The Swan Thieves

Kostova's prose is rich and elegant, and the story that comes to life here -- rather, the various stories that come to life -- wanders within it beautifully. From the beginning, it's difficult not to be drawn into the world of the painter who chose to attack a painting, and the man who attempts to untangle his story and his sanity.

Yet, there is a 'yet'. Though the novel is entrancing from the beginning, something of its magic is lost as it veers in various directions, from recent history back through generations, tracking both letters and lives. Beyond the painter and his therapist, there are other contemporary characters are slightly more superficial, slightly less full, and as various chapters wandered back further into history, I show more found myself wishing that the novel would have stayed with them, rather than tracing stories so far backward into what was less compelling, except in its relation to the present.

But, all told, there's a calmness and a loveliness to this novel that makes me glad to have stumbled upon it. I think probably that the title and the cover drew me in more than anything, which is fine--I think a reader who's drawn to either will find a lot to love here. I suppose, in the end, I just wish that it had stayed more tightly focused, or spent more of its length upon the women in the book so that they felt a bit more fully considered, and less stereo-typed. When their voices were filling the pages, they were very alive, but when they were in the background, they seemed barely considered, and as if they took a back seat to the looks back in history.

This may be part of the goal of the book, to watch how certain contemporary situations and people paled in comparison to the history with some perspectives, and not with others, but I admit that I could have done with fewer looks back, whether that would have meant more time in the present, or simply a shorter work. Some of those moments felt too... considered, too formed, too perfect. It may be going too far to say that they felt as if they were trying too hard, in a sort of MFA-altered fashion, but I'm not sure it's far from the truth, as they didn't feel fully natural to the book and to the story.

That said, I'm glad to have stumbled on the book, and I'll certainly read Kostova's more widely known Historian, if not more of her work even beyond that. show less

The Swam Thieves is a mystery, an art history novel, an examination of women's rights, and an examination of the nature of obsession all rolled into one. One of the very best novels I have read this year, it eloquently explores a female impressionist artist in France during the Victorian era--her personal and professional life, and how they become intertwined to end her career--and a modern-day artist who becomes obsessed with her story, bringing about the end of his marriage and his committal into a mental institution. The historical aspects are told predominately through letters. The modern aspects are told from the point of view of the psychiatrist who is treating the obsessed artist. The author combines these differing points of show more view into the novel in such a way as to make them seem natural; I enjoyed this refreshing way of presenting the story.

This is one of the most enjoyable, satisfying novels I have read in 2010. Bravo, Elizabeth Kostova. show less

This is the third historical novel I have read by Elizabeth Kostova, an author of extraordinary talent. Although I liked the subject matter of THE HISTORIAN and THE SHADOW LAND more, I still found this a fascinating read and learned so much about art and painting along the way.

Like Kostova's other novels, this one slowly weaves together two stories, a little more than a hundred years apart and it takes until the very last page to see how all the characters fit together.
*In one story, a mentally ill patient, Robert Oliver, who happens to be a prominent American artist, is institutionalized after attacking a painting in a museum. Because the patient refuses to talk to his psychiatrist, the doctor, Andrew Marlowe, struggles to show more independently investigate the patient's past to find some way to understand and help him. Along the way, we meet the Oliver's ex-wife, former lover, and faculty colleague. And as Marlowe becomes increasingly immeshed in his patient's life, he finds it more difficult to maintain professional objectivity and winds up questioning aspects of his own life.
*In the second story, Beatrice de Clerval Vignot, a talented woman artist in France during the height of Impressionism, finds herself increasingly drawn to her husband's uncle, another artist, who encourages her exploration of her talent.

Kostova alternates chapters in telling the two stories and is exceptionally gifted in writing in different voices. Her prose is beautiful and evokes such powerful emotions -- tenderness, longing, passion, deep hurt, and, of course, love. The book has it all -- human drama, romance, mystery, mounting tension, and rich and distinctive characters. It's a long book but well worth the investment. show less

This is the third historical novel I have read by Elizabeth Kostova, an author of extraordinary talent. Although I liked the subject matter of THE HISTORIAN and THE SHADOW LAND more, I still found this a fascinating read and learned so much about art and painting along the way.

Like Kostova's other novels, this one slowly weaves together two stories, a little more than a hundred years apart and it takes until the very last page to see how all the characters fit together.
*In one story, a mentally ill patient, Robert Oliver, who happens to be a prominent American artist, is institutionalized after attacking a painting in a museum. Because the patient refuses to talk to his psychiatrist, the doctor, Andrew Marlowe, struggles to show more independently investigate the patient's past to find some way to understand and help him. Along the way, we meet the Oliver's ex-wife, former lover, and faculty colleague. And as Marlowe becomes increasingly immeshed in his patient's life, he finds it more difficult to maintain professional objectivity and winds up questioning aspects of his own life.
*In the second story, Beatrice de Clerval Vignot, a talented woman artist in France during the height of Impressionism, finds herself increasingly drawn to her husband's uncle, another artist, who encourages her exploration of her talent.

Kostova alternates chapters in telling the two stories and is exceptionally gifted in writing in different voices. Her prose is beautiful and evokes such powerful emotions -- tenderness, longing, passion, deep hurt, and, of course, love. The book has it all -- human drama, romance, mystery, mounting tension, and rich and distinctive characters. It's a long book but well worth the investment. show less

Enjoyed the mystery and putting the pieces together. Jumping time lines between 19th century and present day, as well as the multiple perspectives on Robert's life have enough clues to move it along and keep you guessing, without twists and turns everywhere. I just didn't love that the doctor wanted to jump every woman in the book just about (surprised coming from a female author). I actually thought the doctor was a woman for the first few pages, which would have been interesting.

An artist named Robert Oliver attacks a painting in a museum and is sent to psychiatric treatment. He ends up being a patient to Dr. Marlowe, an amateur painter. Marlowe discovers his new patient has an obsession with a bunch of letters and a woman he keeps on painting. Doctor becomes obsessed himself – he wants to find out the whole story behind Oliver's obsession. His main informants are Oliver's ex-wife and ex-girlfriend.

As a psychiatric mystery this book is a failure. Oliver's first doctor is incompetent enough not to care which painting was attacked, and Dr. Marlowe is more interested in detective work than his patient's mental health. Somehow Oliver gets better in the end without being treated . Maybe all he needed was a place show more away from people and someone to discover all his secrets behind his back. I find the whole psychiatric angle artificial. It would've made more sense to make Marlowe an art student or a journalist - or perhaps another woman infatuated with charismatic Oliver.

Marlowe shares the role of a narrator with Oliver's exes, and the letters Oliver keeps reading over and over again are also part of the narrative. Reader also gets glimpses to the past with the lady in the portraits. I see those glimpses as something Marlowe or Oliver (or both!) cooked up in their imagination, not a as the actual truth. Interestingly, to me this half-imagined woman became the character most vivid and believable.

It's certainly an ambitious novel with it's many narrators and jumps in time. In the hands of a more skilled craftsman The Swan Thieves could've become a masterpiece. Too bad all Kostova can really offer is her lovely writing, which just doesn't keep up interest for 560 pages. The book needs to be shorter or better structured around one storyline. What it definitely needs is a real central figure that's more than a figment of someone's imagination – or perhaps she needs to be one even more clearly. show less

This is a long, slow read that requested - no, insisted - on the pleasure of my company for a while. I loved it.

First, it's about art and it's about history and about psychology.
Next, it's a well-told story with compelling characters and resolution that's withheld until the end (and not in a genre-template sort of way).

If you don't like to spend many days on the same book, or if you want a lot of action scenes, then this isn't for you. For the rest of us, though, it's heaven.