Staff Pick
Maria Gainza has written an alchemic masterpiece. Autofiction is joined with art history, and the abrupt transitions are exhilarating rather than disorienting. Optic Nerve is the product of a keen eye and a fearless pen. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com
In Optic Nerve, Argentinian art critic Maria Gainza gracefully dives through the eye of needle upon needle, threading depictions of life in miniature alongside transfixing scenes focusing on artists in flux— Foujita, Rothko, and Picasso among them — in this lithe English language debut. An unnamed narrator reminisces on bygone days spent in a fading aristocracy while intermittently slipping through the looking glass, inhabiting painters' brushstrokes as they fill canvases with strutting equine, sculptural seascapes, and the blackened abyss. Writing this seamlessly immersive is rare and Optic Nerve demands nothing less than a headlong plunge into its overflowing world. An awe-inspiring work at the nexus of the intimate and the historical. Recommended By Justin W., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"I was reminded of John Berger's Ways of Seeing, enfolded in tender and exuberant personal narratives--it's so sophisticated and fascinating, yet has a Calvino-esque light touch. . . . Rigorous and mercurial." --Claire Louise-Bennett, author of Pond
The narrator of Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her.
In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled by Michelangelo's bodies. The mystery of Rothko's refusal to finish murals for the Seagram Building in New York is blended with the story of a hospital in which a prostitute walks the halls while the narrator's husband receives chemotherapy. Alfred de Dreux visits G ricault's workshop; Gustave Courbet's devilish seascapes incite viewers "to have sex, or to eat an apple"; Picasso organizes a cruel banquet in Rousseau's honor. . . . All of these fascinating episodes in art history interact with the narrator's life in Buenos Aires--her family and work; her loves and losses; her infatuations and disappointments. The effect is of a character refracted by environment, composed by the canvases she studies.
Seductive and capricious, Optic Nerve is a book that captures, like no other, the mysterious connections between a work of art and the person who perceives it.
Synopsis
"In between autofiction and the micro-stories of artists, between literary meet-ups and the intimate chronicle of a family . . . this book is completely original, gorgeous, on occasions delicate and other times brutal. And this woman-guide, who goes from Lampedusa to The Doors with crushing elegance, is unforgettable." --Mariana Enr quez, author of
Things We Lost In the Fire The narrator of Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her.
In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled by Michelangelo's bodies. The mystery of Rothko's refusal to finish murals for the Seagram Building in New York is blended with the story of a hospital in which a prostitute walks the halls while the narrator's husband receives chemotherapy. Alfred de Dreux visits G ricault's workshop; Gustave Courbet's devilish seascapes incite viewers "to have sex, or to eat an apple"; Picasso organizes a cruel banquet in Rousseau's honor. . . . All of these fascinating episodes in art history interact with the narrator's life in Buenos Aires--her family and work; her loves and losses; her infatuations and disappointments. The effect is of a character refracted by environment, composed by the canvases she studies.
Seductive and capricious, Optic Nerve marks the English-language debut of a major Argentinian writer. It is a book that captures, like no other, the mysterious connections between a work of art and the person who perceives it.
Synopsis
"Optic Nerve is one of the best books I've read in years. How did Mar a Gainza pull off something so risky when it never reads as anything less than delightful and engrossing? This is a book that loosens the restraints on literature and gives us a new way of seeing." --Gabe Habash, author of Stephen Florida
The narrator of Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her.
In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled by Michelangelo's bodies. The mystery of Rothko's refusal to finish murals for the Seagram Building in New York is blended with the story of a hospital in which a prostitute walks the halls while the narrator's husband receives chemotherapy. Alfred de Dreux visits G ricault's workshop; Gustave Courbet's devilish seascapes incite viewers "to have sex, or to eat an apple"; Picasso organizes a cruel banquet in Rousseau's honor. . . . All of these fascinating episodes in art history interact with the narrator's life in Buenos Aires--her family and work; her loves and losses; her infatuations and disappointments. The effect is of a character refracted by environment, composed by the canvases she studies.
Seductive and capricious, Optic Nerve marks the English-language debut of a major Argentinian writer. It is a book that captures, like no other, the mysterious connections between a work of art and the person who perceives it.
Synopsis
"In this delightful autofiction--the first book by Gainza, an Argentine art critic, to appear in English--a woman delivers pithy assessments of world-class painters along with glimpses of her life, braiding the two into an illuminating whole." --The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice
The narrator of
Optic Nerve is an Argentinian woman whose obsession is art. The story of her life is the story of the paintings, and painters, who matter to her. Her intimate, digressive voice guides us through a gallery of moments that have touched her.
In these pages, El Greco visits the Sistine Chapel and is appalled by Michelangelo's bodies. The mystery of Rothko's refusal to finish murals for the Seagram Building in New York is blended with the story of a hospital in which a prostitute walks the halls while the narrator's husband receives chemotherapy. Alfred de Dreux visits G ricault's workshop; Gustave Courbet's devilish seascapes incite viewers "to have sex, or to eat an apple"; Picasso organizes a cruel banquet in Rousseau's honor . . . All of these fascinating episodes in art history interact with the narrator's life in Buenos Aires--her family and work; her loves and losses; her infatuations and disappointments. The effect is of a character refracted by environment, composed by the canvases she studies.
Seductive and capricious, Optic Nerve marks the English-language debut of a major Argentinian writer. It is a book that captures, like no other, the mysterious connections between a work of art and the person who perceives it.