The Portrait by Iain PearsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"People cannot tell the truth about themselves, for they do not know it."
"You command, and it comes to pass. You lift your finger and a reputation is made, shake your head and the hopes nurtured for years in the ateliers, worked for and so desperately desired, are dashed forever. So, you do not move armies, do not wreak destruction on faraway lands like our politicians and generals. You are far more powerful than that, are you not? You change the way people think, shape the way they see the world."
The novel starts with two old friends meeting. One of them is an artist, commissioned to paint a portrait of his comrade.
Only one of them walks out alive at the end... but which one? And what could possibly drive a man to wreak the destruction of a beloved?
This novella is an enormously tense read, short yet heavy, packed with profound meditations on the meaning of art, the role of a critic versus that of the artist, the tension between objective truth and compassionate humanity, and what it means to choose between success and integrity.
Iain Pears is a revelation! I will look for his other works, I extremely enjoyed this one. He is a fine, intelligent writer, and every page, every paragraph, feels NECESSARY. (Kudos to his editor, too!)
Best read in one sitting! And it will make you re-think the purpose of triptychs. *shudders uneasily at the remembrance of the last fifteen pages*
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