Heel tof en aangrijpend boek. Knap hoe vanuit vier heel erg van elkaar verschillende vrouwen het verhaal wordt verteld. Vooral Miriam is levensecht. Ook door het perspectief van de Japanner Tadashi krijg je een mooi beeld van de tijd, van Wright en zijn opvattingen. Aan de ene kant Wrights gevecht tegen heersende conventies; aan de andere kant zijn neiging anderen (ondergeschikten, zijn vrouwen, geldschieters, opdrachtgevers) zijn eigen conventies op te dringen. Het motto met de drogreden van het valse dilemma (”Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility; I chose arrogance.” --Frank Lloyd Wright) dekt de lading goed. Wel veel matige tot slechte metaforen in het boek. I've had this on my shelf a long time, and finally picked it up as we were planning a trip to Falling Water. I found that I didn't care much for the concept of a fictional novel about a real person. I was distracted by wanted to know what was real. I also found the choice of narrator, a Japanese apprentice of Wright's, be strange and somewhat distracting from the story, particularly the seemingly random footnotes told in the narrator's voice. The book was well written, though often a little over the top in flowy prose. One thing I thought was well done was the organization of the novel. It was essentially told backward with references that circled back around throughout, which gave the book and interesting flow. Also, the real Falling Water house was amazing. Well worth the trip, though I'm still undecided on if this book was worth the read.
This is the first book I've read by Boyle. I am blown away with his style, with his ability to paint a picture and set a scene.I am also impressed with the way Boyle conveyed the dichotomy between Frank Lloyd Wright the egoist and Frank Lloyd Wright the genius. So why only three stars? Because he spent too much time on depicting crazy women and his climax was, to my mind, cheap blood and gore, not central to the story. Boyle was exploiting the sensational aspects of Wright's life, just as much as the press that hounded Wright. Too bad Boyle's magnificent talent isn't used on more sensitive topics.
—aksh0202
This is the first book I've read by Boyle. I am blown away with his style, with his ability to paint a picture and set a scene.I am also impressed with the way Boyle conveyed the dichotomy between Frank Lloyd Wright the egoist and Frank Lloyd Wright the genius. So why only three stars? Because he spent too much time on depicting crazy women and his climax was, to my mind, cheap blood and gore, not central to the story. Boyle was exploiting the sensational aspects of Wright's life, just as much as the press that hounded Wright. Too bad Boyle's magnificent talent isn't used on more sensitive topics.
—agarrabrant
I lost interest about half way through. I just couldn't make myself care about mr. Wright's drama.
—becca
More like 4.5 stars - this one really sucked me in!
—Ines
