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The Vanishing Point: A Novel
At Rye Adler’s funeral, they didn’t bury his body – or the rivalry of his closest enemy. A gripping literary thriller by the author of the “wrenching and exhilarating” All Things Cease to Appear (Wall Street Journal).
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler cross paths as photography students in the exclusive Brodsky Workshop. When Rye needs a roommate, Julian moves in, and a quiet, compulsive envy takes root, assuring, at least in his own mind, that he will never achieve Rye’s certain success. Both men are fascinated with their beautiful and talented classmate, Magda, whose captivating images of her Polish neighborhood set her apart, and each will come to know her intimately – a woman neither can possess and only one can love.
Twenty years later, long after their paths diverge, Rye is at the top of his field, famous for his photographs of celebrities and far removed from the downtrodden and disenfranchised subjects who’d secured his reputation as the eye of his generation. When Magda reenters his life, asking for help only he can give, Rye finds himself in a broken landscape of street people and addicts, forcing him to reckon with the artist he once was, until his search for a missing boy becomes his own desperate fight to survive.
Months later, when Julian discovers Rye’s obituary, the paper makes it sound like a suicide. Despite himself, Julian attends the funeral, where there is no casket and no body. This sudden reentry into a world he thought he left behind forces Julian to question not only Rye’s death, but the very foundations of his life.
In this eerie and evocative novel, Elizabeth Brundage establishes herself as one of the premiere authors of literary fiction at work today.
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler cross paths as photography students in the exclusive Brodsky Workshop. When Rye needs a roommate, Julian moves in, and a quiet, compulsive envy takes root, assuring, at least in his own mind, that he will never achieve Rye’s certain success. Both men are fascinated with their beautiful and talented classmate, Magda, whose captivating images of her Polish neighborhood set her apart, and each will come to know her intimately – a woman neither can possess and only one can love.
Twenty years later, long after their paths diverge, Rye is at the top of his field, famous for his photographs of celebrities and far removed from the downtrodden and disenfranchised subjects who’d secured his reputation as the eye of his generation. When Magda reenters his life, asking for help only he can give, Rye finds himself in a broken landscape of street people and addicts, forcing him to reckon with the artist he once was, until his search for a missing boy becomes his own desperate fight to survive.
Months later, when Julian discovers Rye’s obituary, the paper makes it sound like a suicide. Despite himself, Julian attends the funeral, where there is no casket and no body. This sudden reentry into a world he thought he left behind forces Julian to question not only Rye’s death, but the very foundations of his life.
In this eerie and evocative novel, Elizabeth Brundage establishes herself as one of the premiere authors of literary fiction at work today.
336 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2021
83 people are currently reading
3295 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Brundage
9 books502 followersELIZABETH BRUNDAGE is the author of five novels including The Vanishing Point and All Things Cease to Appear which was a WSJ Best Mystery of 2016, a NY Times Editor's Choice, and the basis for the Netflix movie Things Heard and Seen. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where she received a James Michener Award, and attended the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Witness, New Letters, The Greensboro Review, and elsewhere. She has taught at Skidmore College, Bard's Simon's Rock College, Florida Atlantic University, Trinity College, the University of Hartford, and the Rochester Institute of Technology. She lives with her family in Albany, New York.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
July 21, 2021
I am an outlier in my not favoring “The Vanishing Point” by Elizabeth Brundage. This is billed as a literary thriller; it is literary, and a slow burn of a thriller. But I was not invested in any of the characters….I just didn’t care.
This leads to the discussion that a novel needs to have likable characters to be a good one. I have wholly enjoyed novels with unlikeable characters (Girl on a Train for an example). This story is full of selfish characters that I could not connect with thus didn’t care about. I could not wait to be done with the story.
Two photography students meet at an exclusive workshop. They end up being roommates, and competitors. Julian, is envious of his roommate Rye. Both men have their eye on a female classmate, Magda. Rye, however, has a long term commitment with a woman, Simone, whom he eventually marries, but not before he cheats with Magda.
The story opens with Rye presumed dead after being missing for weeks. Julian goes to Rye’s funeral service, surprised that Rye is suspected of committing suicide.
We get the backstory as to what happened to Rye and Julian after the workshop. Plus, we find out where Rye was before the authorities found his vehicle with keys in the ignition and a note left behind. We also learn of Magna, who is now married to Julian, and her ties to Rye.
It's a drama involving unlikable self-involved characters. My review is most likely because I wasn’t in the mood for this, as it was beautifully written. Nonetheless, I truly didn’t care what happened to Rye.
5 stars for literary work, 2 stars for story.
This leads to the discussion that a novel needs to have likable characters to be a good one. I have wholly enjoyed novels with unlikeable characters (Girl on a Train for an example). This story is full of selfish characters that I could not connect with thus didn’t care about. I could not wait to be done with the story.
Two photography students meet at an exclusive workshop. They end up being roommates, and competitors. Julian, is envious of his roommate Rye. Both men have their eye on a female classmate, Magda. Rye, however, has a long term commitment with a woman, Simone, whom he eventually marries, but not before he cheats with Magda.
The story opens with Rye presumed dead after being missing for weeks. Julian goes to Rye’s funeral service, surprised that Rye is suspected of committing suicide.
We get the backstory as to what happened to Rye and Julian after the workshop. Plus, we find out where Rye was before the authorities found his vehicle with keys in the ignition and a note left behind. We also learn of Magna, who is now married to Julian, and her ties to Rye.
It's a drama involving unlikable self-involved characters. My review is most likely because I wasn’t in the mood for this, as it was beautifully written. Nonetheless, I truly didn’t care what happened to Rye.
5 stars for literary work, 2 stars for story.
May 21, 2021
4.5 stars, rounded up
“Photographers are always dealing with things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
This book appealed to me for two reasons. I had enjoyed Brundage’s prior book, All Things Cease to Appear, and I’m a huge fan of photography. The book concerns two photographers that meet at an exclusive photography workshop when they’re in their twenties. One goes on to become famous, the other never makes it. Now, the first, Rye Adler, is dead, an apparent suicide. But his body is never recovered.
The book is about relationships, parenthood, finding meaning in life, trust, envy and addiction. Chapters alternate between five characters, including Julian, the photographer who gave up and went into advertising and Rye. We see how their lives all intertwine. This is a dark story and it gets darker the further along it goes. Success certainly doesn’t guarantee happiness. None of the characters are easy people to like, especially the more we learn about them. Yet, I still felt a lot of sympathy for all of them. I found myself worrying about them.
It’s a beautifully written book, one meant to be savored. I was engrossed by the descriptions of what it means to be a photographer, how one sees the world, the philosophy of photography, if you will. It dragged a little in the middle, but the ending was perfect - messy like real life, filled with love. It was interesting to read the Acknowledgments and see that Brundage set out to write a book about photography and what it means as a metaphor for our times.
Warning - This is one of those books that eschews quotation marks.
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
“Photographers are always dealing with things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.”
Henri Cartier-Bresson
This book appealed to me for two reasons. I had enjoyed Brundage’s prior book, All Things Cease to Appear, and I’m a huge fan of photography. The book concerns two photographers that meet at an exclusive photography workshop when they’re in their twenties. One goes on to become famous, the other never makes it. Now, the first, Rye Adler, is dead, an apparent suicide. But his body is never recovered.
The book is about relationships, parenthood, finding meaning in life, trust, envy and addiction. Chapters alternate between five characters, including Julian, the photographer who gave up and went into advertising and Rye. We see how their lives all intertwine. This is a dark story and it gets darker the further along it goes. Success certainly doesn’t guarantee happiness. None of the characters are easy people to like, especially the more we learn about them. Yet, I still felt a lot of sympathy for all of them. I found myself worrying about them.
It’s a beautifully written book, one meant to be savored. I was engrossed by the descriptions of what it means to be a photographer, how one sees the world, the philosophy of photography, if you will. It dragged a little in the middle, but the ending was perfect - messy like real life, filled with love. It was interesting to read the Acknowledgments and see that Brundage set out to write a book about photography and what it means as a metaphor for our times.
Warning - This is one of those books that eschews quotation marks.
My thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advance copy of this book.
April 16, 2021
"Envy eats nothing but its own heart." (Proverb)
Elizabeth Brundage presents a well-crafted voyage into the streams coursing through the hearts of two completely different individuals. Fate seems to bring people together under the oddest of circumstances and then rushes them out to sea in opposing waves.
The Vanishing Point begins simply with a brief obituary tucked into the corner of a newspaper. Julian Ladd instantly recognizes the name. There's a history here. Julian runs his finger over the name. He and Rye Adler attended the famous Brodsky Photography Workshop together over twenty years ago. Julian knew in an instant that Rye possessed a talent that hovered within his nature. A talent that needed no instruction. Rye had a vision that few could even imagine.
And even at different ends of life's tangent, Julian and Rye, oddly, became roommates in a small apartment in New York City while attending the workshop. Julian was the observer of Rye's success. No matter what effort he put into the workshop, he would never attain Rye's status. And at the core of this strange pairing is a woman.....the beautiful and talented Magda who captures the stillness of the human experience with her camera lens.
Magda, born in Poland, came to New York as a child. There were still hints of a Polish accent so many years later. She embellished her wardrobe with flowing gypsy skirts that competed with the deep waves of her long hair. Magda would be long remembered by these two men and the immense impact that she would have on their lives.
Julian feels compelled to attend the funeral for Rye even after all these years. The obituary hints at a possible suicide. The truly artistic ones seem to have a restless spirit. And it is here that Julian will meet Rye's wife, Simone. Simone lectures at a local college. She and Rye lived out in the country, although Rye's photography took him on long trips around the world. Brundage does a remarkable job in her portrayal of the lonely Simone who has dedicated herself to the wandering Rye. Simone is deeply carved and bruised by her life's choices.
Prepare yourself for The Vanishing Point. There is a knotted thread of mystery wrapped around this one. All is not what it appears. And we will find that to be so true as these characters stand rigidly in the same shadowy circle twenty years later. There are darkly guarded secrets between them that will climax with a loud crescendo at the end. Elizabeth Brundage has a particular talent for sculpting her characters within a beacon of light at just the right moments. Keep an eye out for The Vanishing Point as it comes out in May 2021. It's one not to be missed.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Elizabeth Brundage for the opportunity.
Elizabeth Brundage presents a well-crafted voyage into the streams coursing through the hearts of two completely different individuals. Fate seems to bring people together under the oddest of circumstances and then rushes them out to sea in opposing waves.
The Vanishing Point begins simply with a brief obituary tucked into the corner of a newspaper. Julian Ladd instantly recognizes the name. There's a history here. Julian runs his finger over the name. He and Rye Adler attended the famous Brodsky Photography Workshop together over twenty years ago. Julian knew in an instant that Rye possessed a talent that hovered within his nature. A talent that needed no instruction. Rye had a vision that few could even imagine.
And even at different ends of life's tangent, Julian and Rye, oddly, became roommates in a small apartment in New York City while attending the workshop. Julian was the observer of Rye's success. No matter what effort he put into the workshop, he would never attain Rye's status. And at the core of this strange pairing is a woman.....the beautiful and talented Magda who captures the stillness of the human experience with her camera lens.
Magda, born in Poland, came to New York as a child. There were still hints of a Polish accent so many years later. She embellished her wardrobe with flowing gypsy skirts that competed with the deep waves of her long hair. Magda would be long remembered by these two men and the immense impact that she would have on their lives.
Julian feels compelled to attend the funeral for Rye even after all these years. The obituary hints at a possible suicide. The truly artistic ones seem to have a restless spirit. And it is here that Julian will meet Rye's wife, Simone. Simone lectures at a local college. She and Rye lived out in the country, although Rye's photography took him on long trips around the world. Brundage does a remarkable job in her portrayal of the lonely Simone who has dedicated herself to the wandering Rye. Simone is deeply carved and bruised by her life's choices.
Prepare yourself for The Vanishing Point. There is a knotted thread of mystery wrapped around this one. All is not what it appears. And we will find that to be so true as these characters stand rigidly in the same shadowy circle twenty years later. There are darkly guarded secrets between them that will climax with a loud crescendo at the end. Elizabeth Brundage has a particular talent for sculpting her characters within a beacon of light at just the right moments. Keep an eye out for The Vanishing Point as it comes out in May 2021. It's one not to be missed.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Elizabeth Brundage for the opportunity.
June 17, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown & Company for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
In her latest mystery, Elizabeth Brundage tells her story from the perspective of 5 characters as their lives intersect in a soap opera-ish type of way.
The characters in this book have earned my disgust and ultimately I will not be talking to any of them at the next photography exhibit.
In all seriousness, I did like the concept of " looking through the lens" at how people behave and think. I can even get past the idea that I didn't really like or connect to any of the characters. However, I found the plot a little too slow for my liking and I felt unaffected by the ending.
Publication Date 18/05/21
Goodreads review 16/06/21
#TheVanishingPoint #NetGalley
In her latest mystery, Elizabeth Brundage tells her story from the perspective of 5 characters as their lives intersect in a soap opera-ish type of way.
The characters in this book have earned my disgust and ultimately I will not be talking to any of them at the next photography exhibit.
In all seriousness, I did like the concept of " looking through the lens" at how people behave and think. I can even get past the idea that I didn't really like or connect to any of the characters. However, I found the plot a little too slow for my liking and I felt unaffected by the ending.
Publication Date 18/05/21
Goodreads review 16/06/21
#TheVanishingPoint #NetGalley
June 12, 2021
Listened to this on a road trip. After loving, All Things Cease to Appear, by this author I was anxious for her next. Sadly I was very disappointed. I wanted a psychological thriller with an art connections and while this started out in that vein I found the Art--photography--had little to do with actual story. Two young men meet at a famous Photography workshop and both fall in love with a young woman who is also attending. One young man becomes famous, the other commercializes his art by taking a job in advertising and makes money but is not famous and loses the Art aspect that the other man's photographs are famous for. The young woman remains pivotal in both of their lives. The story begins at the funeral of the famous photographer but his body has not been found and it is believed he committed suicide. This is the obvious mystery: is he alive?, did he commit suicide or was he murdered and why? From their we move back and forth in time to explain how our three main characters paths crossed and to explain the event that opened the story and its aftermath.
It was far from a thriller and I found most of the conversations and action boring and rather banal. There was little here that had not been done and said many times before. Even the end felt less than satisfying and the moment of tension flat. Wanted to love it and did make it all the way through but in all I felt it was not even close the to enjoyment I had found in her previous book.
It was far from a thriller and I found most of the conversations and action boring and rather banal. There was little here that had not been done and said many times before. Even the end felt less than satisfying and the moment of tension flat. Wanted to love it and did make it all the way through but in all I felt it was not even close the to enjoyment I had found in her previous book.
July 17, 2021
A book so blah I literally forgot to come mark it as read when I finished. This might be a two-star book in the end, but no quotation marks around dialogue means an automatic star deduction. Just stop doing that. It doesn't make you Cormac McCarthy and it doesn't make your book anything but harder to read. Go back to Writing 101 and don't come out until you know the rules well enough to break them. Also, a book about photographers seemed obsessed with telling instead of showing.
No connection to any of the characters or what happened to them. I read this book very quickly and it still felt like a waste of time. Worthy of one star because at least it serves as a warning to avoid this author in the future.
No connection to any of the characters or what happened to them. I read this book very quickly and it still felt like a waste of time. Worthy of one star because at least it serves as a warning to avoid this author in the future.
June 10, 2021
Am mystified by all the rave reviews. A pretentious series of character studies which link to loosely form something that might be considered a story. Got about a third of the way through it, but I couldn't bring myself to care.
May 8, 2021
I first discovered Elizabeth Brundage quite by accident, as a result of my fondness for used and second-hand books. I found a tattered copy of The Doctor’s Wife and immediately fell in love with her beautiful prose, so stunning, in fact, that the incredible plot felt like a second gift.
So, when I read that she had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it. I am so glad that I did.
•Vanishing points are the points at which lines appear to converge•
The Vanishing Point is a novel about all the ways we can be changed by feelings - even those we may not be aware exist. It is about the intersections and cross-sections of our lives, our memories, and our secrets. It is a dissection of jealousy, perceived ownership, and the lies that we tell ourselves even more than those we try to sell others. It is a sermon on a mother’s love and her absolute willingness to sacrifice everything for her child, her heart beating outside her body, her very soul made flesh.
It is also a language unto itself. It is immersive and entangling and bold, sucking you under in the most ravishing and lovely ways and wringing you out on some distant shore, hours passed without notice.
I spend a great deal of my time locked into a book, but Elizabeth Brundage writes the ones to which I hope the key gets lost.
“I am trying to get lost again.” ~Dorothea Lange
5/5 ✨, remarkable, staggering, outstanding.
So, when I read that she had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it. I am so glad that I did.
•Vanishing points are the points at which lines appear to converge•
The Vanishing Point is a novel about all the ways we can be changed by feelings - even those we may not be aware exist. It is about the intersections and cross-sections of our lives, our memories, and our secrets. It is a dissection of jealousy, perceived ownership, and the lies that we tell ourselves even more than those we try to sell others. It is a sermon on a mother’s love and her absolute willingness to sacrifice everything for her child, her heart beating outside her body, her very soul made flesh.
It is also a language unto itself. It is immersive and entangling and bold, sucking you under in the most ravishing and lovely ways and wringing you out on some distant shore, hours passed without notice.
I spend a great deal of my time locked into a book, but Elizabeth Brundage writes the ones to which I hope the key gets lost.
“I am trying to get lost again.” ~Dorothea Lange
5/5 ✨, remarkable, staggering, outstanding.
September 25, 2021
****4.5 Stars****
Read
June 8, 2021Read only first 94 pages. Doesn't hold my interest. Moving on...
July 1, 2023
I rarely hate a book....if I could give it less than 1 star I would. This was awful. Felt like rushed writing, too many blurs in crossover story lines and worst was an ending that just was so flat that it made me really regret even finishing the book.
Don't waste your time on this one.
Don't waste your time on this one.
May 27, 2021
Another wonderful read by Ms. Brundage. I don't know what I'll do waiting for her next novel!
June 14, 2021
I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an impartial review.
As a huge fan of All Things Cease to Disappear, I was ready to be swept away by The Vanishing Point. Unfortunately, this novel is not for me. Brundage is a beautiful, insightful writer and I know many people will love this book. Currently, I am just uninterested in reading about the internal struggles of men wrestling with their ambition and their egos, their battles over an enigmatic, careless woman. There is a lot of gorgeous and thoughtful writing about the philosophy of photography, the act of seeing, capturing, considering images and I think readers who are also photographers will particularly enjoy this title. I will continue to follow Brundage and give her next one a try.
As a huge fan of All Things Cease to Disappear, I was ready to be swept away by The Vanishing Point. Unfortunately, this novel is not for me. Brundage is a beautiful, insightful writer and I know many people will love this book. Currently, I am just uninterested in reading about the internal struggles of men wrestling with their ambition and their egos, their battles over an enigmatic, careless woman. There is a lot of gorgeous and thoughtful writing about the philosophy of photography, the act of seeing, capturing, considering images and I think readers who are also photographers will particularly enjoy this title. I will continue to follow Brundage and give her next one a try.
January 2, 2023
hmmmmm. well, like in Brundage's last novel, All Things Cease to Appear, I loved every single sentence. but, unlike that novel, I didn't wind up caring about any of these characters. they were rendered complexly, but I was missing the spark, whatever it was, that made me interested in them. it isn't a matter of likability – I love unlikable characters – but something else, something more nebulous. meh.
May 2, 2023
I spent 4 hours listening to the audiobook (about 37%) and I just couldn't listen to another minute. It was so boring! The main things discussed were lust/sex, smoking and very broad descriptions of photography and their art school. Not what I was expecting.
May 23, 2021
Julian Ladd and Ryan Adler were roommates at a famous photography workshop as young adults. They were never truly friends. There was always an undertone of competition between the two of them and jealousy when one had something the other wanted.
This book picks up many years later when Julian reads that Ryan has passed away. Even though they were never close, he's drawn to the funeral.
The Vanishing Point was a beautifully written novel that blends past and present events with a bit of a mystery. There are events that aren't exactly what they appear and the reader can't take anything at face value.
The Vanishing Point was a wonderful read that was even more than I originally anticipated.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.
This book picks up many years later when Julian reads that Ryan has passed away. Even though they were never close, he's drawn to the funeral.
The Vanishing Point was a beautifully written novel that blends past and present events with a bit of a mystery. There are events that aren't exactly what they appear and the reader can't take anything at face value.
The Vanishing Point was a wonderful read that was even more than I originally anticipated.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.
November 9, 2024
3 stelle generose
August 9, 2021
This is probably in the top two for the summer. The plot is unputdownable - almost stayed up all night reading it and the writing just blew me away. It is a literary novel and thriller/mystery. The book begins with a funeral of a famous photographer who is presumed dead by suicide - but there is no body. What happened to him? The narrator at the beginning of the book is a failed photographer who shares a history with the dead one: they were students together at an exclusive photography workshop and both fell in love with another female student. From there the story goes back to a few months before the man's disappearance and the events that led to it from the point of view of four other different characters, one being the dead photographer. The plot is incredibly compelling and themes include how much one can sacrifice of oneself for the prize of success, identity and self-examination, enduring love and friendship, beauty, and the art of photography. I appreciated so much that the timeline, though it split off into chapters depending on POV, did not flip flop between the present and the past once you got past the opening chapters. So tired of that literary device! However, you do see how different the characters view the same events, past and present, and there are some amazing plot reveals along the way as the story of the three main characters' twenty year friendship is remembered and told. Lots of quotes from famous photographers and the writing puts you behind a camera lens into people’s souls throughout the novel. Finished on audio and now starting all over with the book so I can underline all my favorite quotes. Warning: Strong depiction of heroine abuse among teenagers and that may be triggering for some, is very gritty, but also a compassionate characterization that brings important awareness of the opioid crisis among youth.
December 24, 2024
Loved this book
February 19, 2022
No, this is definitely not a 'gripping thriller'! It's very slow moving, long winded and rather pretentious, in that Elizabeth Brundage seems to have written this with the intention of employing literary lessons taught in writing classes, which just don't work in engaging the reader.
I think the other phrase that's used to describe such novels is 'swallowed a dictionary'! It's one of those books which go into great detail to describe irrelevancies, and I was constantly wishing it would get to the point - any point really - relating to the 'thriller' I was expecting. Sadly, it didn't really happen. I ended up just not really caring about any of the characters at all and was glad to get to the end of this book.
I think the other phrase that's used to describe such novels is 'swallowed a dictionary'! It's one of those books which go into great detail to describe irrelevancies, and I was constantly wishing it would get to the point - any point really - relating to the 'thriller' I was expecting. Sadly, it didn't really happen. I ended up just not really caring about any of the characters at all and was glad to get to the end of this book.
March 4, 2022
Written in a sentimental way,that may be meant to be poetic, we meet different characters through out different stages of their life. Two photographer room mates, not necessarily friends, and a love triangle.
The story moves slowly, and you can’t feel a likeness or attachment to any of the characters. I felt appalled about how the lies and selfishness of parents can affect and destroy a children lives.
I appreciated the author focus on the harms of using medication in children, while all they need is love and understanding.
The story takes a twist and gets more encaging after the first half, however the
Twist, although interesting, it is some how not quite believable.
The story moves slowly, and you can’t feel a likeness or attachment to any of the characters. I felt appalled about how the lies and selfishness of parents can affect and destroy a children lives.
I appreciated the author focus on the harms of using medication in children, while all they need is love and understanding.
The story takes a twist and gets more encaging after the first half, however the
Twist, although interesting, it is some how not quite believable.
May 23, 2021
Self-indulgent, pretentious writing style. Entertaining story after a very slow start.
August 26, 2025
this book was terrible: the story line and the characters were awful, not a single character was likable. this book commits the literary cardinal sin of telling, not showing. For example, when Magda discovers Theos drug addiction, it reads: “she only knew that as his mother, she was somehow culpable. She had to be. And it made her very sad.” give me a break. a mother is “sad” when her son is addicted to drugs! wow, really? Who would’ve thought. Such poignance and eloquence from the author. Even more than the terrible story, I personally had gripes with the way the story was actually written.
The book used sentences.
like this.
that indented.
Every line.
Which made me.
Go insane.
Additionally.
the author did not use.
Quotation marks around dialogue.
So the story became.
Choppy.
And almost robotic.
The book used sentences.
like this.
that indented.
Every line.
Which made me.
Go insane.
Additionally.
the author did not use.
Quotation marks around dialogue.
So the story became.
Choppy.
And almost robotic.
March 9, 2021
Please visit my book blog https://cavebookreviews.blogspot.com/.
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler share a rundown apartment in Philadelphia, where they attend the famous Brodsky photography workshop. Rye starts as a superstar and critiques Julian's work as pointless. The two mismatched roommates separate immediately when the workshop ends. The novel then gives a POV chapter to each of the characters, and tension builds up quickly.
Both men are successful but in disparate fields. Rye is nationally known for his photography, and Julian becomes an advertising executive with a cushy life outside of the city. Julian connected with one other photographer and managed to get her to marry him. Magda comes from a diverse background than the other Brodsky students. She was born in Poland and grew up with a single mother in a poor section of Philadelphia. Magda knows what it is to struggle in everyday life. The narrative includes Magda and eventually their son, Theo.
EB writes a captivating story about all of the characters. I wanted to know Simone, Rye's wife, the poet. I wondered how they would meet again after twenty years. A crisis brought Magda and Rye together in NYC, where they shared their twenty years of growing into adults with families. Magda asks Rye for a favor, and the novel revs up to full speed as I wondered how all of what she asked would happen.
I enjoyed racing through this new book. It read like a thriller but came with a hefty literary edge. How do we connect with people in our youth and go on to live with decisions made when we barely knew what consequences life will throw at us? Mistakes made in your twenties seem like they can be re-done, if necessary, but often they may be forever decisions.
Thank you so much to Little, Brown, and Company through NetGalley for the e-ARC of this novel.
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler share a rundown apartment in Philadelphia, where they attend the famous Brodsky photography workshop. Rye starts as a superstar and critiques Julian's work as pointless. The two mismatched roommates separate immediately when the workshop ends. The novel then gives a POV chapter to each of the characters, and tension builds up quickly.
Both men are successful but in disparate fields. Rye is nationally known for his photography, and Julian becomes an advertising executive with a cushy life outside of the city. Julian connected with one other photographer and managed to get her to marry him. Magda comes from a diverse background than the other Brodsky students. She was born in Poland and grew up with a single mother in a poor section of Philadelphia. Magda knows what it is to struggle in everyday life. The narrative includes Magda and eventually their son, Theo.
EB writes a captivating story about all of the characters. I wanted to know Simone, Rye's wife, the poet. I wondered how they would meet again after twenty years. A crisis brought Magda and Rye together in NYC, where they shared their twenty years of growing into adults with families. Magda asks Rye for a favor, and the novel revs up to full speed as I wondered how all of what she asked would happen.
I enjoyed racing through this new book. It read like a thriller but came with a hefty literary edge. How do we connect with people in our youth and go on to live with decisions made when we barely knew what consequences life will throw at us? Mistakes made in your twenties seem like they can be re-done, if necessary, but often they may be forever decisions.
Thank you so much to Little, Brown, and Company through NetGalley for the e-ARC of this novel.
June 5, 2021
This novel is achingly beautiful. Elizabeth Brundage has somehow managed to surpass the brilliance of her last novel “All Things Cease To Apper” with this stunning masterpiece so aptly titled “The Vanishing Point”! I am speechless. BRAVO 👏 ❤️📚
June 10, 2021
Brilliant, intoxicating, moving novel. I savored every word ❤️Elizabeth’s writing is achingly beautiful.
August 2, 2021
This story about a love triangle between very dark, flawed characters drew me in with one plot twist after another. I couldn't put it down!
April 23, 2023
[Imported automatically from my blog. Some formatting there may not have translated here.]
A couple months back, I opened a book report with "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be ballet dancers." This time, I'm going with "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be photographers, either."
This book made the WSJ's Best Mysteries of 2021, and it finishes up my reading project for that list. (That list was a mixed bag. My previous reports: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
The book revolves around central characters Rye, Julian, and Magda; years back, they encountered each other at the prestigious Brodsky Workshop, a springboard for future famous shutterbugs. But as the book opens, two decades post-Brodsky, Julian is attending the memorial service for Rye, who's missing, presumed dead. So that's kind of a mystery, but not really, because nobody seems that interested in finding out what happened. We proceed to jump back in time to discover what brought us to that unhappy pass…
Each chapter is told via third-person limited point-of-view (I think it's called) describing some segment of some character's shambolic life. This is pretty good when the same scene is described from different POVs.
Pretty much everyone's miserable, smokes too much, drinks too much. (Or, in one case, much worse.) The prose is a little arty for my taste, the author eschews quotation marks, but some people, e.g. the WSJ reviewer, find it OK. And I thought things got a little too soap-operatic at the end. But that's me.
July 27, 2021
A spare, unflinching, gorgeously rendered tale of intersections and cross-sections of our lives, the memories, jealousies, secrets, and more
Looking for your next great read? Check out my reviews and interviews here, every Wednesday: www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book. Elizabeth Brundage and this title featured in June 2021
I am swooning over THE VANISHING POINT (Little, Brown May 18 2021) by Elizabeth Brundage. It's eerie, evocative, entangling and pulls at a knotted thread of mystery. Here it has all of the hallmarks for gorgeous prose: it's emotionally resonate leaving the reader with residual feelings and thoughts while as the same time, generating forward momentum, it's stunning.
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler are photography students--and roommates, briefly--in an exclusive workshop, where they are mentored by Brodsky, a photography great. It's mostly men, but there's a woman, too, Magda, a Polish immigrant who has spent most of her life in the U.S. Both men are fascinated and captivated by her, but no one can seem to 'have' her.
Julian and Rye's lives diverge; they take different paths. Julian becomes ensconced in the pharmaceutical industry and Rye pursues photography. In fact, he's at the top of his game, snapping photographs of celebrities and the like.
But now someone's dead--at least presumed to be--there is no body, but speculation swirls: was an accident? Suicide?
Traversing decades and exploring such themes of our changing world, about the denouncement of relationships, the fleeting images of our past and even our present. THE VANISHING POINT is highly sophisticated in theme and motifs, exploring those intersections--and cross-sections--of our society from homelessness to the immigrant experience, elitism, addiction, secrets, jealousies, motivation, and so much more. It would almost do the work injustice for me to try to summarize the plot or even my feelings about the book--just read it--you won't be sorry.
THE VANISHING POINT is somber and stark but glittering with the most gorgeous and unfiltered prose with sharp descriptions and hugely perceptive.
I was reminded, in part, of the work of Anita Shreve meets Thomas Christopher Greene (especially THE PERFECT LIAR), with perhaps a touch of Meredith Hall (BENEFICIENCE and WITHOUT A MAP)
For all my reviews, including author reviews (Elizabeth Brundage to appear in June 2021), please visit www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book
Special thanks to Little, Brown and the author this review copy. I am so grateful. All thoughts are my own.
Looking for your next great read? Check out my reviews and interviews here, every Wednesday: www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book. Elizabeth Brundage and this title featured in June 2021
I am swooning over THE VANISHING POINT (Little, Brown May 18 2021) by Elizabeth Brundage. It's eerie, evocative, entangling and pulls at a knotted thread of mystery. Here it has all of the hallmarks for gorgeous prose: it's emotionally resonate leaving the reader with residual feelings and thoughts while as the same time, generating forward momentum, it's stunning.
Julian Ladd and Rye Adler are photography students--and roommates, briefly--in an exclusive workshop, where they are mentored by Brodsky, a photography great. It's mostly men, but there's a woman, too, Magda, a Polish immigrant who has spent most of her life in the U.S. Both men are fascinated and captivated by her, but no one can seem to 'have' her.
Julian and Rye's lives diverge; they take different paths. Julian becomes ensconced in the pharmaceutical industry and Rye pursues photography. In fact, he's at the top of his game, snapping photographs of celebrities and the like.
But now someone's dead--at least presumed to be--there is no body, but speculation swirls: was an accident? Suicide?
Traversing decades and exploring such themes of our changing world, about the denouncement of relationships, the fleeting images of our past and even our present. THE VANISHING POINT is highly sophisticated in theme and motifs, exploring those intersections--and cross-sections--of our society from homelessness to the immigrant experience, elitism, addiction, secrets, jealousies, motivation, and so much more. It would almost do the work injustice for me to try to summarize the plot or even my feelings about the book--just read it--you won't be sorry.
THE VANISHING POINT is somber and stark but glittering with the most gorgeous and unfiltered prose with sharp descriptions and hugely perceptive.
I was reminded, in part, of the work of Anita Shreve meets Thomas Christopher Greene (especially THE PERFECT LIAR), with perhaps a touch of Meredith Hall (BENEFICIENCE and WITHOUT A MAP)
For all my reviews, including author reviews (Elizabeth Brundage to appear in June 2021), please visit www.leslielindsay.com|Always with a Book
Special thanks to Little, Brown and the author this review copy. I am so grateful. All thoughts are my own.
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