Lust for Life
Irving Stone
Heritage Press
1934
Ms. Hen decided to read this novel because right now she is
interested in books about art, and also historical fiction. She did a search
for novels about artists, and this one appeared. She has always been interested
in Van Gogh, and wanted to learn more about him. Years ago, she read the
letters between Van Gogh and his brother Theo, but she had a difficult time
enjoying that book. Ms. Hen decided she doesn’t like to plug through letters;
she would rather read a novel.
Ms. Hen thought LUST FOR LIFE was gripping. It’s about Vincent
and his journey towards becoming an artist. The novel follows through with his failures in
life: in love, in his careers of choice, and his artwork. Each section is about
a place where he lived, starting with London, then the Borinage, Etten, the
Hauge, Paris, Arles, St. Remy, and Auvers.
Vincent had a failed love affair in London, where his
landlord’s daughter rejected him. He obsessed over her, and refused to
acknowledge she did not love him and was betrothed to another. He did not do
well as a clerk in London, and his family suggested that he join the clergy. He
wanted to be an evangelist, but he struggled with his studies. He was sent to
the mining region, but he became neurotic about helping the impoverished
miners. He was dismissed from working there, and went back to his parents’
house.
Everywhere Vincent went, he made a disaster of his life. He
tried to learn to be an artist in the Hague, but he ended up living with a
prostitute and driving his mentors away. When he went to live with his parents,
a woman fell in love with him, and her family rejected him, and drove him out
of town. He desperately worked at his art, but got no encouragement, and no
respect. He was unstable and stubbornly refused to let anyone tell him he could
not be an artist.
Ms. Hen admires Vincent because he persevered at his art,
and did not let anyone tell him he didn’t have the capacity to do what he
wanted. He never saw great success in his life, but he has posthumously. He was
mentally ill, and it was possible he was never happy or content, but he lived a
fascinating life.
Ms. Hen loved the scene where he went to Theo’s art gallery
and saw the Impressionists for the first time. She thought it was beautiful
that he was provoked and inspired by the light and colors of Monet and Pissarro
and the others. Ms. Hen has had moments like that when she is reading or
viewing a film or looking at art, if it’s something she’s never experienced
before, she could be illuminated by a work.
Ms. Hen finally learned the true story about how Van Gogh
cut off his ear. That was the incident that proved to everyone around him that
he was truly insane. A prostitute chided him because he did not have any money
to pay her, and she joked with him and told him that he could give her one of
his ears as a payment. He went home, and cut off one of his ears and handed it to her
wrapped in a package. When she saw it she fainted. He was put in the hospital,
and not long after, the sanitarium.
Ms. Hen took her time reading this novel. It’s a very dense
read, but worth the effort. Ms. Hen loves reading about unstable, but brilliant
artists, because those are the kinds of people she connects with the most.
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| Ms. Hen and Van Gogh |
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