Rating: 
Summary: A Comical/Historical/Esthetical/and Wholly Delightful Novel
Review: "Headlong" is a confession by the narrator of his failed plan to secure, identify, and present to the nation a long-lost painting by Pieter Breugel. Not entirely failed -- for a brief time at the end he does secure it -- but the rest of his plan comes to naught, as the reader knows it must, for Martin tells us in the prologue that he will come to look ridiculous. Martin's failure is the reader's fun, however. His descriptions of his country neighbor's seething mass of friendly dogs, the neighbor's forward wife, his own scurryings about the neighbor's house in an attempt to examine the painting are the top level of pleasure in this novel. The next level is more serious: a consideration of the circumstances of Breugel's life, his fears, the hidden meanings of his paintings. Frayne makes Martin's excursions into the bloody history of the Netherlands and the conditions of art production just as interesting as the adventures of his protagonist. "Headlong" is in places laugh-out-loud funny; it has tender moments of marital affection; it has intellectual detective work and art interpretation. It is my favorite novel of 1999.
Rating: 
Summary: Intellectual Property
Review: "Headlong" is a very entertaining sort of novel that revolves around a wonderful plot device: a man finds, in his boorish neighbor's house, a neglected painting be believes may be a lost Bruegel. The rest of the novel revolves around his plot to confirm the painting's identity and to steal it from the undeserving neighbor. Frayn does a remarkably good job of showing how protagonist Clay, while neglecting his own philosophical scholarship, engages in his quest to confirm the painting's authenticity, and the history and art history are mixed in fast and furiously. The novel becomes one of those intellectual mysteries in which the clues are scholarly details, and this material is handled remarkably well, and I learned a great deal about Dutch political and aesthetic history. This aspect of the story, however, is hung on a less effectively executed plot to free the painting from its undeserving owner. If the book drags at times it is not because it gets bogged down in history, it is because it doesn't bog itself down sufficiently in the present. I would have liked to have seen the characters fleshed out a bit more, motives made clearer, and the emotional investments of the characters made more real. Ultimately, however, "Headlong" is an effective and engaging read.
Rating:
Summary: Whether Thrilling Comic or Comic Thriller, a Darn Good Read
Review: "Headlong," by Michael Frayn, neatly tugs at your funnybone while tossing you on a roller-coaster of duplicity, intrigue, and action . . . and throws a good deal of Dutch Art Criticism in for good measure.
Martin, our "hero," is a middling academic on sabbatical to the countryside in a desperate attempt to finish what is sure to be a long-ignored work on "nominalism." What Martin lacks in style, panache, or apparently many other worthy attributes, he more than makes up for in pell-mell scholarship and an eye for minutiae.
In a scene reminiscent of "The Irish R.M.," Martin finds himself being asked for his opinion on various paintings by the scruffy country lord, Tony Churt, of a scruffy country estate. In a flash, Martin believes he spies an unknown painting by the Dutch master Bruegel, currently being employed as a chimney-stop. Soon Martin is engaged with himself in a furious battle of rationalization as he becomes consumed with the notion of swiping it from Churt's grubby hands and making millions off it, all without Churt's knowledge. Which is difficult, because Churt is desperate for money and has a nose for treachery, being a treacherous sort himself.
What ensues is a hilarious tale of duplicity, half-truths, a stretched marriage (Kate, Martin's suffering wife, labors away unsuccessfully as Martin's conscience), pathetic overtures for infidelity, and a torrent of art criticism. Through it all, Frayn writes exceedingly well, evoking just the right amounts of panic, triumph, guilt, shame, horror, and self-satisfaction to make Martin a loveable schmuck.
Along the way, Martin offers a highly entertaining and insightful dissertation on iconography and Dutch history, and at the end of the day, "Headlong" conveys a lot of information along with smiles, chuckles, and outright guffaws.
"Headlong" is the perfect title for this work, and you will enjoy turning the pages as Martin dives headlong into this crazy world of art and the double-cross.
Rating:
Summary: The art keeps you going
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book, but less for the mystery plot than for the art history. I know next to nothing about art history, so I may well be easy to please in that department. The lead character is unraveling the mystery of a painting--is it the original he suspects, if so how will he prove it? The "how he proves it" bit is what makes the novel a very entertaining read. The other plot point--what will he do about it if it is genuine?--is not developed in sufficient detail to really motivate the reader, in my view, and his choices don't seem all that well motivated. Nevertheless, you will likely find yourself much more interested by Brueghel than you thought possible. Best of all, the book illustrates for the art ignorant (me) what the fascination is: seeing a timeless record of an artist's thoughts and feelings that were painstakingly set down, and then trying to work backwards to figure out what they were.
Rating:
Summary: Satirical farce and historical mystery
Review: In his previous works, including the plays "Copenhagen" and "Noises Off" and the novel "The Trick of It," Frayn has proved himself an expert at meshing two or more disparate genres into unique hybrids. With "Headlong," he's done it again: merging satirical farce and historical mystery--the sort of novel P. G. Wodehouse and Umberto Eco might write together.
The plot is nothing short of brilliant in conception and nearly perfect in execution. Martin Clay, a professor of philosophy, and his wife Kate, an art historian, have gone on a sabbatical at their country home. "We don't want to drive 100 miles out of London only to meet people who have driven 100 miles out of London to avoid meeting people like us." (Frayn is a master of the quotable quip.) Martin has procrastinated writing a book on a topic that sidesteps a bit into his wife's field--both his delays and his turf-crossing are sources of tension between the two--but the couple soon encounter a new and imposing distraction: the neighbors. The initial meeting, a side-splittingly funny dinner between the frumpish academics and two not-so-bright members of the rural gentry ("My God, I've never met a philosopher before"), is as funny as anything Wodehouse ever penned.
There's a catch to the dinner invitation: the neighbors have a few paintings that they'd like the two "experts" to examine, just to see if they just might be worth anything. The first is by an Italian artist named Giordano. (Here Frayn makes his first mistake: anyone who knows much about the art world will know instantly that this one's not as insignificant as the author wants you to believe.) The second and third seem to be unremarkable 17th-century Dutch canvases. After his wife leaves the room, Martin views the fourth painting and is convinced that it's the missing panel from the six ''Seasons'' paintings by the Flemish master Bruegel--a work that, if it exists, would be priceless and instantly famous.
Now, there is absolutely no record of what this Bruegel might even look like, but that doesn't stop Martin from falling "headlong" into a comedy of errors. He embarks on a scheme to convince his wife (and himself) of the validity of his initial surmise and to "relieve" the owners of their possession in exchange for a small payment that is still high enough risk everything that Martin and Kate own. At this point, the farcical comedy turns intellectual mystery, as we read summaries of Martin's research on Bruegel's life and work, sixteenth-century Netherlands, the Inquisition, the Counter-Reformation, and more. Admittedly, some readers might find all these "facts" a drag on the story, but I think Frayn skillfully weaves the elements of the mystery and the historical detail with the themes of his satire and the various plot elements (including his depiction of the Clays' marriage). If you love history and art--even (or perhaps especially) if you don't know a thing about Bruegel--the payoff is especially keen.
The only false note is the portrayal of Martin's wife. Although Martin himself is a buffoon--perhaps too much so--it's easy to visualize the type of stubborn, myopic know-it-all Frayn means to lampoon. Kate, however, is little more than a plot device--a compliant marshmallow who accommodates her husband's tomfoolery without offering much in the way of resistance. She's hard to imagine and impossible to believe, and if the author means to aim his barbs at a particular target, it's lost on me.
Although the ending is a little more than predictable, it's still both hilarious and satisfying. But "Headlong" isn't a book you read simply for the unfolding of the plot and the solution to the mystery; instead, its main satisfaction is the cerebral stimulation offered by the author's adroitness at linking all the loose ends and the many disparate themes. And, after you're done, you'll probably want to buy a book on Dutch art history.
Rating:
Summary: "I was having an attack of moral panic."
Review: In the witty novel "Headlong" by Michael Frayn, Martin Clay, a Philosophy professor, has already wasted 7 months of his sabbatical. He is supposed to be writing a book about "the impact of Nominalism on Netherlandish art of the fifteenth century," but so far he's only managed to distract himself with a useless pursuit into the subject of the Master of the Embroidered Foilage. His wife, Kate--who's a specialist in comparative Christian iconography, is a very sensible woman, and she drags them all off to their country home. Here, Kate believes, Martin will not be distracted from his work. Ironically, the moment the Clays arrive, they are pounced upon by a local landowner, Martin Churt, and invited to dinner to take a look at some paintings he owns. After spending a perfectly awful evening in the Churt's decaying mansion, Martin, although initially rather disinterested in Churt's paintings, can't believe his good luck when he spots--what he thinks--is a Bruegel. From that point on, Martin plots to get the painting away from Churt and into his possession. He is obsessed with the painting, and the fact that he is supposed to be a rational philosophy professor just makes his greed even funnier. Martin doesn't let anything stand in the way of getting his hands on "the Merrymakers"--as he calls the painting--domestic bliss, fidelity, honesty, morals--well they all fly out the window of opportunity. The book on Nominalism is dropped, and suddenly Martin is researching Bruegel frantically in an effort to authenticate the painting. Some of the funniest moments are found in Martin's justifications of his behaviour, or when he ad-libs plans as complications arise. "Headlong" is not a particularly easy read. Large sections of art history break up the action. I found myself wanting to rush through some of the heavy details so that I could return to the characters in the novel, but it is worth the effort to concentrate and stick with the details about Bruegel--you will see why when you get to the end of the novel. Without exception, all the characters are very well-drawn, and the atmosphere of moral mayhem is consistent throughout the novel. One of my very favourite poems is "Musee de Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden, and so this book had a very special appeal to me due to its subject matter. Knowing a little bit about Bruegel's work beforehand helped too. I found this book by looking at the books shortlisted for the Booker prize. I seem to have better luck with the finalists than the books that actually win the prize. If you like this book, I would also recommend "Lying on the Couch" by Irvin Yalom--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious, if you are academically inclined
Review: Many reviewers have complained about the detail of the art history aspect of the novel. Some have even called it a flaw. I couldn't disagree more! It's the books greatest strength. The ability to reflect on what is only a mix of pigments on a canvas, and to extract intriguing insights into a long-gone century and culture is fascinating. To those familiar with the academic milieu, the iconography/iconology distinction and mutual distain is dead-on and hilarious. If you aren't interested in history and/or art, well, you might not find the book so thrilling. The main plot is sitcomesque, to be sure (though it's not half as hokey as Ian McEwen's "Amsterdam"). Nonetheless, it is fun to watch the main character's mind at work - everybody thinks they're perfectly reasonable, now matter how flawed they are. If you enjoy that aspect of the novel, consider reading Tim Park's "Juggling the Stars" and its sequel, "Mimi's Ghost". The "protagonist" in those darkly comic books descends into multiple murder, all the while maintaining an entirely reasonable attitude (in his eyes).
Rating:
Summary: Very good, but overdone.
Review: Martin Clay, a philosopher turned art expert, believes he has identified a lost Brueghel masterpiece, and suffers misadventures in trying to acquire it, �on the cheap�. He must contend with the caddish owner of the painting and also the skepticism of his wife, even more of an art expert than he. The book is intended as a satirical, farcical comedy, and the physical comedy aspects work. There is a great deal of art criticism in the book, focusing on the putative cultural, historical, and personal context of the painting, and its symbolism. I, possibly naively, took this as mostly serious, and found it wonderful, and highly educational, not just in the specifics, but in illuminating the attraction and value of this type of art criticism. The book does a splendid job in portraying a marriage between 2 loving people, Martin and his wife, stressed by Martin�s unshared obsession. I would have enjoyed the book more if Martin had fewer hoops to go through, and if some of his calculations and plans weren�t so absurd. I also found the art discussions to be overdone at times.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring and Slow, but at least it teaches something
Review: This book has some serious pacing problems. Rather like Dostyevsky's Crime and Punishment (without the second half), the book focuses on a man who is desperately trying to fulfill an obsession that he has. In this case, it is an iconologist (different from an iconographer, don't ya know), who becomes completely, irrationally, and annoyingly obsessed with bringing to light what he believes is a long-forgotten, long-lost masterpiece. During the course of the book, we are subjected to probably at least 100 pages of Dutch history between the ages of 1530 and 1570. This would all be well and good if the book didn't consist of 340 pages. That is correct, almost 1/3 of this book is history from forty years. Forty years that were not terribly important in the grand scheme of European history. The fact that we are subjected to it in such mundane detail is painful. The fact that, in the end, it all comes to naught, is even worse. Other reviewers have called it a mystery, and I think that is misleading. From the start, we know, simply know, that the fool will take the painting, by hook or by crook. He is obsessed, and, like a drug addict, he will do anything to fulfill his need, even mortgaging his child's future. This may be part of what one of the other reviewers referred to (along with the extramarital "relations") when they said it was part morality play, which I can accept. Boring, but about morality, sure. There are some novel things in this book. For example, his interpretations of the complex silences between his wife and himself are kind of interesting. However, that gets old really, really fast. I purchased this book expecting something like a cross between Gregory Blake Smith's "The Divine Comedy of John Venner" and Arturo Perez-Reverte's "The Flanders Panel". I was sorely disappointed. It had the history of the latter, indeed, and the moral difficulties of the former, but it had far too much of both and not enough payoff to make reading it worthwhile. I am sincerely glad that I only paid four dollars for it. If you want moral plays, find The Divine Comedy of John Venner. If you want art history in a fun, fictional format, findThe Flanders Panel or The Da Vinci Code. Skip this. It isn't really worthwhile unless you want to punish yourself.
Harkius
Rating: 
Summary: Clowns Frighten Me
Review: This is a witty and cleverly-constructed book. There are two problems with it. The first is that this sort of trick of juxtaposing a story in a contemporary setting with a narrative about some subtly parallel scholarly discoveries has already been done about as well as it ever could have been by A.S. Byatt in _Possession_. Frayn's novel rather suffers by comparison, although I didn't find the long digressions on Breughel here as annoying as some other reviewers seem to have. The second more debilitating problem is that the narrator is a Fool. Not just a loveable stumblebum or a mild eccentric, but an out-and-out, unqualified buffoon. In many of his plays Frayn displays a formidable talent for the construction of hilarious bedroom farces, but these talents are misused in a novel like this, which in other ways attempts to be much more serious in what it communicates. Here the awful way that the guy treats his family and the casual delusions that he cultivates as a way to distract himself from his own research can't just be chuckled off as devices for keeping the door slamming and the bedpans flying - they make it awfully difficult for one to get excited about the hero's researches in the way that I think Frayn wants us to. He strikes a better balance between the forces of seriousness and farce in his two best novels (both absolutely wonderful, five-star reads) _The Trick of It_ and _A Landing on the Sun_.
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