Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The mural
I found myself as excited as Tom about the eventual uncovering of the mural, learning about the types of materials used, and which subjects merited the most expensive stuff, and the artist's techniques and who he deemed worthy of his best work (the sinners) and not so much the others (the saved). What an interesting piece of history!
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I loved the whole idea of a white-washed mural being uncovered and restored! And all the detail you mentioned was fascinating, especially his revelation that the painter fell. I also like the idea that Tom did not consider himself an artist, but more of a preservationist, like all people have a duty to protect and preserve beauty in the world, whether they actually create anything or not.
ReplyDeleteI was a bit unsatisfied as the story closed because the loose ends felt hurriedly tied together (like the connection between the grave and the painting). Did anyone else think so?
As soon as the body was uncovered, for some reason I was already thinking of the mysterious figure on the mural, so it wasn't exactly a surprise for me.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the book was closing the moment the author started talking about how summer was ending. But interesting that you should mention "loose ends," kc ... I thought Vinny's reappearance didn't make sense. Would he really want to reconcile with such a cheating wife? Or would his experience in the country cause him to seek a new life with someone else (or maybe remain alone for a while)?
You know, the subplot about Moon's past didn't stand on its own, either, and I thought the part where Tom said things were never the same between them would be the end. But it was so fitting for Moon to make the connection between the body and the painting. He could relate to another soldier coming back and being dishonored by his family and community.
ReplyDeleteShanxi, since Tom didn't seem to be one to care much for society's ideas, and since I presume divorce was legal then, I figured Vinny would not give him a divorce. It never really seemed to be a question of whether he could escape her whether they legally separated or not.
ReplyDeleteKC, I love as well his reverence for restoring something so magnificent when the world-view he brought in (I think) lent itself to finding so little in the world worth preserving.
ReplyDeleteHis reaction when Keach tries to pay him and kick him out: "There had been a blank wall, and now it wasn't blank. There had been the nuisance of the scaffold and a man living in his belfry who could now be packed off. Great God, the vast creative process was hidden from him."
Shanxi, I didn't understand his attachment to his wife. It's almost like we were to think of her as some kind of clinical nymphomaniac, like it was just some disorder he felt he had to put up with, but there's almost no detail about her, so we can't draw any conclusions. And there's kind of a hint that maybe he's a bit of a masochist, with his willingness to endure a crappy marital situation. Or maybe, as Christy noted, the divorce route wasn't an option for some reason. It's all too unclear!
ReplyDeleteChristy, great observation on Moon and the painting!
I expected something a little more climactic with the painting. There were the revelations that the artist fell from his scaffold and that the "falling man" was the outcast in the cemetery. But they weren't revealed in a dramatic culmination of the story.
ReplyDeleteAnd I found the Vinny thing pretty depressing. Tom seemed resigned to enduring whatever crappy situation happened with her.