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A review by koppelwoman
The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Anne-Marie O'Connor
3.0
3 Stars
I’m glad I read this one, but there were definitely some issues. First, I really don’t like the title. Yes, maybe The Lady in Gold is catchier than Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bouer, but the Nazis changed the name to obscure the fact that it was a painting of a Jewish woman and that is the name you use for the title????? Not cool.
Second, the author suffers from a common problem in this type of history book… jamming the book with “interesting” tidbits that have nothing to do with the main focus of the book. Did we really need to know where Mark Twain stayed when he visited Vienna? No, I didn’t at any rate.
It felt like (always feels like) the author is trying to show off how much research they did. If it doesn’t add anything to our understanding of the historical event that is the focus of the book leave it out.
Third, the writing felt uneven. At various points it felt like straight non-fiction writing, more creative non-fiction writing, and even some memoir. It just didn’t make for a smooth, even reading experience.
Moving past that to the actual events, it was really shocking to me that so much of Austrian society just wanted to ignore these events and any hint of Austrian complicity in the theft of Jewish property. Was it willful ignorance or shame or guilt?
I’m glad I read this one, but there were definitely some issues. First, I really don’t like the title. Yes, maybe The Lady in Gold is catchier than Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bouer, but the Nazis changed the name to obscure the fact that it was a painting of a Jewish woman and that is the name you use for the title????? Not cool.
Second, the author suffers from a common problem in this type of history book… jamming the book with “interesting” tidbits that have nothing to do with the main focus of the book. Did we really need to know where Mark Twain stayed when he visited Vienna? No, I didn’t at any rate.
It felt like (always feels like) the author is trying to show off how much research they did. If it doesn’t add anything to our understanding of the historical event that is the focus of the book leave it out.
Third, the writing felt uneven. At various points it felt like straight non-fiction writing, more creative non-fiction writing, and even some memoir. It just didn’t make for a smooth, even reading experience.
Moving past that to the actual events, it was really shocking to me that so much of Austrian society just wanted to ignore these events and any hint of Austrian complicity in the theft of Jewish property. Was it willful ignorance or shame or guilt?