Interesting novel set in the New York art scene.

sending to WormyOne to be used at her bookgroup.

A massive thank you to wyjane for this.

A review by Julie Myerson inside the front cover of this copy reads:

"A genuinely disturbing urban thriller - there's violence, duplicity, murder and erotica - but it's also satisfyingly weighed down with the heft of marital and parental relationships and, maybe most importantly, with a profound and intelligent dialogue about love. Most impressively of all perhaps, Hustvedt takes us deeply and convincingly into the psyches of all these people...The intricacies of the relationships she depicts, the fragile sexual landscapes - whether comic and wobbly or romantically sweeping - snag at your heart...I can't remember the last time I finished a novel and truly believed I'd absorbed the taste and span of an artist's career as well as the pains and joys of 30 years of his sexual and emotional life, but this one convinced me I had".

This is the second book I've read by Siri Hustvedt and, as with The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, I was impressed. I find Siri Hustvedt's writing intelligent and thought-provoking.

What I Loved reminded me of The Enchantment of Lily Dahl in its intensity and in its changes of focus - as I moved through the book, I found its key themes and subjects altered so that, by the time I finished it, my impression as to what it was "about" was different from when I was one-third or halfway through it.

As with The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, it's loaded with symbolism (hunger, eating and body weight runs through it as a theme for example) and I suspect that I only spotted some of that.

I initially found it difficult to get into. The first third is slow moving, concentrating on an in-depth introduction to the characters of the story rather than any dramatic plot developments. But, from about a quarter of the way through, I was strongly drawn in and, by the time of a dramatic and devastating event about one third of the way into the book, I was hooked.

The almost clinical precision of the telling (e.g. "On the third Saturday in May...") contributes to the building tension and I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the art works.

Again as with The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, I was aware of a creeping sense of menace, and of unreality so that I wasn't sure whether the menace was imagined or real.

My book group is meeting on Thursday 22nd and I'm looking forward to discussing this with the others. I picked it because, having read The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, I felt that there were many layers to the book, only some of which I had accessed, and I would have liked an opportunity to discuss it with others. I wondered if I would feel the same way about What I Loved and I do, so I'm glad I chose it.

ADDENDUM, 22nd February 2007.

My book group met tonight and the group found the book as stimulating to discussion as I hoped they would. Some people found it off-puttingly dense and/or depressing but most were impressed by it. One person scored it ten out of ten.

As I hoped, others had spotted additional themes that I'd missed, including marks on skin (a bruise, skin writing conjured up by hysterics, concentration camp tattoos) and fairy tales.

Tonight's discussion has made me realise just how much there is in this book. There is a myriad of themes, sub-plots and characters. I could have talked about it all night.

I'm going to copy a passage out here in case I ever find the advice in it useful. :-)

"Later, when Violet spoke about the letters [which had succeeded in persuading her lover, who had returned to his wife, to leave his wife for good to be with Violet], she made it clear that she had written them carefully. "They had to be sincere," she said, "but they couldn't be maudlin. They had to be well written, without a shred of self-pity, and they had to be sexy without being pornographic. I don't want to gloat, but they did the trick".

Lent to TheNobleCove.