Customer Reviews

Modigliani Scandal

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book is dated, and the plot took a while to sink in for me. However, once I got into the swing of things, I enjoyed this book very much.

Because the amount of artwork by any given artist is finite, discovering that there may be an undiscovered work by a famous artist is a huge discovery in the art world. When an art student studying abroad hears that not all of Modigliani's works are available, she delightedly decides to find the one that was reputedly hidden during the War.

The many twists of the plot are difficult to follow until they tie together at the end of the book. The plots do fit nicely! but it is confusing to follow throughout the body of the book.

This is not Ken Follett's best work. However, for an early work, it's quite good; furthermore, it's a lot better than a lot of the drek that some authors are trying to pass off as literature.

There's not much to say in reviewing the Modigliani Scandal, an early Follett novel published before he hit it big with the World War II thriller "Eye of the Needle." In a forward for the version I read, Follett acknowledges that this little story about art dealers, artists and thieves in London doesn't have much depth. Still, it is fun to read and to see traces of the greatness that is to come. There really aren't any main characters, just a bunch of story lines that all merge together in the end. The plot concerns the chase for a rare painting by a famous Italian artist, Modigliani. The plot also follows a Lucian Black as he tries to open his own art gallery. The book is short and easy to read, and if you're a Follett fan, I recommend you read this, but I don't think I'd recommend that you pay money for it. It's just not that good of a book.

I found this book outside a small bookshop while i was strolling the streets of Amsterdam. I was on my summer holidays from Ireland and was quite lost. Being an avid Follet reader i snatched it up immediately.
Lets call a spade a spade. The book lacks depth, character development or any sign of tension. However, it was an entertaining read for a person who was travelling by train around Europe and was often stuck for english material. by Follets own admission the book didn't turn out the way he had planned. nobody would try to argue that this book is anywhere as good as 'pillars' but at the end of the day it is still a good entertaining read.

an early written story by a future great storyteller!Ok, so it's not Triple of Jackdaws, but it's worth reading nonetheless.Pick up a copy and look for glimpses of brilliance, that's the way I approached it! I found a few, but not many...see for yourself, you might be surprised!

I found this to be a rather unsatisfying book which left me with an itch to scratch..if you will forgive my allusion. Two reasonably, but not massively, successful artists are fed up with the ridiculous prices that art brings on the market, arguing that it's a form of snobbery which has no real bearing on the true value of the work. They set out to prove this by painting a series of brilliant forgeries of well known artists and selling them as previously undiscovered early works, with the intention of revealing the sales to the world press and causing a major scandal in the art world. There are several characters floating around in the story, such as the famous actress who starts taking drugs after meeting a new boyfriend who could be classed as a "bit of rough", and makes the reader wonder what on earth she's doing in the story, as well as the gallery owner whose wife favours multiple sex partners and who has no part at all to play in the overall story. I was very disappointed with this book.

I recently read the Modigiliani Scandal. I think this is the worst Follett I have ever read (and I have read quite a few). There are many weaknesses in the plot- first of all the ease with which art experts can be fooled seems too far fetched. Secondly the lack of a solid central character. Also by the end you get a feeling of being cheated as it seems what you have just finished was not a Follett at all. I do not recommend the book to any Follett lover

I have not read much of Follett's work but I hope the rest is better than this. It must be, as Follett has sold more than 50 million books. On his website he admits that this early work, written under a pseudonyme and then re-released after he had developed a following, is not very good. In the introduction, he indicates that he had not really developed his successful style at this point, and that his aim (something to do with an evaluation of pre-destiny) exceeded his reach here.

Actually the story line has a nugget of a well-developed caper to it, but the characters are hopeless. They suddenly appear, get a minor character development, do something inane or out of character and then disappear. At least in a Seinfeld episode, everyone's story line gets tied out as the credits role.

The gist of this thing is there are several competing groups seeking a lost masterpiece by the Italian 20th century painter Modigliani. This painter caroused and drank to excess, died poor and unappreciated, then became a star posthumously mostly due to the interest and purchases of the eccentric Albert Barnes of Philadelphia. Our story line here is that Modigliani painted while drunk or under the influence of drugs, and one of those paintings was not destroyed by the artist but has disappeared from the art world.

Consider our loopy collection of characters next. Problem number one is that none of them is the protaganist or even the central character. They just appear and disappear as if in an Ionesco play.

Follett gives us a young British girl living in Paris. She takes off after the lost painting, spending the first several days looking in Catholic churches, before remembering that Modigliani was Jewish. You would think someone with a degree in art history who had studied Modigliani extensively would know that, as it was an essential fact in his relationship with the Paris art world.

Next we have a movie star, who frets over her inability to change the world, especially to wipe out poverty. She then meets a rogue at a cocktail party, instantly moves in with him, discovers he has quite a past, becomes addicted to speed, and decides to steal an art collection valued at $1 MM.

How about the art gallery owner who is impotent until he sees his wife cheating on him with multiple simultaneous partners? I dont know how that advances the story. It is almost like Follett had a few characters left over from another book that he wanted to use up before they reached their sell by date.

Then there is the painter, who gets run out of the cliquish London art world because he caused a scene at a cocktail party and his paintings sell for more than they are worth. So he turns to forgery, to make the point that the system is rigged against the living painter who needs to pay the mortgage.

Finally, we have a group of 10 top London art dealers who buy 10 forgeries in one day. Incompetence seems to know no boundaries here.

Reportedly one of the first books done by Follett, the action is not as intense as later works. ( Lie Down With Lions ). Story concept is easy to follow but interest is maintained by the introduction of several crosses and double-crosses. Good description of story locations adds to the enjoyment.

I love Follett books, but this is his weakest effort. The characters are not well developed and none are endearing. You don't find yourself pulling for or against anyone and I could care less about having a beer with any of the characters. The plot is far fetched and the ending is worse. Pick any other Follett book and you will be better off.

Why all the negative reviews???

A delightful little mystery, written when he was still an unknown, and I think originally published under some other name? Of course you cannot compare this little book (a short one) with the best of the best sellers today, but you must remember it was written many years ago. Put yourself in 1986 or whenever this was written when you read it.

Fans of Ken Follett must get this book. I think it's even better than some of the books written right after he got famous, which I thought were too pretentious (the books, not him). You should be grateful this book has been reprinted.