Customer Reviews

The Forest Lover

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

After being immersed in delicious piles of children's & YA books I changed course long enough to read "The Forest Lover." 1st, because long ago I was intrigued by Emily Carr's art; 2nd, our lifetimes overlapped; 3rd, the author's "Girl in Hyacinth Blue" is near the top of my *Vermeer List*; and 4th, for the joy of reading about a woman with great talents who overcame many obstacles including three inflexible, stuffily 'religious' sisters.

In the *Author's Afterword* Vreeland says her story is a look at Carr's 'courageous and extraordinary life'(p.329). My favorite quotation by the artist is when she exclaimed late in life: "DON'T PICKLE ME AWAY AS A DONE" (p.331). Even after two heart attacks and a stroke Emily Carr was pushing herself around on a makeshift wheeled crate in order to keep painting. She died in 1945 at age 74.

Her paintings reflected her spirit as well as the spirit of the forests and native people she grew to love. She was intrepid; the paintings astonishing. She was 'gutsy' and her art could be disturbing. They sometimes mirrored her melancholy; hers was a lonely life. I see echoes of Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" in Vreeland's commentary on the miserable treatment natives were handed out by bureaucrats and 'men of God'. The torments they caused!

Susan Vreeland was writing this book for 17 years. She said "In paint and words, Emily Carr casts a tall shadow, one which has accompanied me in western forests" - this from her experience kayacking into the north country to search for remnants of the totem poles Carr had sacrificed so much to capture on canvas.

Some reviewers have carped about Vreeland introducing fictional characters and relationships in her story. 1st, let's remember this IS FICTION; 2nd, writers often do this to entice a wider audience. If this book serves to introduce hundreds more readers to Emily Carr and the wrongs she fought against, then I say "Amen" - "so be it"; 3rd, the author, in trying to portray the artist's spirit felt she could take 'certain liberties' because Emily, herself, altered facts and chronology in her own writings. And why shouldn't someone as passionate about her painting as Carr also have passionate relationships? One Amazon reviewer has gone a step beyond objecting to fictional love scenes; he/she ridicules the actions and language used as though anyone can say what is a "proper" way of writing about love!

Vreeland describes (Part II) Carr's experiences in France in a most engaging way. It was the time of Monet and Van Gogh although Carr did not meet these men. The author captures vividly the critical eye of Parisians and the manner in which Carr's art evolved. Carr's was a truly amazing achievement, as a Canadian and a woman, to have a painting shown in the prestigious Salon d'Automne. She returned to British Columbia with a new confidence in her technique.

Late in life Emily Carr was gratified to receive acclaim: "Hers is the greatest contribution of all time to historic art of the Pacific slopes. Miss Carr is essentially of the Canadian West *not by reason of her subject matter alone but by her approach to it*"(from the Ottawa "Citizen"). I find her paintings to be spirit-filled and/or spiritual (according to your individual interpretation); her colors bold and lush. When you come to the end of this book - a glorious adventure for the reader - remember it as a fictionalized account told with love and admiration for someone who lived 'before her time' and captured the true essence of her surroundings.

REVIEWER mcHAIKU remains in awe of the subject and heartily applauds the author.

I discovered Emily Carr's paintings during a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery several years ago. I was drawn to her work and amazed that I hadn't heard or seen it before, since I have worked as an art curator and art historian for many years. Having written about women artists, I was intrigued with her story and pleased to see that the Canadian government had a stamp honoring her. I bought a catalogue of her work and have been delighted to introduce her to others. I was interested when I learned that Susan Vreeland had written a fictionalized account of her life. I have to agree with several other reviewers that it is an uneven book and much of the dialogue is artifical and stilted. I stuck with it and was rewarded after the first 100 pages as the author began to describe Emily's experiences in France as she sought to express her feelings through painting. The book gains strength and I found it quite compelling in describing the struggle of a painter and the artist's deep connection with her subject matter. However the book is diminished because it needs more color reproductions of her work. The book made me seek out my catalog of Emily Carr paintings and I enjoyed looking at the images as I read. The author talks about the number of years she worked on the book and the uneven structure suggests that she didn't fully resolve the issues. Yet for all that, it ended strongly and I was swept into the passion of this lonely and sensitive artist and her deep feeling for the culture and landscape of the northwest.

As well-written and revealing as THE PASSION OF ARTEMISIA, the style of THE FOREST LOVER couldn't be more different from its best-selling predecessor. It's bolder, harder, it moves more abruptly, like the style of art and the artist it follows. Until I read this book, I'd never heard of Emily Carr, but I'd been to the forests of British Columbia and I live among the wild greenery of northern Oregon, so I read it for the forest in its title. Along the way, I did a bit of minor research into the fascinating explorer Vreeland depicts so well, and I discovered that her art is, as she struggles to comphrehend in the book, about soul -- yours and your subject's, mixed together on the canvas.

I haven't done enough research to know how many historical liberties Vreeland has taken in her story, but I really don't care. Read this book if you love art, soul, the northern forests, wilderness, people with gumption. Especially if it's all-of-the-above. I'm not a big art enthusiast, so I imagine someone who is will get even more pleasure from the experience.

This latest art inspired novel is made up of little episodes in the life of Emily Carr as she travels from her home in British Columbia, to San Francisco, England and Paris and finally back to the forests of her homeland.

The story is set in an era when British Columbia was being industrialized and the Canadian Government was actively attempting to excise Indian cultures by evicting tribes from their cultural lands and outlawing native ceremonies. Carr spent much of her life attempting to capture on canvas and preserve for all time the beauty and uniqueness of the native people and their dying culture as well as the magnificent forests in which they dwelled.

Of course, as with all great artists, Carr is misunderstood by her family and most of her peers. She finds a mother of sorts in Sophie Frank, a Squamish woman considered by "civilized society" to possess attitudes and beliefs considered primitive, but whose ideas and ideals are more in tune with Carr's own value system and vague spirituality.

Although Vreeland relies on some strongly fictional elements in this story, we are able to discern the truth of Carr's struggles against the surreptitious crimes of sexism and racial prejudice prevalent in the day.

Just as Carr transferred her innermost feelings to canvas, Vreeland has painted a sensitive portrait of the woman who blazed the trail for the likes of Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo.

Vreeland has a profound appreciation for art and the excruciating process involved in creativity, especially in the case of Emil Carr, an artist who painted with a spirit unrecognized by a priggish society. Vreeland's previous novels, including The Girl in Hyacinth Blue and The Passion of Artemesia, are indicative of the writer's respect for the artist's life.

Vreeland's prose is rich with understanding: the nature of color, the way an artist views the world and the unavoidable drive to create that is the mark of a true artist. Emily Carr is one of those driven, compulsive painters whose life is defined by her art and her need to express her own vision.

Carr, 1841-1945, is an original, an artist who visually defines a culture, seeking communion with her surroundings and the indigenous native population of British Colombia. Primitive in a way, Carr's vision exemplifies the simplicity of the native lifestyle, as well as the natural elements, so abundant in British Columbia. Of course, Carr is inhibited by the times and the role of women in Victorian society. She began painting in the traditional manner, using watercolors, severely restricted by that technique.

However, after a year of study in a Paris still reeling from the Impressionists, Emily Carr began painting in oils, experimenting with color. Returning to her native Canada, her work was changed by the experience of France. Living as only serious artists do, Carr isolated herself, opening to the process, seeing with new eyes. When necessary, she resided at home with her sisters, but was constantly drawn back to the wilderness. Carr was endlessly fascinated by the totem poles representative of native experience and reflective of their disappearing culture.

The more influence the missionaries in Canada enjoyed, the more they sought to change the Indians and their rituals. Precious artifacts, viewed as heathen, were destroyed, befitting the strict rules of a Christian God. As in other countries, the Indians suffered through the advance of civilization, doomed to extinction.

Carr's work celebrates the power of the Indian vision of the physical world and the spiritual elements reflected in daily life. As a female artist, Carr struggled against prejudices not suffered by male artists. Yet she persevered, unstinting in her devotion and opening her heart to the innovations that so enriched her work.

Emily Carr has left an extraordinary legacy to her country of origin and carved a place as an important artist. It is through Vreeland's meticulous research and love of art that this remarkable woman comes to life on the pages of The Forest Lover, the small, dumpy woman who rose above a difficult childhood and lonely years, searching for her voice. And find her voice she did. It is a shout for joy. Luan Gaines/2004

The details in this story make this book a literary vision. I finished The Forest Lover a week ago and cannot stop picturing the places that the main character, Emily Carr, visited while on her quest to paint native villages, people, and totem poles. I still feel as though I was on the scene with Emily.

The story tells of a woman who is turned off by high society and their so-called morals, and particularly inspired by two people some would consider to be misfits. Emily's adventures and experiences teach her to become a very strong woman and to follow her convictions.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this story. I have read Susan Vreeland's two previous books, Girl In Hyacinth Blue, and Passion of Artemesia. I have looked forward to reading her third book, whatever it would be, and was completely delighted with The Forest Lover. The details in this book surely come from exhausting amounts of research which must have taken Susan Vreeland forever to collect. This book was truly worth the wait!

Thanks again Ms. Vreeland... Whatever's next, I'll be waiting...

At least I can't imagine they were . . . THE FOREST LOVER is just one of many books that have come out this past year, dealing with art, artists, and the general terrority that goes with that genre. Susan Vreeland has capatilized on this, and she's the best of the lot for doing so. The subject of Vreeland's book is the Canadian artist Emily Carr who traveled through British Columbia in the first part of the last century to paint villages, totem poles, and other artifacts before they disappeared. what might sound like a boring foray into the wilds turns epic and extrordinary in the hands of Vreeland. If you liked books such as GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING and the gorgeous and brilliant BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, then you'll probably enjoy this unusual novel as well.

Truly, this is one of the most unusual and beautiful books you will ever run across. And thank God it hasn't been over-hyped. I'm usually one to stick with a tried-and-true bestseller like "Da Vinci Code" or "Bark of the Dogwood," but was recommended this book by a friend and am glad I took their advice. THE FOREST LOVER is Carr's story, though the friends she makes are fictionalized by the author. However, her paintings are placed throughout the book and are real. In addition to Sophie, Carr befriends a French fur trader, Claude, and a crippled misfit, Harold. She has a penchant for the unusual in people as well as in art. The characters are so real, so vivid, that you'd swear they're standing right next to you. Then again, Vreeland IS writing about painting, so it only makes sense that she would "paint" such wonderful portraits. Highly recommended along with THE MOON OF THE RED PONIES and McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD.

Susan Vreeland blends history, biography and fiction skillfully enough to transfer a reader elsewhere totally. She allowed me to enjoy Emily Carr so specifically that by the time I visited her actual home in Victoria in Vancouver Island, I felt less surprise and curiosity regarding Emily than I did an actual appreciation of her as a very real and still alive person. I saw the trailer I had read about; I saw paintings that made me know the Northwest Coast and Canada that had so gripped Emily; I appreciated both the native culture and the intense Northwest terrain that Emily loved and Susan Vreeland lauded. Vivid writing make me remember the size of those mosquitoes still, for example, and I was able to forgive a bit of "school-girlish-ness" attached to some of the invented scenes that Vreeland needed to flesh out the intensity of Carr's character. I recommend to anyone a reading of this book in order to better understand both the artistry of Carr and the majesty of this part of the world - a place not quite as pristine as one would imagine.

What I enjoyed the most from this book is that it piqued my interest in Emily Carr. I was upset to see how little is out there about her. I was also taken by the freedom she had as a woman during her time. She did face some obstacles but not as many as I would have thought - but then again maybe I am forgetting that this is fiction!

Like Vreeland's books there is a lot of "visual" description and I felt the dampness of the forests Emily entered.