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Window on the World
Botanical writer James Thornberry's life is irrevocably changed when he meets up-and-coming artist Katherine Gaunt. Falling madly in love with her, he begins to collect her paintings secretly and obsessively, until his relationship with them and with her merge into delusion, and the paintings take on a life of their own.... Hugh Cornwell was the lead singer/guitarist and main songwriter for The Stranglers, one of the UK's bestselling rock groups of the late '70s and '80s. Having left the band in 1990 he is now a successful solo artist in his own right, having released several albums. He has also published three acclaimed nonfiction books, the last of which was his autobiography, A Multitude of Sins.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2011
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About the author
Hugh Cornwell
15 books8 followersHugh Alan Cornwell is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock and new wave band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 4, 2011
The first novel by singer-songwriter (and former Stranglers frontman) Hugh Cornwell is the story of Jamie Thornberry, a botanical writer who becomes infatuated with an artist named Katherine Gaunt whom he meets at an exhibition. He buys one of her paintings at auction; hears of another one in Paris and buys that; then tracks down a third to a Paris apartment, and takes it for himself. Jamie becomes determined to collect Katherine’s works; his methods for doing so grow more extreme – and he may be just as obsessed with the artist herself.
Window on the World is a fine character study. Cornwell initially portrays Jamie as reasonable enough; even when he steals a painting, we can rationalise it as an aberration brought on by the sudden intensity of his love for Katherine’s work (and even the protagonist seems to recognise he’s done something wrong and out of character). But, as time goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to explain Jamie’s action’s away like that – and there’s a brilliant perceptual shift towards the end which reveals that Jamie may not be such a reliable narrator after all. It’s the kind of narrative move that makes one want to go back to the beginning and re-read to see what other clues there were, what other stories were told without our realising.
Window on the World is a fine character study. Cornwell initially portrays Jamie as reasonable enough; even when he steals a painting, we can rationalise it as an aberration brought on by the sudden intensity of his love for Katherine’s work (and even the protagonist seems to recognise he’s done something wrong and out of character). But, as time goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult for us to explain Jamie’s action’s away like that – and there’s a brilliant perceptual shift towards the end which reveals that Jamie may not be such a reliable narrator after all. It’s the kind of narrative move that makes one want to go back to the beginning and re-read to see what other clues there were, what other stories were told without our realising.
March 23, 2017
Maybe 1 star is too much. This book was badly edited. A key character's name changed its spelling partway through. The big finish was a total "meh." There is no way on god's green earth this guy would have gotten this thing published if he hadn't been in the Stranglers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews