{"product_id":"the-painting-time-9780857059864","title":"The Painting Time","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of contemporary fiction''s most gifted sentence builders Beejay Silcox, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBehind the ornate doors of 30, rue du Métal in Brussels, twenty students begin their apprenticeship in the art of decorative painting - that art of tricksters and counterfeiters, where each knot in a plank of wood hides a secret and every vein in a slab of marble tells a story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmong these students are Kate, Jonas and Paula Karst. Together, during a relentless year of study, they will learn the techniques of reproducing materials in paint, and the intensity of their experience - the long hours in the studio, the late nights, the conversations, arguments, parties, romances - will cement a friendship that lasts long after their formal studies end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor Paula, her initiation into the art of \u003ci\u003etrompe l''œil\u003c\/i\u003e will take her back through time, from her own childhood memories, to the ancient formations of the materials whose depiction she strives to master. And from the\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs she has so often done, \u003cb\u003ede Kerangal shows there is poetry to be found in our jargon, and stories embedded in our tools \u003c\/b\u003e. . . This is writing that defies haste, that slows the eye. It is also \u003cb\u003ea mighty feat of translation\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Cements [de Kerangal's] reputation as \u003cb\u003eone of contemporary fiction's most gifted sentence builders\u003c\/b\u003e -- Beejay Silcox * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eThe book is \u003cb\u003ea joyful testament to the rigours of research, and to the translator's art too\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Maylis de Kerangal is mining a rich and individual seam -- Jonathan Gibbs * TLS *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntensely alive\u003c\/b\u003e, encompassing both the technical and the poetic, emotion and cerebrality -- Raphaëlle Leyris * Le Monde *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlways brilliant\u003c\/b\u003e, executed in flowing, lyrical prose that had already reached the firmament in [\u003ci\u003eMend the Living\u003c\/i\u003e] . . . \u003cb\u003eDe Kerangal finds fiction in reality\u003c\/b\u003e; precise, technical vocabulary is imbued with \u003cb\u003erich imagination and meaning\u003c\/b\u003e. And mastering \u003ci\u003etrompe-l'œil \u003c\/i\u003e- isn't that the ideal metaphor for the work of a novelist? -- Frédérique Roussel * Libération *\u003cbr\u003eThe art of painting in perfect harmony with de Kerangal's writing; \u003cb\u003evisual, flamboyant, assured\u003c\/b\u003e . . . in perfect alignment with her subject -- Marine Landrot * Télérama *\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKerangal's \u003cb\u003eelegant, sexy, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003esubtly Proustian\u003c\/b\u003e, and fluidly dimensional drama of discipline and passion, imitation and\u003cbr\u003eimagination is \u003cb\u003eresplendently evocative and exhilarating\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e -- Donna Seaman * Booklist *\u003cbr\u003eLong looping sentences, \u003cb\u003ebeautifully translated\u003c\/b\u003e from the French by Jessica Moore, are balanced by taut scene changes . . . De Kerangal conjures the same \u003cb\u003epainterly realism\u003c\/b\u003e that her characters hope to achieve in paint * London Magazine *","brand":"Quercus Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48884799078743,"sku":"9780857059864","price":15.29,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780857059864.jpg?v=1722533511","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-painting-time-9780857059864","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}