I have so much to say about this book that I’ve decided to make my review into a bulleted list for your speedy reading pleasure, which is ironic since Still Life is a savor every glorious sentence, read slow kind of book.
First, have any of you read this book? Until friends pushed this 2021 book into my hands (thank you Joni, Gina, and Marilyn!), this wasn’t on my radar at all. In the Once-in-a-While Book Club, which met this past Sunday, no one else had heard of it either, although one person had read Tin Man by the same author and loved it. I did a wee bit of research and it seems this book was a bestseller in Great Britain, as well as GMA pick. Do I think it’s the best book I’ve ever read? It’s up there, but no. But can I stop thinking about it? No. Are there lines so beautiful that I’m still lingering over them? Yes.
Any book that I feel compelled to reread (especially one that’s 450 dense pages) and that inspires hours and hours of conversation with two different book clubs is worth noting. The only time I’ve been a rereader is when I was writing my thesis about Willa Cather in college. That was the 1980’s! Yes, there is beautiful language. Yes, the plot is great, but it’s the resilient characters who moved me most. Returning to the book a second time felt like I was visiting old friends whom I knew deeply.
Before the book begins, there’s a quote by E.M.Forster and it sets up a theme that carries us through the entire novel: “Two people pulling each other into Salvation is the only theme I find worthwhile.” The entire book is about characters, flawed and ever so human, finding ways to love each other and see the beauty in life and art no matter what is going on around them.
And there’s a lot going on! The book begins during World War II and ends in the 60’s with Vietnam, Apollo moon landings, and assassinations. You can see why I think this book is something that fits the times we’re experiencing right now. Over and over again, we see scenes that show us “love is the way” and often it’s found through “shared loss that creates shared bonds.” We see it through characters who declare, “I shall remain astonished!”1 AMEN!
Remaining astonished during and after big losses extends beyond actual historical events (like shall we say Hitler’s pure evil, but also the 1966 flood of the Arno River in Florence, Italy) to personal losses of true loves and much, much more. Always, always the book comes back to connection and love and the healing and inspirational power of art in the face of really bad stuff.
Since the book takes place in Florence, and one of our main characters is an art historian, we are seeped in all kinds of art throughout the book. And that’s no accident. In addition to love, it’s clear that Winman believes art is a big part of living a meaningful life. “It’s what we’ve always done. Left a mark on a cave, or on a page. Showing who we are, sharing our view of the world, the life we’re made to bear…Art becomes a mirror…And as counterpoint to our suffering, we have beauty.”2
Which brings me to glorious Florence. The book begins in the light of Florence, then goes back to England, and then returns to Florence for the remainder. Florence is another character in the book. Oh, how I love landscape as characters! Dark and foggy England is the perfect counterpoint landscape in the early sections of the book. And of course, Florence means being surrounded by art.
Many say this is a queer book, but I don’t think it is. I think it’s a love book. There are all sorts of iterations of love in this book: queer, hetero-normative, deep friendship, mentorship, familial, and found family that even extends to a talking parrot and trees. Seriously—and it works!
One of structural elements that kept The Once-in-a-While Book Club talking a lot was Winman’s decision NOT to use any quotation marks around her absolutely fabulous dialogue. I’ve thought about this a lot. I think she wants the words, even if they are brilliant, to be moments that just pass into the wind UNLESS, UNLESS they are written on pages as another expression of art. That’s how you capture a moment. With art. I think this fits with Winman’s definition of still life paintings, too. “Within these forms, something powerful is retained: Continuity. Memory. Family.” 3
Oh I could go on and on and on! I won’t even have a moment to address so many themes and quotes…and all the chance encounters and fated reunions that are ever so satisfying, but I must end this already too long post soon. So, here are two more points and they’re BIG!
Evelyn, our fearless main character who opens and closes the book, says what’s important to her about a painting is the response it evokes. “But what it’s always about, for me, is response. It’s a painting that demands of us a response. All the best ones do...How it moves one.” 4 Well, if ever there was a book and characters that moved me, it’s this one! Winman’s book DOES what art should do! It moved me.
I adore books filled with resilient, overcoming characters who are still astonished in the midst of lives that are challenging. That’s why I gravitate toward hard books that can often feel sad to many readers. If there’s redemption by the end, I’m good. I’m inspired to keep going myself. This is the power of truly great literature.
Well, that’s all I have time for now, but what I’d really like to do it sit around drinking coffee, reading favorite passages from this book with you. I want to know the lines that moved you, too!
I’m not up for a third read, but I’m sure I’ll return to this book in my heart a lot. And if I ever get to visit Florence, I’m sure I’ll feel the beloved characters from Still Life walking in the light beside me. Until then, Ulysses, Evelyn, Cressy, Col, Alys, Pete, Peg, Des, Darnley, and even Claude the parrot, you live on in the pages of this wonderful book.
Always reading and writing,
Still Life page 324.
Still Life page 26.
Still Life page 238/239.
Still Life page 25.
Thank you, adding to the list.
Late yesterday at work (the local library) I was scannig Still Lufe in and, out of the blue, thought "I want this one" so checked it out and brought it home. This morning your review pops up. I love these little meaningful occurrences. Top of the stack!