....didn't love it but it was an excellent read. ( )

Prior to Irving Stone's debut novel Lust for Life (1934), most Americans had never heard of Vincent van Gogh, and in Europe he was known mainly in the art world. Stone was also unknown, writing about an obscure European painter - there was little reason to believe the manuscript would succeed. After rejections a publisher decided to take a chance and the novel became a surprise best-seller. Stone and Van Gogh rose to fame together. It remains the most popular book about Van Gogh and it's how most people know his story (along with the movie adaption). Van Gogh is the prototypical starving artist who sacrifices everything for art, including life, and goes unrecognized in his lifetime but then becomes famous after death. ( )

Read before I started writing reviews, back when I was reading mostly SF. I liked it a lot, but given the caveats of my inexperience, I'm really not sure how good it actually is. ( )