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Un monde à portée de main
«Paula se souvient de la grande verrière de la rue du Métal, de la luminosité particulière de l’atelier et alors, Jonas apparaît, la gueule de Rembrandt, le regard clandestin, la peau d’iguane, la prunelle d’un noir bleuté, le blanc de l’œil aux reflets de perle, les cernes de cendre.»
À vingt ans, Paula entre dans le prestigieux Institut de peinture de Bruxelles. Elle y apprend à copier les surfaces qui composent le monde, à donner l’illusion des matières vivantes. Les nuits blanches s’enchaînent, les sentiments tournoient. Des studios de cinéma de Cinecittà, à Rome, au fac-similé de la grotte de Lascaux, elle s’immerge dans le travail. Sous son pinceau, les images enchevêtrent le passé et le présent, le loin et le proche, la fiction et la vie. Si Paula veut comprendre le monde qu’elle peint, il lui faudra d’abord le saisir de ses mains.
À vingt ans, Paula entre dans le prestigieux Institut de peinture de Bruxelles. Elle y apprend à copier les surfaces qui composent le monde, à donner l’illusion des matières vivantes. Les nuits blanches s’enchaînent, les sentiments tournoient. Des studios de cinéma de Cinecittà, à Rome, au fac-similé de la grotte de Lascaux, elle s’immerge dans le travail. Sous son pinceau, les images enchevêtrent le passé et le présent, le loin et le proche, la fiction et la vie. Si Paula veut comprendre le monde qu’elle peint, il lui faudra d’abord le saisir de ses mains.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 16, 2018
163 people are currently reading
5976 people want to read
About the author
Maylis de Kerangal
45 books479 followersMaylis de Kerangal est une femme de lettres française, née le 16 juin 1967 à Toulon. Elle passe son enfance au Havre, fille et petite-fille de capitaine au long cours. Elle étudie en classe préparatoire au lycée Jeanne-d'Arc de Rouen et ensuite à Paris de 1985 à 1990 l'histoire, la philosophie et l'ethnologie. Elle commence à travailler chez Gallimard jeunesse une première fois de 1991 à 1996, avant de faire deux séjours aux États-Unis, à Golden dans le Colorado en 1997. Elle reprend sa formation en passant une année à l'EHESS à Paris en 1998.
Carrière d'écrivain[modifier | modifier le code]
Elle publie son premier roman, Je marche sous un ciel de traîne, en 2000, suivis en 2003 par La Vie voyageuse, puis par Ni fleurs, ni couronnes en 2006, Dans les rapides en 2007 et par Corniche Kennedy en 2008. Ce dernier roman figure cette année-là dans la sélection de plusieurs prix littéraires comme le Médicis ou le Femina.
Elle crée en même temps les Éditions du Baron Perché spécialisées dans la jeunesse où elle travaille de 2004 à 2008, avant de se consacrer à l'écriture. Elle participe aussi à la revue Inculte3.
Son roman Naissance d'un pont est publié en 2010. Selon elle, « Il s’agit d’une sorte de western, autrement dit d’un roman de fondation, et la référence à ce genre cinématographique opère dans le texte, l’écriture travaille en plan large, brasse du ciel, des paysages, des matières, des hommes, et resserre sa focale sur les héros qui sont toujours pris dans l’action, dans la nécessité de répondre à une situation. ». Le 3 novembre 2010, l'ouvrage remporte à l'unanimité et au premier tour le prix Médicis. Le livre remporte aussi le Prix Franz Hessel et est, la même année, sélectionné pour les prix Femina, Goncourt, et Flore. Le Prix Franz Hessel permet à l'ouvrage de bénéficier d'une traduction en allemand, parue en 2012 chez Suhrkamp.
En 2011, elle est l'une des participantes du Salon du livre de Beyrouth au BIEL (Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center).
En 2012, elle remporte le prix Landerneau pour son roman Tangente vers l'est paru aux éditions Verticales.
En 2014, elle est la première lauréate du Roman des étudiants France Culture-Télérama (ancien Prix France Culture-Télérama), pour son roman Réparer les vivants14 qui a été aussi couronnée par le Grand prix RTL-Lire 2014. Dans celui-ci, elle suit pendant 24 heures le périple du coeur du jeune Simon, en mort cérébrale, jusqu'à la transplantation.
Carrière d'écrivain[modifier | modifier le code]
Elle publie son premier roman, Je marche sous un ciel de traîne, en 2000, suivis en 2003 par La Vie voyageuse, puis par Ni fleurs, ni couronnes en 2006, Dans les rapides en 2007 et par Corniche Kennedy en 2008. Ce dernier roman figure cette année-là dans la sélection de plusieurs prix littéraires comme le Médicis ou le Femina.
Elle crée en même temps les Éditions du Baron Perché spécialisées dans la jeunesse où elle travaille de 2004 à 2008, avant de se consacrer à l'écriture. Elle participe aussi à la revue Inculte3.
Son roman Naissance d'un pont est publié en 2010. Selon elle, « Il s’agit d’une sorte de western, autrement dit d’un roman de fondation, et la référence à ce genre cinématographique opère dans le texte, l’écriture travaille en plan large, brasse du ciel, des paysages, des matières, des hommes, et resserre sa focale sur les héros qui sont toujours pris dans l’action, dans la nécessité de répondre à une situation. ». Le 3 novembre 2010, l'ouvrage remporte à l'unanimité et au premier tour le prix Médicis. Le livre remporte aussi le Prix Franz Hessel et est, la même année, sélectionné pour les prix Femina, Goncourt, et Flore. Le Prix Franz Hessel permet à l'ouvrage de bénéficier d'une traduction en allemand, parue en 2012 chez Suhrkamp.
En 2011, elle est l'une des participantes du Salon du livre de Beyrouth au BIEL (Beirut International Exhibition & Leisure Center).
En 2012, elle remporte le prix Landerneau pour son roman Tangente vers l'est paru aux éditions Verticales.
En 2014, elle est la première lauréate du Roman des étudiants France Culture-Télérama (ancien Prix France Culture-Télérama), pour son roman Réparer les vivants14 qui a été aussi couronnée par le Grand prix RTL-Lire 2014. Dans celui-ci, elle suit pendant 24 heures le périple du coeur du jeune Simon, en mort cérébrale, jusqu'à la transplantation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 305 reviews
September 14, 2020
Mixed feelings about this novel. Earlier, the French writer Maylis de Kerangal (° 1967) wrote the wonderful Mend the Living in which she offered an intense and vibrant story on the heart transplantation of a young man.
In this novel ("a world within reach") de Kerangal charms with the portrait of Paula, a young woman who does not really know what to do with her life. She follows a highly specialized art course in Brussels, and then does a dozen low-paid assignments as a set painter, until her career is launched. de Kerangal beautifully highlights Paula's inferiority complex and constant self-doubt, but also her perseverance. The other striking aspect of this novel is the very plastic description of everything that comes with decorative art: de Kerangal describes the precious materials that are used in great detail, as if she wants to make the world of illusions that is set painting tangible in words; it is a kind of ode to craftsmanship, which gives her style a very opulent baroque tone, occasionally dizzying, but at the same time producing a rather tough read. Fortunately, in other passages the writer brings out her swirling prose that she used so masterfully in Mend the Living.
But… apart from that sometimes enchanting introduction to the world of the plastic arts and young Paula's wandering travels through life, this novel suffers from serious compositional problems. In the story, a certain Jonas plays an important role as fellow student of Paula, a talented rake she has a crush on, but who remains only a cardboard figure in this novel; this applies even more to another fellow student, the British Kate, who only plays a marginal role.
Towards the end, de Kerangal also almost completely gets lost in historical exposés about the prehistoric paintings in the cave of Lascaux, of which Paula is allowed to paint a replica. In a semi-magical evocation we see Paula merging into a prehistoric woman who collaborates on the paintings. And suddenly there is a reference to the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, early 2015, an association that is completely lost on me.
This could have been a very attractive novel with very interesting ingredients, but clearly de Kerangal overplayed her hand. Though not a completely failed novel, towards the end the story regrettably went wrong.
In this novel ("a world within reach") de Kerangal charms with the portrait of Paula, a young woman who does not really know what to do with her life. She follows a highly specialized art course in Brussels, and then does a dozen low-paid assignments as a set painter, until her career is launched. de Kerangal beautifully highlights Paula's inferiority complex and constant self-doubt, but also her perseverance. The other striking aspect of this novel is the very plastic description of everything that comes with decorative art: de Kerangal describes the precious materials that are used in great detail, as if she wants to make the world of illusions that is set painting tangible in words; it is a kind of ode to craftsmanship, which gives her style a very opulent baroque tone, occasionally dizzying, but at the same time producing a rather tough read. Fortunately, in other passages the writer brings out her swirling prose that she used so masterfully in Mend the Living.
But… apart from that sometimes enchanting introduction to the world of the plastic arts and young Paula's wandering travels through life, this novel suffers from serious compositional problems. In the story, a certain Jonas plays an important role as fellow student of Paula, a talented rake she has a crush on, but who remains only a cardboard figure in this novel; this applies even more to another fellow student, the British Kate, who only plays a marginal role.
Towards the end, de Kerangal also almost completely gets lost in historical exposés about the prehistoric paintings in the cave of Lascaux, of which Paula is allowed to paint a replica. In a semi-magical evocation we see Paula merging into a prehistoric woman who collaborates on the paintings. And suddenly there is a reference to the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo, early 2015, an association that is completely lost on me.
This could have been a very attractive novel with very interesting ingredients, but clearly de Kerangal overplayed her hand. Though not a completely failed novel, towards the end the story regrettably went wrong.
September 7, 2021
Jesus Christ this was painful to read. I’m sorry man. I’m sorry but this took me essentially a whole month to get through, and even though it was only 230 pages, it felt like 800.
There’s a special writing style De Kerangal has, and does it appeal to me? No. No, not at all. Mm mm. Nope. It is the type of writing that must take time and care to become familiar with. Although you may be lost at first among the run-on sentences, lack of quotations, and chunky paragraphs, over time, you learn to dance a tango with the pages. It can become gorgeous. At times, I nearly cried because of how beautiful De Kerangal had constructed her characters or settings. But it still fell flat. After a while, you get exhausted of having to try to keep up with such flowery writing that it begins to mentally strain you. I had at first chalked it up to the fact that it had been translated from French, but that doesn’t change the fact that the content was delivered in huge, nearly indigestible chunks.
The book still has some merit. I really liked the characters’ relationships with each other and especially Paula’s sense of not belonging in the world. I thought that was done beautifully. However, it could not salvage the writing that I disliked because it was just way too distracting. God what a tiring read. I feel like I’ve just completed a marathon, and I’m just happy to get it off my shoulders. Thank god it’s over.
There’s a special writing style De Kerangal has, and does it appeal to me? No. No, not at all. Mm mm. Nope. It is the type of writing that must take time and care to become familiar with. Although you may be lost at first among the run-on sentences, lack of quotations, and chunky paragraphs, over time, you learn to dance a tango with the pages. It can become gorgeous. At times, I nearly cried because of how beautiful De Kerangal had constructed her characters or settings. But it still fell flat. After a while, you get exhausted of having to try to keep up with such flowery writing that it begins to mentally strain you. I had at first chalked it up to the fact that it had been translated from French, but that doesn’t change the fact that the content was delivered in huge, nearly indigestible chunks.
The book still has some merit. I really liked the characters’ relationships with each other and especially Paula’s sense of not belonging in the world. I thought that was done beautifully. However, it could not salvage the writing that I disliked because it was just way too distracting. God what a tiring read. I feel like I’ve just completed a marathon, and I’m just happy to get it off my shoulders. Thank god it’s over.
May 13, 2021
This is the third novel I’ve read by de Kerangal, after her 2017 Wellcome Book Prize winner, Mend the Living, and 2019’s The Cook. Painting Time resembles the former in the way it revels in niche vocabulary and the latter in that it slowly builds up a portrait of the central character. But all three books could be characterized as deep dives into a particular subject – the human body, gastronomy, and painting, respectively.
The protagonist of Painting Time is Paula Karst, one of 20-some art students who arrive at the Institut de Peinture in Brussels in the autumn of 2007 to learn trompe l’oeil technique. They’re taught to painstakingly imitate every variety of wood and stone so their murals will look as convincing as the real thing. It’s a gruelling course, with many hours spent on their feet every day.
Years later, the only classmates Paula has kept up with are Jonas, her old flatmate, with whom she had a sort-of-almost-not-quite relationship, and their Scottish friend Kate. The novel opens with the three of them having a reunion in Paris. Given this setup, I expected de Kerangal to follow all three characters from 2007 to the near past, but the book sticks closely to Paula, such that the only secondary characters who come through clearly are her parents.
It’s intriguing to see the work that comes Paula’s way after a degree in decorative painting, including painting backdrops for a Moscow-set film of Anna Karenina and the job of a lifetime: working on a full-scale replica of the prehistoric animal paintings of the Lascaux Caves (Lascaux IV). The final quarter of the novel delves into the history of Lascaux, which was discovered in 1940 and open to the public on and off until the late 1960s. Deep time abuts the troubled present as Paula contemplates what will last versus what is ephemeral.
As de Kerangal did with medical terminology in Mend the Living, so here she relishes art words: colours, tools, techniques; names for types of marble and timber (Paula’s own surname is a word for limestone caves). The long sentences accrete to form paragraphs that stretch across multiple pages. I confess to getting a bit lost in these, and wanting more juicy interactions than austere character study. However, the themes of art and history are resonant. If you’ve enjoyed de Kerangal’s prose before, you will certainly want to read this, too.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
The protagonist of Painting Time is Paula Karst, one of 20-some art students who arrive at the Institut de Peinture in Brussels in the autumn of 2007 to learn trompe l’oeil technique. They’re taught to painstakingly imitate every variety of wood and stone so their murals will look as convincing as the real thing. It’s a gruelling course, with many hours spent on their feet every day.
Years later, the only classmates Paula has kept up with are Jonas, her old flatmate, with whom she had a sort-of-almost-not-quite relationship, and their Scottish friend Kate. The novel opens with the three of them having a reunion in Paris. Given this setup, I expected de Kerangal to follow all three characters from 2007 to the near past, but the book sticks closely to Paula, such that the only secondary characters who come through clearly are her parents.
It’s intriguing to see the work that comes Paula’s way after a degree in decorative painting, including painting backdrops for a Moscow-set film of Anna Karenina and the job of a lifetime: working on a full-scale replica of the prehistoric animal paintings of the Lascaux Caves (Lascaux IV). The final quarter of the novel delves into the history of Lascaux, which was discovered in 1940 and open to the public on and off until the late 1960s. Deep time abuts the troubled present as Paula contemplates what will last versus what is ephemeral.
As de Kerangal did with medical terminology in Mend the Living, so here she relishes art words: colours, tools, techniques; names for types of marble and timber (Paula’s own surname is a word for limestone caves). The long sentences accrete to form paragraphs that stretch across multiple pages. I confess to getting a bit lost in these, and wanting more juicy interactions than austere character study. However, the themes of art and history are resonant. If you’ve enjoyed de Kerangal’s prose before, you will certainly want to read this, too.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
August 31, 2018
Une écriture sublime, des réflexions philosophiques délicieuses et des relations humaines vachement réalistes ! Les descriptions peuvent toutefois paraître un peu longues parfois quand on n’est pas très intéressé par certains événements historiques liés à la géologie, au cinéma ou autre... Ce fut une lecture très riche !
May 9, 2021
Painting Time is the English title of de Kerangal’s novel “Un monde à portée de main” which I guess translates into English as “A world at your fingertips”. It is a novel that plunges us into the world of trompe l’œil, of art that tricks the eye into believing something is real and is not a painting. It might only be January as I write this, but so far 2021 has included a lot of art in the books I have read (e.g. “The Portrait of a Mirror”, “The Death of Francis Bacon”, “Stories with Pictures” and “Understanding a Photograph”).
I have previously read, and really liked, de Kerangal’s novel “Mend the Living”. That novel had the peculiar privilege of being translated into English twice, once for the UK market and once (under the title “The Heart”) for the US market. I read the UK edition which was translated by Jessica Moore who is also the translator of Painting Time.
in Painting Time, we meet Paula Karst. At the start of the book, she is a dissatisfied student who decides to take up a place the famous “Institut de Peinture” in Brussels. It is here that she learns the techniques of trompe l’œil and becomes skilled at creating paintings that do not look like paintings but rather like some other substance, such as marble or wood. Incidentally, I find this a fascinating topic because I am a photographer working in the opposite direction: my favourite feedback on my images is when someone says “I thought it was a painting”. In Brussels, Paula strikes up a friendship with Jonas and Kate, although the friendship with Jonas threatens to develop into something more. But, at the end of the course, the three split up to follow their various careers. We stay with Paula as she takes any job she can until she is snapped up by the film industry (Moscow working on Anna Karenina and Cinecittà in Rome) and then, as the blurb tells us, the incredible work at Lascaux IV creating a replica of the cave paintings. This is a book grounded in our real world which makes a further surprising appearance right at the end of the novel for reasons I am not quite sure of (it might come to me if I pause to think about it for a while).
This is a very technical novel. De Kerangal has immersed herself, and immerses us as readers, in the detail of the world in which her book is set. There are long descriptions of techniques, long lists of very specific colours, several technical terms I had to look up. At times, it feels like the author has forgotten about her readers in her desire to write down everything she wants to record about the technical details of the craft she is explaining. It is interesting (if that kind of thing interests you), but it comes at the expense of emotion and, in the case of Jonas and Kate, character development.
Some of the writing is very strong. I am great fan of Richard Powers and there are several passages in this book where you feel for a number of pages that you have jumped over to a Powers novel. As you would probably expect me to say, these were the best bits of the book for me and they seem to come when Paula gives herself to her craft. At other times, the writing felt to me to be rather forced and the story never had the same power that made it impossible for me to put down “Mend the Living” until I had finished it. It occurred to me part way through the book that some of my reaction might be to deliberate choices by the author. After all, a key to the art that Paula engages in is that there is incredible attention to detail but that the viewer should not see that but rather see something they believe to be something else. I wondered if that’s what this book was trying to do. For this reader, and it may be that the problem lies with me, it didn’t quite work if it was because I did find myself getting bogged down in the detail.
My thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley.
I have previously read, and really liked, de Kerangal’s novel “Mend the Living”. That novel had the peculiar privilege of being translated into English twice, once for the UK market and once (under the title “The Heart”) for the US market. I read the UK edition which was translated by Jessica Moore who is also the translator of Painting Time.
in Painting Time, we meet Paula Karst. At the start of the book, she is a dissatisfied student who decides to take up a place the famous “Institut de Peinture” in Brussels. It is here that she learns the techniques of trompe l’œil and becomes skilled at creating paintings that do not look like paintings but rather like some other substance, such as marble or wood. Incidentally, I find this a fascinating topic because I am a photographer working in the opposite direction: my favourite feedback on my images is when someone says “I thought it was a painting”. In Brussels, Paula strikes up a friendship with Jonas and Kate, although the friendship with Jonas threatens to develop into something more. But, at the end of the course, the three split up to follow their various careers. We stay with Paula as she takes any job she can until she is snapped up by the film industry (Moscow working on Anna Karenina and Cinecittà in Rome) and then, as the blurb tells us, the incredible work at Lascaux IV creating a replica of the cave paintings. This is a book grounded in our real world which makes a further surprising appearance right at the end of the novel for reasons I am not quite sure of (it might come to me if I pause to think about it for a while).
This is a very technical novel. De Kerangal has immersed herself, and immerses us as readers, in the detail of the world in which her book is set. There are long descriptions of techniques, long lists of very specific colours, several technical terms I had to look up. At times, it feels like the author has forgotten about her readers in her desire to write down everything she wants to record about the technical details of the craft she is explaining. It is interesting (if that kind of thing interests you), but it comes at the expense of emotion and, in the case of Jonas and Kate, character development.
Some of the writing is very strong. I am great fan of Richard Powers and there are several passages in this book where you feel for a number of pages that you have jumped over to a Powers novel. As you would probably expect me to say, these were the best bits of the book for me and they seem to come when Paula gives herself to her craft. At other times, the writing felt to me to be rather forced and the story never had the same power that made it impossible for me to put down “Mend the Living” until I had finished it. It occurred to me part way through the book that some of my reaction might be to deliberate choices by the author. After all, a key to the art that Paula engages in is that there is incredible attention to detail but that the viewer should not see that but rather see something they believe to be something else. I wondered if that’s what this book was trying to do. For this reader, and it may be that the problem lies with me, it didn’t quite work if it was because I did find myself getting bogged down in the detail.
My thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley.
February 28, 2022
Crafted as finely, densely, sensually, and richly as the tromp-l'oeil painting that is the subject here - a painting discipline that enchants by first deceiving and then revealing its deception, the deception and the revelation a function of detail, texture, effect, and exhausting devotion to minutiae - and this prose has all of that. As well as incredible research not just wended through the pages, but the star of these pages. The loose plot is this: Paula Karst, a young woman in her early 20s, still living at home in Paris with her parents, who can't seem to find her way, secures a spot at the Institut de Peinture in Brussels. An immersive and demanding six month course, with an array of 20 or so students, learning how to conjure marbles and woods and leaves and mushrooms and all the rest out of pigment and lacquer, and Paula eventually will make two friends, her supremely talented flatmate Jonas, and Kate, a statuesque Scot. The incomprehensible feeling that occurs with learning, with achievement, how it alters one's molecules and body, is captured so well, and post-graduation from the Institut, we're with Paula as she goes from job to job, from the ceiling of a baby's room in the apartment below her parents, to Italy, and the famous movie studio, Cinecitta, to Moscow film sets, and then to the famous painted cave at Lascaux. Every paint, every tool, every surface has its own story, perhaps even more important than any particular human story, and as Paula moves from place we learn about each surface, tool, etc., as well as some of her own story. This is writing that can't be raced through, in the same way that one cannot simply gaze at a masterpiece painting on a wall and expect it to reveal itself in an instant.
April 20, 2021
Painting Time is a richly described, decadent and aesthetic, existential coming-of-age novel exploring the apprenticeship of a young female painter from award-winning author de Kerangal. It's 2007 and young Parisian artist Paula Karst is about to begin her studies at the prestigious Institut Supérieur de Peinture in Brussels where the students learn how to paint sets for film and theatre, and trompe l'oeils. In the intense year she spends there, she meets two new friends, both enigmatic, resourceful, impulsive and gifted. There's shy, retiring, enigmatic roommate Jonas, with whom she begins a romantic affair, but they soon lose contact after graduation and Kate, a statuesque red-haired Scotswoman. Together, the three weave a complex relationship that mirrors the interconnectedness of their artistic materials and over their years of enthusiastic creativity. Replicating the grain of wood, the wear of marble, or the protrusion on a tortoiseshell requires method, technique, talent but also something else. Paula strives to understand what she's painting, the "micro" that she is and the "macro" of the world and its history. She chooses the painstaking demands of craftmanship over the abstraction of high art.
Paula's apprenticeship is punctuated by brushstrokes, hard work, sleepless nights, sore muscles and saturnalian evenings. The rigorous learning, the fast pace of work with great physical involvement represent, in particular for Paula, a moment of growth and maturation. Once she graduates, after an initial period of difficulty, she ends up finding herself in large construction sites, especially in Italy, where at the legendary Cinecittà studios on the outskirts of Rome, she is in charge of the scenarios of Habemus Papam by Nanni Moretti, and she will live a fleeting love affair with a handsome Italian. And after an engagement in Russia, on the set of the film Anna Karenina, she returns to France and an old fellow student makes her a proposal that will prove to be peculiar. He suggests that she work on the great cave recreation project: a huge facsimile, Lascaux IV, where our distant ancestors painted Palaeolithic scenes on the walls to tell their stories; the apotheosis of human cultural expression. One day Jonas visits her in Lascaux. They have not seen each other for years, and because of his arrival, past and present, image and reality merge.
Painting Time is a beautifully composed bildungsroman about the growth and love of a young woman, but above all it is a novel about the big questions of art, creativity, reproduction, presenting and understanding the world. Throughout these pages, these questions are tangible and flicker in thousands of colours of stones, plants, minerals, and paints. With wonderful attention to detail and acute observations, as in her past books, Maylis de Kerangal introduces us to young people in search of themselves, in a metaphorical descent into the intimacy of art in its deepest, most concrete and all-encompassing sense. Exquisite and beguiling, this is an intimate and unsparing exploration of craft, inspiration, and the contours of the contemporary art world. The author unravels a tightly wound professional world to reveal the beauty within and mirrors the enchanted materialism of her protagonist's artistic journey in her rich, lyrical prose. Highly recommended.
Paula's apprenticeship is punctuated by brushstrokes, hard work, sleepless nights, sore muscles and saturnalian evenings. The rigorous learning, the fast pace of work with great physical involvement represent, in particular for Paula, a moment of growth and maturation. Once she graduates, after an initial period of difficulty, she ends up finding herself in large construction sites, especially in Italy, where at the legendary Cinecittà studios on the outskirts of Rome, she is in charge of the scenarios of Habemus Papam by Nanni Moretti, and she will live a fleeting love affair with a handsome Italian. And after an engagement in Russia, on the set of the film Anna Karenina, she returns to France and an old fellow student makes her a proposal that will prove to be peculiar. He suggests that she work on the great cave recreation project: a huge facsimile, Lascaux IV, where our distant ancestors painted Palaeolithic scenes on the walls to tell their stories; the apotheosis of human cultural expression. One day Jonas visits her in Lascaux. They have not seen each other for years, and because of his arrival, past and present, image and reality merge.
Painting Time is a beautifully composed bildungsroman about the growth and love of a young woman, but above all it is a novel about the big questions of art, creativity, reproduction, presenting and understanding the world. Throughout these pages, these questions are tangible and flicker in thousands of colours of stones, plants, minerals, and paints. With wonderful attention to detail and acute observations, as in her past books, Maylis de Kerangal introduces us to young people in search of themselves, in a metaphorical descent into the intimacy of art in its deepest, most concrete and all-encompassing sense. Exquisite and beguiling, this is an intimate and unsparing exploration of craft, inspiration, and the contours of the contemporary art world. The author unravels a tightly wound professional world to reveal the beauty within and mirrors the enchanted materialism of her protagonist's artistic journey in her rich, lyrical prose. Highly recommended.
August 3, 2020
1,5 étoiles. Attention, critique énervée incoming.
Déjà je vous fait gagner du temps (et de l’argent) : ne lisez pas ce livre.
J’ai adoré Réparer les Vivants que je conseille encore maintenant deux ans après sa lecture. Entre temps j’avais lu un autre roman de MdK que j’avais trouvé bof mais ça passait et c’était court. Mais alors là ce livre m’a décidée à ne plus acheter de MdK, je vous jure.
Il n’y a absolument aucun plot dans cette histoire, si ce n’est qu’on suit Paula au fur et à mesure de ses jobs de peintre. Soit. J’ai toujours aimé les romans à base de character development, l’absence de plot n’a jamais été un soucis.
Mais quand on n’a pas de plot, il faut des bons personnages. Et là c’est le drame. Les personnages sont inintéressants et pas authentiques.
MdK s’est sûrement éclatée à écrire son roman avec tout les détails sur la peinture et le trompe l’oeil mais girl, si je voulais lire 10 pages d’affilé de description de couleurs et de mouvements etc, je lirai un vrai livre sur la peinture, pas un roman.
Un autre truc qui m’a énervée : son personnage belge qui dit soixante-dix et qui donne un chèque. Do your research.
Le coup de grâce ? À la toute fin (vraiment la partie la plus laborieuse !!) Paula visite la grotte de Lascaux (ou pas j’avoue j’ai sauté tellement de paragraphes ..) et quand elle ressort de la grotte, elle a reçu des appels et des sms ... c’était les attentats de Charlie Hebdo. Il restait moins de 15 pages. Quel est le but ?! Ah oui après elle couche avec son ancien coloc « comme on le ferait après des funérailles » non mais complètement éclatée au sol cette fin.
Bref, je suis énervée.
Déjà je vous fait gagner du temps (et de l’argent) : ne lisez pas ce livre.
J’ai adoré Réparer les Vivants que je conseille encore maintenant deux ans après sa lecture. Entre temps j’avais lu un autre roman de MdK que j’avais trouvé bof mais ça passait et c’était court. Mais alors là ce livre m’a décidée à ne plus acheter de MdK, je vous jure.
Il n’y a absolument aucun plot dans cette histoire, si ce n’est qu’on suit Paula au fur et à mesure de ses jobs de peintre. Soit. J’ai toujours aimé les romans à base de character development, l’absence de plot n’a jamais été un soucis.
Mais quand on n’a pas de plot, il faut des bons personnages. Et là c’est le drame. Les personnages sont inintéressants et pas authentiques.
MdK s’est sûrement éclatée à écrire son roman avec tout les détails sur la peinture et le trompe l’oeil mais girl, si je voulais lire 10 pages d’affilé de description de couleurs et de mouvements etc, je lirai un vrai livre sur la peinture, pas un roman.
Un autre truc qui m’a énervée : son personnage belge qui dit soixante-dix et qui donne un chèque. Do your research.
Le coup de grâce ? À la toute fin (vraiment la partie la plus laborieuse !!) Paula visite la grotte de Lascaux (ou pas j’avoue j’ai sauté tellement de paragraphes ..) et quand elle ressort de la grotte, elle a reçu des appels et des sms ... c’était les attentats de Charlie Hebdo. Il restait moins de 15 pages. Quel est le but ?! Ah oui après elle couche avec son ancien coloc « comme on le ferait après des funérailles » non mais complètement éclatée au sol cette fin.
Bref, je suis énervée.
September 11, 2018
Coup de coeur de cette rentrée littéraire 2018 ! Une écriture éblouissante au service de l'art du trompe-l'oeil pour ce roman de formation https://readingbibliophile.com/2018/0...
February 27, 2020
Maylis de Kerangal kirjoittaa niin minun kirjojani. En tiennyt koristemaalauksesta mitään, mutta tähän kirjaan olisin halunnut jäädä asumaan.
Read
February 19, 2020Yleensä kirjoitan lukiessani muistiinpanoja, mutta Maylis de Kerangalin romaaniin halusin uppoutua ilman keskeytyksiä. Luinkin kirjan kahdella istumalla.
Maailma käden ulottuvilla on vahvasti esteettinen kokemus, joka on täynnä taidetta ja taiteen tekemistä. de Kerangalin kohdalla mainitaan usein pitkät lauseet, mutta itse en oikeastaan edes huomaa niiden pituutta, sillä minä sukellan hänen tekstissään. Lauseissa, jotka kurkottavat näkyväisen ulkopuolelle ja ovat täynnä taikaa.
Maailma käden ulottuvilla on vahvasti esteettinen kokemus, joka on täynnä taidetta ja taiteen tekemistä. de Kerangalin kohdalla mainitaan usein pitkät lauseet, mutta itse en oikeastaan edes huomaa niiden pituutta, sillä minä sukellan hänen tekstissään. Lauseissa, jotka kurkottavat näkyväisen ulkopuolelle ja ovat täynnä taikaa.
October 17, 2018
Cette lecture fut pour moi d'un ennui abyssal malgré un style plutôt affûté, mais qui n'a pas pris sur moi cette fois...
May 23, 2021
Novel set in BRUSSELS and across EUROPE
Behind the ornate doors of 30, rue du Métal in Brussels, 20 students begin their apprenticeship in the art of decorative painting…. the art of trompe l’oeil, the recreation of textures, surfaces and finishes designed to fool the eye.
Paula is the young student who spends a year studying and working on the intricacies of the art, together with fellow tutees Jonas (with whom she shares accommodation) and Kate. The hours are arduous and all-consuming, as they hone their skills. They study the materials – the gnarled knots on wood, the different varieties of marble, the intricacy of tortoiseshell. Everything has to be examined with an acute eye and then reproduced with a careful and painstaking hand.
Paula completes her training and in the subsequent years finds herself in Turin, creating backdrops for Egyptian exhibitions, and then heads further down the Italian peninsula to Rome, where she finds work at Cinecittà. It is an odyssey through the world of the decorative painter, detailing the craft, the personal life and the sheer art of reproduction. The novel culminates as she finds inspiration and personal growth at the caves of Lascaux.
This novel is full of art, and the narrative slides along as though it is being squeezed from a tube of rich paint, it is sumptuous in its descriptions and observations, as it glides between people and inanimate objects. The visceral flow is conveyed by the atmospheric writing style.
In the opening pages one sentence can take up a whole page and the singular length of sentences is a hallmark of the novel. The text is not broken up by dialogue – alluded to, yes, – but nothing in inverted comments that could possibly break the swirling colour of the words. Occasionally the words do feel clunky but whether that penetrates through from the original or is a manifestation of the translation, it is hard to tell.
This is such an unusual book, it is highly atmospheric, full of roiling words and a painterly and oily (for want of a better word) trajectory. It won’t be for everyone and so I must pose the question. Was it for me? There were times when I was in thrall to the very good writing but at other times I felt (and I whisper this) that it is pretentious. Did I really say that? Yes. Up to a point I could go with the prose but towards the end when I came to the following passage where Paula is making love with her beau, I truly lost the will:
“They undress in a hurry, barely lifting themselves from the bed, drop their clothes on the floor, and even though it’s collected, concentrated, this moment also splits in two, two speeds are flush; the earthly embrace, linked to yesterday’s shock and the desire to become one (like the hunger for sex after a funeral), and then the cosmic embrace, that of resonance, born of the orbits that whirl in a sky as ordered as music paper“. The description then goes on into metaphorical realms, equating the art of the decorative painter with the complex dance that is sex, as they stray and discover each other’s bodies. Probably a contender for The Literary Review’s “Bad Sex in Fiction Award”
It was ultimately not really a book for me, although I am a trained painter and was eagerly looking forward to reading this book. I could really at times dive into the writing but I found reading the book an exhausting experience and that, for me, is not how I would choose to spend my time reading. It has THE most fabulous cover, however and that will catch many a reader’s eye.
Behind the ornate doors of 30, rue du Métal in Brussels, 20 students begin their apprenticeship in the art of decorative painting…. the art of trompe l’oeil, the recreation of textures, surfaces and finishes designed to fool the eye.
Paula is the young student who spends a year studying and working on the intricacies of the art, together with fellow tutees Jonas (with whom she shares accommodation) and Kate. The hours are arduous and all-consuming, as they hone their skills. They study the materials – the gnarled knots on wood, the different varieties of marble, the intricacy of tortoiseshell. Everything has to be examined with an acute eye and then reproduced with a careful and painstaking hand.
Paula completes her training and in the subsequent years finds herself in Turin, creating backdrops for Egyptian exhibitions, and then heads further down the Italian peninsula to Rome, where she finds work at Cinecittà. It is an odyssey through the world of the decorative painter, detailing the craft, the personal life and the sheer art of reproduction. The novel culminates as she finds inspiration and personal growth at the caves of Lascaux.
This novel is full of art, and the narrative slides along as though it is being squeezed from a tube of rich paint, it is sumptuous in its descriptions and observations, as it glides between people and inanimate objects. The visceral flow is conveyed by the atmospheric writing style.
In the opening pages one sentence can take up a whole page and the singular length of sentences is a hallmark of the novel. The text is not broken up by dialogue – alluded to, yes, – but nothing in inverted comments that could possibly break the swirling colour of the words. Occasionally the words do feel clunky but whether that penetrates through from the original or is a manifestation of the translation, it is hard to tell.
This is such an unusual book, it is highly atmospheric, full of roiling words and a painterly and oily (for want of a better word) trajectory. It won’t be for everyone and so I must pose the question. Was it for me? There were times when I was in thrall to the very good writing but at other times I felt (and I whisper this) that it is pretentious. Did I really say that? Yes. Up to a point I could go with the prose but towards the end when I came to the following passage where Paula is making love with her beau, I truly lost the will:
“They undress in a hurry, barely lifting themselves from the bed, drop their clothes on the floor, and even though it’s collected, concentrated, this moment also splits in two, two speeds are flush; the earthly embrace, linked to yesterday’s shock and the desire to become one (like the hunger for sex after a funeral), and then the cosmic embrace, that of resonance, born of the orbits that whirl in a sky as ordered as music paper“. The description then goes on into metaphorical realms, equating the art of the decorative painter with the complex dance that is sex, as they stray and discover each other’s bodies. Probably a contender for The Literary Review’s “Bad Sex in Fiction Award”
It was ultimately not really a book for me, although I am a trained painter and was eagerly looking forward to reading this book. I could really at times dive into the writing but I found reading the book an exhausting experience and that, for me, is not how I would choose to spend my time reading. It has THE most fabulous cover, however and that will catch many a reader’s eye.
November 1, 2021
2.5
This book is for someone out there...that someone just isn't me.
I had a very hard time getting through this. The main difficulty was concentrating on what was being said and then comprehending it. de Kerangal has a very distinct style - flowery, vivid language that flows (and flows...and flows...to the point of being run-on), large paragraphs, lack of punctuations etc. Certainly, I have read books where such a style worked for me - it just didn't click in this book. I understood the intention of such a style (to create an immersive atmosphere), but it just left me bored and rushing to get to the end of the sentence.
That being said, the story has some virtues! I liked the relationship between the characters. Paula (the main character) and her struggles to find a sense of belonging also felt well done. BUT, I felt like I lost the depth of the relationships, connections and turmoil due to the writing style.
And the end, it seemed to veer off into a topic that left me even more bored and impatient to be done with the novel.
I picked this book because someone said it was similar to "Writer & Lovers" by Lily King (which I absolutely LOVED). Unfortunately, I was very much disappointed.
This book is for someone out there...that someone just isn't me.
I had a very hard time getting through this. The main difficulty was concentrating on what was being said and then comprehending it. de Kerangal has a very distinct style - flowery, vivid language that flows (and flows...and flows...to the point of being run-on), large paragraphs, lack of punctuations etc. Certainly, I have read books where such a style worked for me - it just didn't click in this book. I understood the intention of such a style (to create an immersive atmosphere), but it just left me bored and rushing to get to the end of the sentence.
That being said, the story has some virtues! I liked the relationship between the characters. Paula (the main character) and her struggles to find a sense of belonging also felt well done. BUT, I felt like I lost the depth of the relationships, connections and turmoil due to the writing style.
And the end, it seemed to veer off into a topic that left me even more bored and impatient to be done with the novel.
I picked this book because someone said it was similar to "Writer & Lovers" by Lily King (which I absolutely LOVED). Unfortunately, I was very much disappointed.
March 7, 2021
The book starts with a reunion after a decade or so between three friends who met at a college that taught decorative art. It then goes back into the life at the college and how the main character finds her career.
Paula is a young woman not sure what she wants in life. She thinks she wants to be an artist and is finally excited about learning about the decorative arts. She delves into the technical aspects as much as the practical and it is in this area the book shines. Paula also struggles with self confidence and a feeling she is not good enough struggling to handle her crush on her flatmate, her talent and then her career.
Her flatmate and the third friend an Englishwoman were all a bit wooden and never fully developed. As is the strange last part of cave painting and what it means for Paula.
A book that offered a lot at the beginning but struggled towards the end.
Paula is a young woman not sure what she wants in life. She thinks she wants to be an artist and is finally excited about learning about the decorative arts. She delves into the technical aspects as much as the practical and it is in this area the book shines. Paula also struggles with self confidence and a feeling she is not good enough struggling to handle her crush on her flatmate, her talent and then her career.
Her flatmate and the third friend an Englishwoman were all a bit wooden and never fully developed. As is the strange last part of cave painting and what it means for Paula.
A book that offered a lot at the beginning but struggled towards the end.
September 29, 2021
I just finished this novel and I found it absolutely mesmerizing. If you love art, coming of age stories, or Lily King’s Writers & Lovers or Elif Batuman’s The Idiot, you will probably enjoy this book.
It’s about Paula, a young woman wandering through careers a bit lost, who decides to enroll at the Institute of Painting in Brussels to learn decorative painting and trompe-l'œil, the art of deceiving the eye by creating naturalistic imagery. It’s a rigorous 6 month program where you begin by learning how to paint woods, then marbles, semi-precious stones, and on and on. Her life becomes encapsulated in painting, and we follow her through school and beyond.
The book meditates on what it means to see, to look at something and recreate it in our brain and then create it once again on a piece of paper. As a reader we are invited into this story as a viewer ourselves. We see Paula’s life unfold, but we remain at viewing distance, never pulled into her inner thoughts.
Another big theme of this book is art versus craft, and we see this tension between “real” painting and what is derisively called imitation, essentially decorative painting like trompe l'œil.
My highest compliment to a piece of work is when I want to live in it, and yes I want to live in the world Kerangal has created, but more I want to live in the words she’s written, especially the lingering and lush descriptions of color and landscape
I highly recommend it, and I easily give this book 5 stars.
It’s about Paula, a young woman wandering through careers a bit lost, who decides to enroll at the Institute of Painting in Brussels to learn decorative painting and trompe-l'œil, the art of deceiving the eye by creating naturalistic imagery. It’s a rigorous 6 month program where you begin by learning how to paint woods, then marbles, semi-precious stones, and on and on. Her life becomes encapsulated in painting, and we follow her through school and beyond.
The book meditates on what it means to see, to look at something and recreate it in our brain and then create it once again on a piece of paper. As a reader we are invited into this story as a viewer ourselves. We see Paula’s life unfold, but we remain at viewing distance, never pulled into her inner thoughts.
Another big theme of this book is art versus craft, and we see this tension between “real” painting and what is derisively called imitation, essentially decorative painting like trompe l'œil.
My highest compliment to a piece of work is when I want to live in it, and yes I want to live in the world Kerangal has created, but more I want to live in the words she’s written, especially the lingering and lush descriptions of color and landscape
I highly recommend it, and I easily give this book 5 stars.
January 19, 2022
Tämä oli yhtaikaa ihan järjettömän kaunis, aivan omanlaisensa, polveileva, esteettinen, ihana ja silti etäinen, karkaileva ja hapuileva. Luin väsyneenä, mietin jättikö se kauas vai eikö sivujen, useidenkin, mittaiset lauseet, järjettömän kaunis kieli ollut nyt minulle, vai miksi se tuntui vain ei-minkään kuorrutukselta. Kiehtova ja silti jossain juuri ja juuri käden ulottumattomissa, aivan kuin paikkaansa hakeva päähenkilö Paulakin.
November 7, 2023
beautiful and written so extremely for me
May 22, 2022
Unusual style; not for everybody. A slow burn for me but it really got me in the end.
June 6, 2021
Trompe l'œil is the art technique of creating realistic visual illusions, making the viewer believe that what they see really exists & isn't "just a painting". We follow a young Paula on her journey to learn this skill and work on jobs ranging from making film & drama sets to replicating old cave paintings; it's akin to a Bildungsroman. The strength of the novel is its attention to detail and de Kerangal immerses the reader in her world. The prose is absolutely beautiful and it bears a special mention. It's especially lush & mesmerizing towards the ends of the book when we delve into Lascaux's history, a fitting culmination to Paula's job wandering over Europe.
I must point out the narrative confusion that's there though. The novel seems unsure of what it is, where it wants to go. While it's great to read, the absense of a concrete plotline is quite visible. In the last ten pages, without rhyme or reason, the 2015 terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo is brought up & it has no bearing on the story so feels weird. The characters, while written well, their development is sacrificed. Also, we stick to Paula and pretty much abandon both Jonas & Kate, which is weird looking at how it begins. Translated from the French superbly by Jessica Moore, it is intensely absorbing.
(I received a physical proof/ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
I must point out the narrative confusion that's there though. The novel seems unsure of what it is, where it wants to go. While it's great to read, the absense of a concrete plotline is quite visible. In the last ten pages, without rhyme or reason, the 2015 terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo is brought up & it has no bearing on the story so feels weird. The characters, while written well, their development is sacrificed. Also, we stick to Paula and pretty much abandon both Jonas & Kate, which is weird looking at how it begins. Translated from the French superbly by Jessica Moore, it is intensely absorbing.
(I received a physical proof/ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)
August 5, 2020
4.5
Elegant coming-of-age novel, built around a superbly versatile metaphor of facsimile painting (marbling, set painting, etc). As a subject in itself, that kind of artistry and technique is pretty fascinating (I'm assuming there are schools that do teach it), with the protagonist's gathering mastery paralleling her development as a person and settling of relationships.
It's impressive at capturing that transformation we go through from early adult to adult and the gradual separation from parents (those observations of parents' mannerisms and routines on returning home). The relationship with Jonas is also well drawn - him, this hard-to-pin-down presence. The Scottish friend swimming with whales is very de nos (over-sharey) jours. Well observed on the rivalry between friends and the scattering that follows college.
The novel's later focus on the Lascaux caves is a real pleasure; the discovery of the caves is such a glorious Boys Own adventure and so mind-blowingly significant in itself, it really merits a treatment like this. (By coincidence, I'd recently listened to a programme about it on France Inter). If nobody has fully novelised that whole episode, they should.
Fine, elegant work: superb metaphor, very well observed.
Elegant coming-of-age novel, built around a superbly versatile metaphor of facsimile painting (marbling, set painting, etc). As a subject in itself, that kind of artistry and technique is pretty fascinating (I'm assuming there are schools that do teach it), with the protagonist's gathering mastery paralleling her development as a person and settling of relationships.
It's impressive at capturing that transformation we go through from early adult to adult and the gradual separation from parents (those observations of parents' mannerisms and routines on returning home). The relationship with Jonas is also well drawn - him, this hard-to-pin-down presence. The Scottish friend swimming with whales is very de nos (over-sharey) jours. Well observed on the rivalry between friends and the scattering that follows college.
The novel's later focus on the Lascaux caves is a real pleasure; the discovery of the caves is such a glorious Boys Own adventure and so mind-blowingly significant in itself, it really merits a treatment like this. (By coincidence, I'd recently listened to a programme about it on France Inter). If nobody has fully novelised that whole episode, they should.
Fine, elegant work: superb metaphor, very well observed.
November 15, 2019
Kirja vei minut suoraan vuosiin 2007-2010, yliopiston alkuvaiheisiin ja parikymppisen hapuilevaan "aikuisuuteen". Kuvaus opiskelijaelämästä osui ja upposi (ne nuhjuiset, pienet opiskelijaboksit, sekavat bileet ja ja käsittämätön tyhjyyden tunne kaiken päätyttyä!), ja taiteen suurten kysymysten pohtiminen tuntui älyllisesti yhtä tyydyttävältä kuin parhaimmat luennot tai tenttikirjat. Kirja avasi myös kokonaan uuden ammattikunnan, koristemaalarien näkymän maailmaan, se oli loputtoman kiehtovaa luettavaa. Kerronta lukuisine sivupolkuineen ja hengästyttävän pitkine virkkeineen vaatii aktiivista ymmärtämistä, ja välillä putosin kärryiltä - aivan kuin niillä periaatteessa kiinnostavilla luennoillakin. Taatusti tämä ei ole kaikkien makuun, mutta minuun tämä teki suuren vaikutuksen.
June 15, 2022
I so loved Mend the Living and was hoping this would be even more up my streets, since it is about art and the creative process. I think I got what the author was trying to achieve, but, aside from some beautiful and imaginative passages, the book did not quite catch fire for me. Full review here: https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress....
January 23, 2025
What a bizarre way of thinking about paint. I thought I would really like this because its about a painter who is obsessed with craftsmanship and I love painting and craft, but for the most part Paula's love of craft is self destructive and seems pointless. I think I actually love process which is not to be conflated with craft... But WOW it all tied together in a big beautiful way in the end. Finally, when she was replicating the prehistoric cave I understood what she was talking about the whole time. Thank god for that.
There were some beautiful crazy moments in here, especially between the three friends and their ease in being near each other (and far).
Loooooong sentences and big blocks of flowery text meant this wasn't an easy read even though it was only 230 pages.
There were some beautiful crazy moments in here, especially between the three friends and their ease in being near each other (and far).
Loooooong sentences and big blocks of flowery text meant this wasn't an easy read even though it was only 230 pages.
May 13, 2021
As a child I found it difficult to stand still and truly see something. I would race through zoos and museums, jumping from one exhibit or animal to the next, rabid for more. It wasn't until my father sat me down in front of an animal enclosure and told me to wait and see that I first truly saw and connected. Now, whenever I am in a museum I try to actually see the details, the way brush strokes evoke waves, how chiaroscuro guides the eye, how movement is created in stillness. It was only by standing still that I began to see the "always more" I had been looking for. Reading Painting Time similarly felt like rushing along while standing perfectly still, like taking everything in by looking at one thing in particular. Thanks to Quercus Books, Maclehose Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Art is at the heart of Painting Time, a novel that takes the coming-of-age theme and runs wild with it. I recalled a childhood experience of finally sitting down in front of an exhibit above because Painting Time is rife with memories. Memories of moments, touches, glances, feelings; it all comes to the surface as Paula connects with art and with the world around her. It is this layering of experience that completely drew me in to the novel, as it also draws me into art. It is about the story-telling, in the end. What is a tree ring if not a story of years passed? In order to reproduce it, Paula has to understand this process and as she becomes a painter, she becomes a storyteller. She takes the reader across Europe, is disappointed, frustrated, triumphant, always exhausted, but, at least for me, there is always a touch of the divine in her work. The jargon of the field, the listing of colours, of brushes, the slow, methodical work of painting becomes almost soothing in de Kerangal's writing. As the reader you slow down, completely absorbed as you follow Paula's eyes taking in the minutest detail and the grandest revelations about ourselves and about time.
Painting Time begins with a reunion between Kate, Jonas and Paula Karst, friends and previous students at the Institut Supérieur de Peinture in Brussels. From there we jump back to the beginning, the moment when Paula first enters the Institut and turns from a disaffected and slightly lost teenager into a determined and slightly disconnected adult. It is here she learns the art of trompe l'oeil, a technique that creates optical illusions, that makes you believe something is there even when you know it isn't. Paula begins to see the life in stone and wood, and so slowly comes to see the world around her, and herself, in a new, sharper light. She begins to know their stories, to see the history in their finest details, and with that knowledge is released back into the wild. Hopping from job to job across Europe, Paula works on the villas of the rich, the film sets of Cinecittà, and a neighbour's ceiling, all the while slowly finding answers to her own self, the nature of her work, and the larger questions of life. It is when she reaches the book's final destination, however, the Cave of Lascaux, that Painting Time reaches a new level. Confronted with this prehistoric cradle of art, history, memory and storytelling come together for Paula.
This was my first time reading Maylis de Kerangal and she blew me away from the first page. de Kerangal truly inhabits the field she writes about, making every moment a chance to highlight details in a painterly, masterful way. The way Paula's hair falls, how Kate's fish tattoos move over her muscles, the way the light falls through the windows of the Institut, each moment is elevated through de Kerangal's writing. Jargon becomes poetry and the heavy burden of growing into yourself becomes a Hero's Journey that requires, finally, a descent into the dark, the primeval. I often stood still at particular phrases, that suddenly cut through all the visual beauty and revealed hard, stark truths. The quote below is one I think will resonate with many. When describing the art of painting, and perhaps the art of living itself, Paula realizes it is nothing more:
'than an aptitude for failure, a consent to the fall, and a desire to start over'.
Much praise should also be laid at the feet of Jessica Moore , who does a brilliant and beautiful job at translating de Kerangal's prose. A novelist herself, she manages to retain de Kerangal's rapid fluidity as well as herhyper-focus, the way in which thoughts heap on top of thoughts, the stunning detail that she mines out of every moment. Painting Time surprised me with how quickly it settled within my mind, with how quickly it made me want to take a closer look at things, to learn the stories of the objects and beings around me. Especially in these times, when so many of us have been stuck within the same four walls, it was restorative to be exposed to so many different sensations, stories and views.
Painting Time is a beautiful book, both a meditation on an art form as well as a slow revelation of all the layers of storytelling that make up a human and a work of art. Whether you're looking for a novel that will soothe and take you somewhere else, or a novel that will invigorate and shake you awake, Painting Time can offer you both.
Link: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
Art is at the heart of Painting Time, a novel that takes the coming-of-age theme and runs wild with it. I recalled a childhood experience of finally sitting down in front of an exhibit above because Painting Time is rife with memories. Memories of moments, touches, glances, feelings; it all comes to the surface as Paula connects with art and with the world around her. It is this layering of experience that completely drew me in to the novel, as it also draws me into art. It is about the story-telling, in the end. What is a tree ring if not a story of years passed? In order to reproduce it, Paula has to understand this process and as she becomes a painter, she becomes a storyteller. She takes the reader across Europe, is disappointed, frustrated, triumphant, always exhausted, but, at least for me, there is always a touch of the divine in her work. The jargon of the field, the listing of colours, of brushes, the slow, methodical work of painting becomes almost soothing in de Kerangal's writing. As the reader you slow down, completely absorbed as you follow Paula's eyes taking in the minutest detail and the grandest revelations about ourselves and about time.
Painting Time begins with a reunion between Kate, Jonas and Paula Karst, friends and previous students at the Institut Supérieur de Peinture in Brussels. From there we jump back to the beginning, the moment when Paula first enters the Institut and turns from a disaffected and slightly lost teenager into a determined and slightly disconnected adult. It is here she learns the art of trompe l'oeil, a technique that creates optical illusions, that makes you believe something is there even when you know it isn't. Paula begins to see the life in stone and wood, and so slowly comes to see the world around her, and herself, in a new, sharper light. She begins to know their stories, to see the history in their finest details, and with that knowledge is released back into the wild. Hopping from job to job across Europe, Paula works on the villas of the rich, the film sets of Cinecittà, and a neighbour's ceiling, all the while slowly finding answers to her own self, the nature of her work, and the larger questions of life. It is when she reaches the book's final destination, however, the Cave of Lascaux, that Painting Time reaches a new level. Confronted with this prehistoric cradle of art, history, memory and storytelling come together for Paula.
This was my first time reading Maylis de Kerangal and she blew me away from the first page. de Kerangal truly inhabits the field she writes about, making every moment a chance to highlight details in a painterly, masterful way. The way Paula's hair falls, how Kate's fish tattoos move over her muscles, the way the light falls through the windows of the Institut, each moment is elevated through de Kerangal's writing. Jargon becomes poetry and the heavy burden of growing into yourself becomes a Hero's Journey that requires, finally, a descent into the dark, the primeval. I often stood still at particular phrases, that suddenly cut through all the visual beauty and revealed hard, stark truths. The quote below is one I think will resonate with many. When describing the art of painting, and perhaps the art of living itself, Paula realizes it is nothing more:
'than an aptitude for failure, a consent to the fall, and a desire to start over'.
Much praise should also be laid at the feet of Jessica Moore , who does a brilliant and beautiful job at translating de Kerangal's prose. A novelist herself, she manages to retain de Kerangal's rapid fluidity as well as herhyper-focus, the way in which thoughts heap on top of thoughts, the stunning detail that she mines out of every moment. Painting Time surprised me with how quickly it settled within my mind, with how quickly it made me want to take a closer look at things, to learn the stories of the objects and beings around me. Especially in these times, when so many of us have been stuck within the same four walls, it was restorative to be exposed to so many different sensations, stories and views.
Painting Time is a beautiful book, both a meditation on an art form as well as a slow revelation of all the layers of storytelling that make up a human and a work of art. Whether you're looking for a novel that will soothe and take you somewhere else, or a novel that will invigorate and shake you awake, Painting Time can offer you both.
Link: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
May 24, 2023
really beautiful writing about the process of painting, the role of the artist, and the observer. can't imagine how beautiful this is in French!
the middle was such a slog for me though and I struggled to maintain interest. it's very heady.
the middle was such a slog for me though and I struggled to maintain interest. it's very heady.
August 16, 2025
Formidable écriture (je n'ai pas lu son Autre Livre) qui m'a emmené dans le dictionnaire plus souvent qu'à mon tour. Le sujet, que je ne connais pas, est traité avec une sensibilité qui m'a entraîné. Le soufflet retombe un peu au milieu, malheureusement
January 29, 2020
Pidin hieman enemmän ensimmäisestä Kerangal-suomennoksesta. Tässä kertomus taiteesta, työstä, erityisesti taidetyöstä; kirjailijalle ominaiseen tapaan yksityiskohtien vyöry pitkinä virkkeinä, värejä, aineita, aisteja, nuoren ihmisen kasvu; tunnistettavaa, haikeaa, kiehtovaa.
"– – ja hänen katseensa rajasi heidät todellisuuteen, joka lopulta erkani hänen omasta elämästään ja muuttui heidän elämäkseen, kuin he olisivat äkkiä kuuluneet eri maailmaan, olleet jonkin elokuvan hahmoja, tarinassa josta hän puuttui." (s. 103)
"– – ja hänen katseensa rajasi heidät todellisuuteen, joka lopulta erkani hänen omasta elämästään ja muuttui heidän elämäkseen, kuin he olisivat äkkiä kuuluneet eri maailmaan, olleet jonkin elokuvan hahmoja, tarinassa josta hän puuttui." (s. 103)
October 19, 2019
Upea määrä detaljia. Maailma käden ulottuvilla kertoo parikymppisestä Paulasta, joka menee koristemaalarikouluun, jossa opetellaan maalaamaan esimerkiksi erilaisia marmori- ja puupintoja ja luomaan trompe l'œil -tehosteita. Koulutus on lyhyt, mutta intensiivinen.
Koulutuksensa jälkeen Paulasta tulee kiertelevä käsityöläinen, joka viettää vaeltavaa elämää työkeikkojen perässä, kunnes lopulta löytyy vähän vakaampia hommia elokuvalavasteiden parissa Roomassa ja Moskovassa – ja viimein todella kiinnostava tehtävä Lascaux'n luolien taiteen jäljentäjänä.
Siinä sivussa sitten kuvataan vaeltavan käsityöläisen elämää, nuoren naisen kasvukertomusta, ihmissuhteita, esitellään valtava määrä erilaisia marmorilajeja ja työkaluja ja työmenetelmiä. Maailma käden ulottuvilla on hyvin mielenkiintoinen hyppäys sellaiseen käsityöläisten maailmaan, jota monikaan ei varmasti tunne.
Koulutuksensa jälkeen Paulasta tulee kiertelevä käsityöläinen, joka viettää vaeltavaa elämää työkeikkojen perässä, kunnes lopulta löytyy vähän vakaampia hommia elokuvalavasteiden parissa Roomassa ja Moskovassa – ja viimein todella kiinnostava tehtävä Lascaux'n luolien taiteen jäljentäjänä.
Siinä sivussa sitten kuvataan vaeltavan käsityöläisen elämää, nuoren naisen kasvukertomusta, ihmissuhteita, esitellään valtava määrä erilaisia marmorilajeja ja työkaluja ja työmenetelmiä. Maailma käden ulottuvilla on hyvin mielenkiintoinen hyppäys sellaiseen käsityöläisten maailmaan, jota monikaan ei varmasti tunne.
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