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    The Portrait
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    The Portrait
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    The Portrait
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Portrait

    Written by Iain Pears

    Narrated by Peter Capaldi

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    A dark and disturbing tale set at the turn of the 20th century, by the bestselling author of An Instance of the Fingerpost.

    The windswept isle of Houat, off the coast of Brittany, is no picturesque artists' colony. At the turn of the twentieth century, life is harsh and rustic. So why did Henry MacAlpine forsake London – where he had been fêted by critics and gallery owners, his works exhibited alongside the likes of Cezanne and Van Gogh – to make his home in this remote outpost?

    The truth begins to emerge when, four years into his exile, MacAlpine receives his first visitor. Influential art critic William Nasmyth has come to the island to sit for a portrait. Over the course of the sitting, the power balance between the two men shifts dramatically as the critic whose pen could anoint or destroy careers becomes a passive subject. And as the painter struggles to capture Nasmyth's true character on canvas, a story unfolds – one of betrayal, hypocrisy, forbidden love, suicide and ultimately murder.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 1, 2007
    ISBN9780007267828
    Unavailable
    The Portrait
    Author

    Iain Pears

    Iain Pears was born in 1955, educated at Wadham College, Oxford and won the Getty Scholarship to Yale University. He has worked as a journalist, an art historian and a television consultant. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream Of Scipio. He lives with his wife and son in Oxford.

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    Reviews for The Portrait

    3.5/5

    222 ratings19 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 2/5
      Didn't finish this... Just couldn't get into the monologue. I had a problem with how the narrator spoke to this sitter; it was too perfect. I get that he has probably been practicing this speech for some time, but it was just too unrealistic for me.
    • 4/5
      Henry MacAlpine is a Scottish painter living in self-imposed exile on a small island off the Brittany coast. An old friend, Willian Nasmyth, a famous art critic, arrives one day to sit for a portrait. As the two men reminisce, it becomes clear that this isn’t going to be an ordinary sitting …Written as a monologue from start to finish, this is a bold literary experiment that doesn’t always ring true, and several large passages read as if put there for the benefit of the reader (which they are, of course), and not the sitter, as they are far too polished and a little too stilted, though MacAlpine has had a lot of time to prepare his speech. Where the experiment does succeed, however, is that the reader is able to build up an image of Nasmyth’s character as it is reflected in MacAlpine’s monologue, and which holds the key to the events depicted in the book; whether it is all completely accurate is another matter (the device of the unreliable narrator), though I did get the impression that MacAlpine is honest – almost unflinchingly so, in places – and Nasmyth’s few reactions the reader is able to discern through the painter’s words seem to confirm that impression. The relationship between the two, although superficially friendly, is strained from the outset, and the tension mounts as the reason behind Nasmyth’s appearance on the island becomes clearer. I was reminded of Marc Anthony’s famous speech in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, when he repeats to great effect that Brutus is an honourable man, yet in effect maintains the opposite; here MacAlpine calls Nasmyth ‘old friend’, when it is obvious that there is barely suppressed hostility between the two, certainly on MacAlpine’s part. The painter has devised a perfect instrument of torture for his sitter, as he is forced to sit still and listen to the painter’s reminiscences (and he does ramble on for quite some time), and it soon becomes clear that a psychological game of cat and mouse is being played out which is really quite chilling, though a revelation towards the end strikes a false note (why is it that a woman cannot simply reject a man?), in my opinion calling some of MacAlpine’s motivations into question. The entire book is painted (forgive the pun!) in almost lyrical prose that is able to pronounce the profoundest truths in the simplest words, and I have marked many such passages in the book for future reference and reflection, something I’ve never done before.I can see why opinions are divided over this book, but I thought it a very rewarding and thought-provoking reading experience.
    • 4/5
      Unusual. Intriguing. I usually don’t care for first person narrators, but this was acceptable. No surprises, but an interesting story.
    • 4/5
      A subtle little psychological study of an artist and his subject, an old "friend" and art critic, with a surprising twist at the end. A little bit like Possession—but not so sophisticated and quite a bit darker.
    • 3/5
      Even in Pears’s talented hands, this author indulgence just didn’t work for me. I persisted in reading the whole book (which is all of 211 pages) because I was waiting for a payoff that was too late and too lenient to be effective. Oh sure, it’s there, but you have to wade through a lot of Artistic Opinion to get to it. And it’s oblique when delivered. Horrible, but unrealized and in future tense. You’re left to wonder if Henry managed to follow through. I hope he did.William is a thoroughly despicable character as painted by our narrator who delivers the whole of the text in a 2nd person monologue aimed squarely at William. Like other books written with a narrow point-of-view, its limitations come up hard against the narrative. It isn’t as difficult to bear with this book because I think Pears was very deliberate in his decision to address the whole book to “you”. You being the reader, but also William. The thing is, he has to balance what William would know and what you do as reader. Of course readers know less and have to infer a lot from the text. Once I got past the difficulty in reading this delivery (I recently DNFed another book for exactly this type of narrative) I started to wonder why Pears chose it. How does this serve the story in a way other more common styles don’t? All I can think of is the anticipatory frisson of coming bad news. Putting yourself into William’s position does add a bit of that, but it’s hard won and requires a lot of mental discipline on the part of the reader, something I failed at over and over. I just couldn’t put myself in William’s place. Why was he putting up with this monologue? Why was he there? Why couldn’t he leave? It drove me nuts and I had to continually re-focus on the text and story.That said, there are some great lines in this book about art, popularity, integrity and the role of the critic. Pears can write and he definitely is passionate about art, its closeted sphere and its larger role in culture. How it is rarely viewed objectively. There are gems in there. On page 72-75 or so he gives us a fantastic scene of palpable cruelty which kept me reading. William needed to suffer for what he did. There are similar scenes later in the book, but they didn’t ratchet up the way I thought and so the ultimate tragedies they cause were blunted for me. I expected one of the two, but the other wasn’t sufficiently horrifying because the victim was too remote. It was too abstract. Maybe that was the point. I think there were a lot of things (points) that I didn’t catch in this book and will probably have to give it ago in another ten years or so.
    • 5/5
      This is really a fantastic book.
      It's short, and entirely in the form of a first-person monologue. An artist, retired from London's busy art scene to a remote and rural island, has invited a former friend, a well-respected critic, to come sit for a portrait. As the work progresses, the artist recounts the tale of how the critic became his mentor in the art world... at first, on the surface, it may seem a rather banal tale, if one that offers interesting insights into the scene in England at the beginning of the 20th century... but as the narrative progresses, progressively more undertones of darkness and menace appear, and the reader begins to suspect there is more to this story than the reunion of two old friends... and the denouement makes it all more than worthwhile.
      Most impressive in this, is Pears' ability to create characterizations and insights that far exceed the limited vision and self-centered attitude of his narrator, all through that narrator's words.
    • 3/5
      Not an easy book for me to read. The one-sided dialogue was a different technique and was handled well, but I had to read this one in short sections at a time. The end was worth it, though.
    • 2/5
      A very disappointing Iain Pears for me. Probably in part because the subject of art, and to a lesser extent the art world, is one that is important to me, but I never managed to identify with any of its aspects in the book. It's hard to say more without spoilers, so you should probably not read the rest of this review if you intend to read the book.I hated the narrator from the beginning, as was probably intended, and even though I came to understand him better, the ending fully justified my dislike. And talking about the ending, it just doesn't work. But I really can't say more about it.
    • 3/5

      A few months ago I read and adored Pears's big fat science-historical mystery-type novel An Instance of the Fingerpost and adored it so much I went out and bought a better copy than the somewhat battered one I had so that Pam could read the book the way it ought to be read -- and, now I face it, so that I could have a nicer copy if ever I re-read the book myself, which is not beyond the bounds of possibility. Whatever, when I spotted The Portrait in the library the other day, there was no question but that it go home with me.

      It's a very much slighter book in every sense of the word -- indeed, it's more like a very, very long novella than a novel, all narrated as he paints by early-20th-century portraitist Henry MacAlpine to his subject, critic and heartless bastard William Nasmyth. Slowly, as the past history of the two men -- and more importantly of the undervalued (because female) painter Evelyn -- unfolds, we discover why MacAlpine has lured Nasmyth to this remote island off Brittany for the portrait, and what he hopes to achieve with that portrait.

      I'm not sure Pears quite pulls off the endeavour. At the end of the book I felt thoroughly satisfied by the last fifty pages I'd read, but the buildup to those last fifty pages had far too often seemed to drag. Had this been published as an ordinary-length novella -- say, 25-35,000 words -- rather than an (at a guess) 55,000-word shortish novel, I think it would have been artistically more successful. As it was, I had the sensation I was looking at one of a master's interesting but decidedly lesser paintings.
    • 3/5
      I've tried to read this book a couple of times before, but stopped reading when I realised that this was a book that I need to read in one sitting, so I've used this Good Friday well by finally reading the book. It's an interesting idea, a story told in the first person during a series of sittings for a painting. The artist, Henry MacAlpine, and his subject, William Naysmith, are old friends who lost touch when MacAlpine left London for Houat several years previously. The relationship between the friends is complex, especially when we realise that Naysmith is an art critic. But, as with any long-standing friendship, that is not all and as the sittings progress MacAlpine relates a story made up of a series of betrayals set against the background of bohemian fin de siècle Paris and London, and finally revenge.There are some difficulties with the story, neither of the main protagonists is likeable, they are ambitious and self-centred, seemingly unable to see the world from anyone else's perspective. This limits the life in the story as the best first person narrators, unreliable as they are, are usually at least able to imagine how other characters may feel. But Henry is so self-absorbed none of the other characters in the book, even those who turn out to be key players in the story, can ever be anything but two-dimensional characters fluttering around MacAlpine and Naysmith.
    • 4/5
      Let me introduce you to Henry McAlpine, a self-imposed exile from England, who currently resides on an island of the coast of France in the early 1920s. In this unusually constructed novel, the entire book is a monologue by Henry, as he paints the portrait of a former friend, an English art critic. Sounds innocuous enough, but the plot thickens as both the protrait and the story progress. What follows is a harsh examination of the art world, notoriety v. fame, the manipulations of art critics in general and of Henry's friend in particular, and the disastrous outcome of the critic's choices. A dark, yet enlightening story. Very good read!
    • 3/5
      I was a bit disappointed with this book. It is beautifully written, but the plot is meagre and the characters too simple to my liking.
    • 5/5
      This small novel is interesting in how it is written. It is primarily a one-sided conversation. It is creative and captivating.
    • 1/5
      Yuck. Liked the premise a lot, though the narrative style wore on me soon enough, and I ended up reading quickly to find out the ending. Raging misogyny and anti-gayism, which you could say was appropriate for the character in his time period. But why create the book that way? There are other reasons the woman artist could have been problematic. I had similar concerns about the Instance of the Fingerpost, where the woman was only a body, essentially. Won't be picking up a book by this author again.
    • 5/5
      There is a moment in Iain Pears "The Portrait" when you realize what is going to happen. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would have ruined the rest of the novel. But in Pears hands, it doesn't matter. You know what is going to happen, and the two characters know what is going to happen. Yet none of us can look away. "The Portrait" is a monologue. An artist is painting the portrait of a critic who is an old friend. The entire novel is the one sided conversation as the painting progresses, told from the mind of the artist. He lays bare, over the course of those conversations, their entire friendship. He also exposes both the critic's and the artist's own failings and demons. As I said, all of us know what is eventually going to happen. Yet Pears' prose is such that we hurtle towards the conclusion, engrossed, waiting anxiously to see what finally occurs, like a voyeuristic ghost. Unable to change the outcome, yet silently inside not wanting to. This was my first exposure to Iain Pears, but it won't be my last.
    • 4/5
      I was initially sceptical of the monologue structure, but once the story got going I soon accepted it, even if it always seemed a little artificial. The finale is quite predictable, but I was still interested in the plot right through the book and the evocation of the period and atmosphere is superb. In the end, I was glad the book wasn't any longer, the monologue device is just a little too tiring.
    • 5/5
      Henry MacAlpine is an artist self-exiled on the bare and wild French island of Houat. His old friend and mentor, the art critic William Nasmyth, becomes his first vistor for four years and becomes the sitter for the portrait of the title. As Naysmith sits MacAlpine talks. MacAlpine's is the only voice in the novel, as he tells us about the artistic circles of London and Paris that he and Naysmyth moved in. As he talks we understand why he left, and why Naysmyth came all that way to sit for him. This is a far more absorbing book than it sounds, Pears is one of my favourite writers and this is another masterful novel.
    • 4/5
      Slow going at first, but it's quite interesting... a little disappointed in the cheap ending
    • 4/5
      My advice to prospective readers: don't stop reading this book until the end. You may begin reading it, say "huh?" and want to put it down. But don't. The whole thing unravels the further you go and it is worth the wait.The entire book is structured as a monologue on the part of the narrator, Henry MacAlpine. MacAlpine is a very much sought-after artist in early 1900s London; his work is mostly portraiture, well, at least the work that provides his living. His subject, visiting MacAlpine in his current home on a small island off the Brittany coast of France, is one William Naysmith, a highly-influential art critic who used to be one of MacAlpine's best friends. MacAlpine is now in a state of self-exile on this small island, but the reader does not find out why until the end. He has summoned Naysmith to his island to paint his portrait, and it is during the course of the sitting that the monologue occurs. As the sitting and the monologue go on, the readers learns about the history of these two individuals from MacAlpine's beginning as an artist through his self-imposed exile. Trust me on this one. The book is extremely well written, and don't read it with getting to the end in mind. Enjoy the ride there...that's the crux of this book and it makes for a very unique reading experience. Recommended.