The Painter – Peter Heller
Novel Conversation’s Book Club – August 2017 Book – The Painter, by Peter Heller
Thanks for everyone that was able to make our meeting on Wednesday. Our book was The Painter, by Peter Heller. It’s about a very successful painter, Jim, who tries to leave his past behind by moving to Colorado. His beloved daughter was dead and he had tried to kill a man because of it. I think the only things Jim took with him to Colorado were his fly rod and fishing gear, and his talent for painting. The story of Jim lets us experience what he’s going through as he moves through his life. I say “moves” because after he kills a really bad man (yes – he actually succeeds in ending a person’s life) and it’s obvious to almost everyone else that he did it, he doesn’t run from it, although he’s not exactly forthcoming. His paintings tell the story for those paying attention, though. Could you call that a confession? Not sure.
In our book club meeting, we spent a lot of time talking about Jim and whether or not he was a despicable character. Some of his actions certainly indicated he was but then there were other things he did that led some of us to question whether he was maybe a good man, although he wasn’t always being good. Remember that? The discussion on the Ocean of Women painting was equally compelling and we wondered how many of the past and present women in his life were replicated within. Another character, Jason, is almost as interesting as Jim; in fact, they almost seemed like opposites of each other. The very end of the book (and I do mean the very last page!) generated a lot of discussion as well and I won’t say any more for those that haven’t read it. I really would hate to give away the ending!!
It was remarkable how many different interpretations we had of the same story. It really was fascinating to delve into a character analysis and find that we all had just a little different perspective on who Jim really was. Thanks so much for contributing!! It was awesome!
If you’re interested in learning more about this book, please see the attached link.
