Headlong

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Summary: Headlong: An inciteful perspective on a man's infatuation
Review: Headlong presents an outstanding example of what happens when a hunch becomess an infatuation and all logical decisions are cast away to allow for a rapid stream of ill planded actions. This depiction of Martin Clay, the narrator of the novel, shows how he goes from atempting to remain civil to eventualy abandoned all integrety, as he tries to attain what he believes is an undescovered painting by Peter Bruegel. Throughout this entire novel as Martin streams through volumes of imformation on Bruegel, convincing himself that this painting is what he believes it to be, the reader is given a lesson on fourteenth century Netherlandish history, perhaps even learning a bit more tham anyone may want to know. However this does make good background information for why Martin is so convinced that the painting is a Bruegel. As Michael Frayn unravels the chain of events that leads to Martin's loss of any sencable reasoning, the reader is brought along and can see how these poor decisions could have been made given the situatuion. This work offers an inciteful look at a man who is motivated by his own greed and cannot see past the one goal that he has set for himself.

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Summary: How could this not have won the Booker?
Review: Michael Frayn has written one of the funniest plays ever ("Noises Off"), as well as one of the most intellectually stimulating (the Tony-award winning "Copenhagen"). In "Headlong" he has fashioned a delightful novel that combines the best aspects of both. Part raucous comedy, part Art History lesson, part mystery, this is a dazzling work sure to please anyone with a desire to be both entertained and educated. That it did not win the Booker Prize is a puzzlement to me. (And if you don't know what the Booker Prize is, don't bother.)

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Summary: Headlong is a worthwhile plunge
Review: Michael Frayn's "Headlong" takes us on a wild caper of deception, obsession, and the discovery of a lost masterpiece that could turn the art world upside down. Or not. The novel opens with a confession by the narrator, Martin Clay, that he either is a fool or a fool as well as "the subject of outrage and horror." What follows is an account of a philosopher's headlong plunge into an escapade that begins and ends in the deceptively peaceful English countryside.

Frayn deftly takes us from scholarly analysis of Flemish art to slapstick moments in the crumbling estate of country bumpkin Tony Churt. Just when we think we are learning something about the subtleties of iconography and iconology, we find ourselves laughing at Martin's desire to tackle "normalism" as his next project. Occasionally the reader is left scratching her head in disbelief at Martin's willingness to put his marriage, his reputation, and his life on the line for a hunch. But just as we wonder if this character has lost his mind, Frayn reminds us of what a truly remarkable (and lucrative) discovery it would be if his hunch were on the mark.

In the meantime, the author provokes us to think about the true value of art and what determines whether a painting is a masterpiece or worth little more than a collector's taste. Perhaps more profoundly, he also asks us to explore the human price for preserving culture. He peppers these provocations with a dose of wry British humor.

Historians' knowledge of Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder, circa 1525 - 1569, leaves plenty of holes for Frayn to climb through and develop a believable theory for his tale. Just enough is know about Bruegel for scholars to salivate over the possibilities of what kind of man he was, what he believed in, and what his artistic and philosophical intentions were. Anyone who has gazed upon a Bruegel painting or print knows it can be an unsettling experience. It is easy to end up staring for twenty minutes at a peasant's gap-toothed grin before noticing a telling, sometimes macabre, detail that represents the turbulent times in which the artist painted. Or, as with the series of "The Seven Virtues," the viewer easily could get caught up in trying to decipher the multifaceted meanings of Bruegel's allegorical figures.

In the end, Martin's infatuation with Bruegel evolves not so much from the aesthetics of the artist's work, but from the genius and daring of a man who "painted the many things that could not be painted." The philosopher's fixation on one small detail reflects the real-life pains curators and collectors have gone through to identify Bruegel's work. It's worth reading "Headlong" to find out how Martin Clay becomes entangled in the world of Netherlandish art and an adventure he'll never live down.

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Summary: Funny, urbane, informative.
Review: One of the funniest books I've read in the last few years. His understated humor is marvelously accomplished. The dialogue between the protagonist and his wife (and the non-verbal communication borne in the silences between words) are hilarous. Art, folly, wit, and wisdom combine in a tour-de-force.

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Summary: Toolong
Review: Frayn begins with a clever idea, but flogs it to death. The flashes of humor are obscured by not very well-presented minutiae of the political history of the age of Bruegel. Far more absorbing and provocative treatments of interactions of past and present include A.S. Byatt's POSSESSION and Graham Swift's great WATERLAND.

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Summary: A cautionary tale of destructive obsession
Review: A philosopher turned art historian chances upon a rare find in a debilitated country house - a lost painting by Bruegel, the 16th century Flemish master. There are only two problems - how can he coax it from its (semi-) legitimate owner, and how can he really be sure it's genuine, certain enough to jeopardize his wife and daughter's future?

What transpires is a headlong plunge into shame and hypocrisy. The Babel-like demolition of Martin's aspiring academic pride is painfully inevitable. Drawn deeper and deeper into a self-constructed conspiracy theory - the politicization of Bruegel's "Months" - he decides that he must possess the painting at any cost, or, rather, the attendant glory of its restoration to the world. The result is a dizzying fall from grace, scorched by his selfish, reckless ambition.

You will certainly enjoy it if, like me, you are a lover of Bruegel's beautiful paintings. I found the art history intriguing - a trail of evidence in search of a crime, and a powerful deconstruction of the terrifying political and social climate in which Bruegel worked.

The book benefits greatly from having to hand the paintings it describes - these allow you to investigate for yourself the illuminating details picked out by the narrator. I recommend Bruegel, by Keith Roberts: it has a concise biography and excellent, full-page, colour reproductions of the "Months" and other paintings described throughout the book.

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Summary: Hilarious and Provocative
Review: "Headlong" is a great title, since Martin Clay, the narrator of this very funny book, does rush forward headfirst, without deliberation, and gets himself involved in a ridiculous business deal, which costs him not only money and the temporary loss of his wife's good will, but also causes the destruction of a painting --- perhaps a long lost Bruegel - which is the object of his reckless behavior.

In "Headlong", Michael Frayn, also shows why he is a very successful playwright. Repeatedly, he has Martin Clay constructing tight little scenarios about his interaction and manipulation of other characters, only to find their character-driven unpredictability completely destroying his planning, usually in hilarious ways. In reading this book, I often thought that scenes would play well as an intelligent Broadway comedy.

Anyone who has worked strenuously to achieve something, only to find the experience having a transforming effect on the goal, may appreciate this comment from Martin Clay (page 371), which he utters when he finally has the possible Bruegel in his grasp: "I suppose I've won after all. Not that I feel the slightest sense of it. The only thing I actually feel is that I've nothing more to lose."

I highly recommend this fast-moving book.

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Summary: Dragged headlong through moral dilemma and race against time
Review: From the first page the reader is dragged straight into a whirlpool of wonderful imagery, beautiful prose, racing action and characters who stand out from the page.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, it's a cracking good read, made all the better by the fact that, in a strange way, not a great deal happens.

BRILLIANT.

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Summary: Overlong
Review: Frayn tells an interesting if not particularly unusual human story, but the tone is uncertain and the apparatus that moves the story--the history and iconography surrounding Bruegel's masterpieces--alternately interests and bores. Much more effective use of history as revealing human personality has been made by other contemporary English novelists like Graham Swift in WATERLAND and A. S. Byatt in POSSESSION--both of which rate "five stars."

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Summary: Bruegel's message....or the shot heard round the world.
Review: In "..1568, the Holy Office [in Rome] condemmed the entire population of the Netherlands to death as heretics, and the king ordered the sentence to be carried out at once, without regard to age, sex or condition."

Readers of "The Girl in Hyacinth Blue" or "The Girl With the Pearl Earring" will find "Headlong" a bit more challenging, however, what it lacks in simplicity and slimness it makes up for in verismilitude. And, unlike one other reviewer, I don't think you have to understand all the esoterica of Dutch painting to "get" the story. Also, if you read and appreciated Simon Schama's "Embarrassment of Riches" and Umberto Eco's "Name of the Rose" this book will be a welcome addition to your library.

There are two main stories in "Headlong" --the one in the foreground concerns Martin the "art dealer" philosper who is trying to pull a fast one on his neighbor Tony Churt by acquiring for a nominal sum a potentially valuable painting in the latter's possession. The second story, which I found even more intriguing, concerns the origin of the painting in question which may have been executed by Pieter Bruegel sometime in the bloody 16th Century in the Netherlands.

When Martin first describes "The Merrymakers" many readers will suspect it is a Bruegel or "after" Bruegel. Martin's search for information to determine whether or not the painting is a Bruegel leads him deeper and deeper into a bloody past that is not discussed these days. Contempory history classes teach about slavery and the destruction of American Indians (which took place at the same time), as well as the plight of Jews in WWII, but we don't hear much about the "real" bloody history of Europe--until films like "Braveheart" and "Rob Roy" and "Les Miserabe" gain our attention.

I am American of Dutch descent and have read much history on the Netherlands and the wars of religious freedom, so I was hooked from the beginning on "Headlong." I particularly liked Frayn's analogy between the Duke of Alva's troops (Philip II's Reich commisar) and the Nazi storm troopers of the 20th Century. One of my earliest memories as a child is my mother cursing the Nazis because of the havoc they wrecked on her homeland. Make no mistake about it, "Headlong" is a very serious book about very serious subjects--religious freedom, oppression and exploitation, and censorship.

The destruction of the people of the Netherlands.."seems to have been beyond even Alva, and that same year the Prince of Orange was provoked into armed revolt. The consequences...spread outward across Europe and onward through the centuries. ...To destroy the support for the rebellious provinces in the north [Holland etc.] Philip [II] had to invade England. To cover Parma's crossing of the Channel in defenseless flat-bottomed barges he had to send a naval task force. To restore Spain's falling position after the destruction of this Armada, he had to intervene agaist the Protestants in France. To stem the the hemmorrhage of wealth [from New Spain and the lost Netherlands] after his failure in France, he had to declare bankruptcy...Down went the old empire of Spain. Up came the new empires of the North."

And where did Bruegel figure in all this? I think he was a hero, but you will have to read the book and form your own conclusions. All I can say is I am going to look at the iconography in Bruegel's paintings with a new eye from now on.