The Painter Of Battles - Softcover

Perez-Reverte, Arturo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0297851853 ISBN 13: 9780297851851

Publisher: W&N, 2007

Synopsis

A man lives alone in a watchtower by the sea. On the circular walls of the tower he is painting a grand mural - the timeless landscape of a battle. He is a former war photographer, and the painting is his attempt to capture the photo he was never able to take; to encapsulate, in an instant, the meaning of war.But one day a stranger knocks on his door and announces that he has come to kill him. The man is a shadow from his past, one of the myriad faces of war, and now the consequences of his actions are brought home to him. As the novel progresses, the story of both the soldier and the artist emerge, entwined with a doomed love affair, and the progress of a painting that is infused with the history of art.

Intense and turbulent this is a book about art, war, love and the human capacity for both violence and empathy. It asks very profound questions about human nature and the role of the artist, but it is also has the intensity of a psychological thriller as the painter trades stories with the man who has come to kill him - like the Knight playing chess with Death in the Seventh Seal....

About this title

Product Description:

Rare Book

Review:

[Perez-Reverte s] best book yet . . . a game of mental chess, an excursion into art, history and imagination.
The Times (London)

A remarkable achievement. Not only does the clash of ideas and emotions echo after you have turned the last page this novel will change what you see in images from datelines around the world.
Scott Simon, author of Pretty Birds
Arturo Perez-Reverte has established himself as the master of the intellectual thriller.
Chicago Tribune
[A] taut literary thriller [with] meticulous detail and dark, brooding tone.
Publishers Weekly
A gripping story of war, cruelty, testimony, and the past . . . Arturo Perez-Reverte is the great European storyteller of the 21st century.
Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin
Reminds American readers of the sublime rhetoric of Faulkner and how such passages in the hands of a master can add to the momentum of the story.
San Francisco Chronicle
A tour de force [that] explores the great themes of human existence.
The Australian"

"[Perez-Reverte's] best book yet . . . a game of mental chess, an excursion into art, history and imagination."
-The Times (London)

"A remarkable achievement. Not only does the clash of ideas and emotions echo after you have turned the last page-this novel will change what you see in images from datelines around the world."
-Scott Simon, author of Pretty Birds

"Arturo Perez-Reverte has established himself as the master of the intellectual thriller."
-Chicago Tribune

"[A] taut literary thriller [with] meticulous detail and dark, brooding tone."
-Publishers Weekly

"A gripping story of war, cruelty, testimony, and the past . . . Arturo Perez-Reverte is the great European storyteller of the 21st century."
-Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin

"Reminds American readers of the sublime rhetoric of Faulkner and how such passages in the hands of a master can add to the momentum of the story."
-San Francisco Chronicle

"A tour de force [that] explores the great themes of human existence."
-The Australian

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0297851853
• ISBN 13: 9780297851851
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224