The Great Man

I bought this book a couple of years ago and could not get into it at first but on a recent trip, I couldn't put it down. I'm so glad I gave it a second chance. When two biographers set out to capture the essence of Oscar Feldman, the theme of this book is immediately apparent; the impossibility of truly capturing the essence of a life. Often the finished work reveals more about the observer than the subject. Oscar and his art are chosen and Christensen does not shy away from exploring reasons and processes that determine how one artist's work becomes elevated over another. This is an unlikely tale that explores who loves what, why and how. Oscar, the celebrated painter and ostensible center of the universe turns out to be far less fascinating than the many women who adore him. The women are complex, intriguing and old, which is interesting in itself. Some even have the temerity to actually enjoy sex, something I find refreshing, although at least one reviewer disagrees, reflecting society's distaste for the aging - especially women. Christensen's sense of fun shows in her stylish prose, as does her obvious familiarity with the art scene. Her love of food and detailed settings provide the perfect backdrop for this many charactered, and complex tale. Somehow she manages to keep all these balls in the air, yet I never had to go back to situate myself. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

A splendid novel about what happens to the lives of several women after the great man they loved (as wives, lovers, or daughters) dies. The great man in question was a painter, and so is one of the women he left behind. The story unfolds through the device of having two very different biographers approaching the various women in the great man's life in order to write about the deceased. Kate Christensen's take on male-female relationships, art, and what it means to be "great" make for very thoughtful and pleasurable reading.

It was an ok read, not a great read but not an absolute waste of time either. It was primarily a character study and some of the characters were interesting. I enjoyed that it was written about and from the perspective of older women. Women who at the ends of their lives finally laid claim to their lives. It was fairly well written but every once in a while something discordant would be thrown in, leaving one with a kind of '...??er... what was that?' feeling. It was a decent book club book as it provided good fodder for discussion but not a stand out classic by any means.

I loved Kate Christensen's The Great Man, a graceful, smart and character-driven novel set in motion by the death of a renowned artist. The characters are the great man's widow and autistic son, his paramour (and mother of his two daughters), his sister (and fellow stellar artist), and others whose lifelong orbits around the titular character begin to decay rapidly away from the weaker gravity of his memory. In the resulting chaos there are collisions and near-misses and certainly damage is done. But when a dark secret about one of The Great Man's most famous works is revealed, it sparks a realignment of those other bodies into a new configuration that just might work. Spot-on dialogue, wonderful sense of place, lovely insights into what makes human life so interesting.

Ms. Christensen is a new author to me. I had read a review of her upcoming novel and preordered it. Then I decidedto order this much acclaimed novel. I feel this is truly a women’s book. I enjoyed all the various women in this book and felt that I could enjoy friendships with each of them.

I read expository writing all day every day for my livelihood. I look for a good novel as my incentive to get through a day of critiquing student writing. I will lose sleep for a great story, and The Great Man was a perfect read without a false note to distract me from characters and plot. Kate Christensen succeeds magnificently at creating a realistically complex web of relationships and reactions. I followed quickly with The Astral and The Epicure's Lament, and was even more impressed with Christensen's talent for capturing the soul and voices of her characters.

This is a well told story of relationship rivalries. Christensen leads the reader through the unraveling of a deceased famous painter, keeping the suspense as to what secret lies in his life, how it affected his close circle of friends and family and how it will be resolved in the end. The last pages of the narrative are weaker in effect than the rest of the book.

The book is populated with characters whose accomplishments and strength are supported by observations from other characters rather than by primary character development, an novel by hearsay if you will. The premise was intriguing but the people were not convincing. Good enough for reading on the beach.