The Rules of Perspective: A Novel - Hardcover

Thorpe, Adam

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805080422 ISBN 13: 9780805080421

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2006

Synopsis

A story of beauty, hope, and love in the face of war
On the morning of April 3, 1945, a phosphorous shell from the advancing American army tears through the roof of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in the historic town of Lohenfelde.
Huddled in the museum's vaults to escape the artillery bombardment, are Heinrich Hoffer, the museum's hapless acting director, and three of his colleagues. These vaults become the stage for an intense psychological drama of secret histories and shared terror, as the four Germans prepare themselves for their fate.
Aboveground, picking through the rubble, an American soldier, Corporal Neal Parry, longs to be back in West Virginia studying art--not dodging sniper's bullets in yet another hostile city. When he finds a small eighteenth-century oil titled Landscape with Ruins in what remains of the museum's vaults, Parry is immediately reconnected with a lost world of beauty and order: the province of art. As the two narratives interweave, the painting's provenance reveals the hidden story of Herr Hoffer, his promiscuos wife, and his three museum associates--and in doing so uncovers other darker mysteries.
Through his beautifully drawn characters, Adam Thorpe allows us to see, as they begin to see, the possibilities of art and love: perspective in the face of war.

About this title

About the Author

Adam Thorpe was born in Paris in 1956. His first novel, Ulverton, was
published in 1992. He has written four other novels--most recently, No Telling--
a collection of stories, and four books of poetry. He lives in France with his wife
and three children.

Reviews

Heinrich Hoffer is the acting director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in a small Westphalian town at the close of WWII. Most of the artwork from the building has been removed to a salt mine by Nazi officials, but Heinrich, sensitive to their corruption, holds back one Van Gogh and hides it in the museum's subterranean vaults. As the U.S. air assault builds, Heinrich, abandoning his family, takes shelter with his staff in the vaults and ruminates on his efforts to keep the painting from a particular SS thug. Two days later, Cpl. Neal Parry arrives with the American vanguard and immediately begins searching for plunder, mostly alcohol and women. A commercial artist, Neal discovers the Van Gogh in the vault and sees the painting as his opportunity to return home and set himself up as a genuine artist. Heinrich and Neal's stories unfold in alternating chapters. In spite of considerable repetition and some tedious overworking of Western philosophy, Thorpe (Nineteen Twenty-One) delivers a story rich in the details of European art history and German culture, and the twin protagonists emerge as memorable personalities, unified by a shared sensibility.
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Thorpe grapples with some heady universal themes as he expertly interweaves dual narratives, offering varying perspectives on love, war, and art. In the waning days of World War II, a small German town is besieged by invading Americans. During the incessant shelling, Heinrich Hoffer, acting director of the local art museum, seeks shelter in the museum cellar along with three of his colleagues. After the beautiful old building suffers a direct hit, Corporal Neal Parry, a commercial artist in his prewar life, uncovers a miraculously undamaged masterpiece in the ruins. As Herr Hoffer reexamines his commitment to his country, his family, and the philosophical ideals of art, Parry struggles with similar inner demons as he tries to decide what to do with the painting. Told in alternating voices, this melancholy tribute to the ultimate triumph of art over tragedy resonates with empathy for the human spirit in the face of war. Michele Leber
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0805080422
• ISBN 13: 9780805080421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352