I expect a book by Margaret Forster to be good and this one is no exception. It is essentially the story of a painting, a variant of Gwen John s The Corner of the Artist s Room in Paris , as over the years it passes from one woman to another. I knew very little about Gwen John before I read Keeping the World Away and now I want to know more. (Fortunately there is a list of books about her in the back of the book.)[return][return]The title of the book comes from a quotation from Gwen John s Papers in the National Library of Wales:Rules to Keep the World away: Do not listen to people (more than is necessary); Do not look at people (ditto); Have as little intercourse with people as possible; When you come into contact with people, talk as little as possible & 3 March 1912It seems from this novel that Gwen John was completely infatuated and in thrall to the artist Rodin. She became his lover and tried to please him by being tranquil and calm and striving for harmony in her life. Inwardly, however she felt volcanic, as though burning lava filled her and would explode with the force of what was beneath it, her overwhelming passion for him. Her room was the image of how Rodin wished her to be and she painted a sunlit corner of it where it was all peace and calm and serenity in contrast to Gwen herself who radiated energy . She rearranged the room and painted several versions; with the window open, with an open book on the table, with flowers on the table, with and without the parasol.[return]I wished that the whole book had been about Gwen John. However, it s about the painting and how its successive owners acquire it and what it means to each of them. It gets lost, is stolen, turns up on a market stall, is bought, given away and fought over. As each new owner is introduced there are links between them, but each time the painting passed to a new person I wanted to know more about each of them.The painting is seen as expressing a yearning for something unobtainable, having an air of mystery, conveying a sense of waiting, of longing, of anticipation of someone s arrival, painful, soothing or uplifting, empty, and symbolic of an independent, simple life free of entanglements. It becomes part of the lives of its owners. The novel starts with Gillian, the school girl reflecting that art speaks for itself, regardless of the artist s intention. She was convinced that art should be looked at in a pure way, uninfluenced by any knowledge of the artist or the circumstances in which it had been painted. It ends with Gillian, the aspiring artist, reflecting on the nature of art and the purpose of this painting - Had that not been its purpose? To keep the world away, for a few precious moments, at least every time it was looked at? I can t quite agree with Gillian. I can see that seeing a painting in isolation from the artist can be a pure experience, but I'm always filled with curiosity both about artists and authors - who they were, when they lived, what was going on in the world they lived in and how it affected their work. However, I also think that a painting is like a book in that they can both be interpreted in many ways regardless of the artist's or author's intentions.This is a remarkable book, which I m sure I shall read again and again.see here
It is a very interesting story and so very well written. Margaret Forster is a clear, straight-forward writer leaving the story to simply roll out before you. She doesn't try to use every exotic word in the English language. Having less of a vocabulary than I would really like, it is sometimes such a struggle to read some writers. I must either guess at the meaning and miss some of the precision of the author's work or stop every few paragraphs to check the dictionary, thus losing the flow of the story. Not so with Forster. Her idea of following a small painting as it is brought into the lives of several different women, showing its affect as it touches these lives and brushes the lives of the men involved, is an enchanting scenario. Her characters have great depth and I was surprised at some of their choices. I didn't realize until reading the post script that Gwen John was an actual artist. I was glad for that information and a bit about her life, and happy to find that I had a sample of her work here at home in a book covering the acquisitions of the Tate Gallery. "Keeping the World Away" is a fascinating, wonderful read. Can't wait to read another book by Margaret Forster.
Do You like book Keeping The World Away (2007)?
'Keeping The World Away' is a novel about a painting and the women whose lives it touches, original and a fabulous read, a perfect example of why I have been enjoying the novels of Margaret Forster since the late nineteen sixties. This is not an exaggeration, I find her work just as appealing now as I did all those years ago. What makes 'Keeping The World Away' so fascinating is the fact that it has taken the painting of a real life artist Gwen John(1876-1939) as its subject with the novels title coming from the artist's own notebooks. She was a known recluse and to quote from those notebooks "Rules to Keep the World Away: Do not listen to people more than is necessary; do not look at peoplemore than is necessary ; have as little intercourse with people as possible".I like stories where the author has used characters from real life inspiration as although it is fiction I still feel I am learning something from reality at the same time. For example reading this novel has led me to research about the artist. The story is divided into six sections to track the paintings journey and Forster manages to link each one by an almost imperceptible link known only to the reader. The journey starts with the paintings artist Gwen John herself before she has produced this small and intimate painting of the attic room, where she spends so much time waiting for her lover Rodin. A complex and determined young woman from an artistic background, Gwen had persuaded her father to let her study at the Slade, which led her to later live in Paris and become a model for the great master Rodin.Gwen gifts the painting to a close friend and hence we move on to the next woman in the story, although not the one you might expect. Owned by five women, Gwen, Charlotte, Stella, Lucasta, Ailsa and Gillian whose lives the painting touches as it is lost, found, sold, bought, inherited, given away and stolen. You learn how this painting affects their respective lives as each woman has an interesting connection to the previous one. I felt the story flowed across the time period exceptionally well, leaving me with the feeling that the painting had done the job the artist originally intended. Which was of course to keep the world away, even if only for those few cherished moments when one was gazing at it.As I said at the start of my review an original read that I think will appeal to anyone that enjoys art and creative women. Margaret Forster draws you into the lives of these women, especially as the source of the story is all based on a wonderful little painting. Lots more herehttp://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspo...
—LindyLouMac
I wasn't sure I liked this novel at first, but kept reading anyway, and came to like it very much in the end. The first character, whom I just found out is the fictionalized but real painter Gwen John, was my least favorite. She creates a small painting of a corner of her attic room in paris that passes through the hands of several women over the course of about 100 years, all of whom are drawn to it because of factors in their own lives. The women are all very different from one another, but have in common a desire for the sort of peace that only isolation can give, hence the title.
—Eli Brooke
Margaret Forster is a champion of writing historical novels that focus on the daily lives of individuals. Her Diary of an Ordinary Woman should be compulsory reading for all students of Twentieth Century history. In Keeping the World Away Forster traces the same span in history, but this time the path of a simple, but captivating, canvas is the thread holding multiple stories together. Starting with the real life painter, Gwen John, the painting of a corner of an attic room, passes through the lives of women and their families, most of whom are only slightly aware of how the calming influence of the painting is affecting them. Good books tell good stories, but also force the reader to ask questions at the same time. In this case the questions revolve around what do the viewers of art bring to the pieces they are viewing, and how does the art affect the lives of the viewers. Just as visual artists want to "put more than the paint on the canvas", so too surely the author wants to put more than the words on the page. And just as the painting in the novel has the effect of "keeping the world away" for the women in the novel seeking some time for themselves, a good novel can do the same thing.
—Biogeek
