The Blazing World

By: Siri Hustvedt

Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez, Eric Meyers

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

With The Blazing World, internationally best­selling author Siri Hustvedt returns to the New York art world in her most masterful and urgent novel since What I Loved. Hustvedt, who has long been celebrated for her “beguiling, lyrical prose” (The Sunday Times Books, London), tells the provocative story of the artist Harriet Burden. After years of watching her work ignored or dismissed by critics, Burden conducts an experiment she calls Maskings: She presents her own art behind three male masks, concealing her female identity.

The three solo shows are successful, but when Burden finally steps forward triumphantly to reveal herself as the artist behind the exhibitions, there are critics who doubt her. The public scandal turns on the final exhibition, initially shown as the work of acclaimed artist Rune, who denies Burden’s role in its creation. What no one doubts, however, is that the two artists were intensely involved with each other. As Burden’s journals reveal, she and Rune found themselves locked in a charged and dangerous game that ended with the man’s bizarre death.

Ingeniously presented as a collection of texts compiled after Burden’s death, The Blazing World unfolds from multiple perspectives. The exuberant Burden speaks—in all her joy and fury—through extracts from her own notebooks, while critics, fans, family members, and others offer their own conflicting opinions of who she was, and where the truth lies.

From one of the most ambitious and interna­tionally renowned writers of her generation, The Blazing World is a polyphonic tour de force. An intricately conceived, diabolical puzzle, it explores the deceptive powers of prejudice, money, fame, and desire. Emotionally intense, intellectually rigorous, ironic, and playful, Hustvedt’s new novel is a bold, rich masterpiece, one that will be remembered for years to come.

©2014 Siri Hustvedt (P)2014 Simon & Schuster Audio

Pure joy to read and interesting ideas

I find it hard to say what I liked best in his book, since it has so many layers, voices and themes. I enjoyed the gradual uncovering of the events, like a crime story. I also liked the use of the many different voices. The different persons are characterized by what they tell and how they tell it. The different voices are written with different feeling, for exampel some with love, some with irony and some with a combination. The book covers many interesting thoughts, one main issue is the problem women have to get credit for their art and intellect. But there are also many other themes that was interesting: The workings of the art world in New York, motherhood, aging, dying, how it feels like to be a tall woman and many more. Finally: It's a long time since I had such a good read!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Narrator Problem

Would you try another book from Siri Hustvedt and/or Patricia Rodriguez and Eric Meyers ?

I wasn't able to listen to this book because of the narrator. Listen to the audio sample before you buy!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

not for everyone, but definitely interesting

there were times i hated this book, and times i loved this book, and then times i hated it again. and that is why i'm giving it 5 stars.

i have a very soft spot in my heart for books that invoke in me extreme emotions. this book did that. enter -- soft spot.

but seriously. i think that Harriet "Harry" Burden was fantastic. the chapters narrated by her were just the pinnacle of perfection. this novel is a moving and interesting portrait of an extremely unique and obscure artist. the rest of the cast of characters narrating the other portions, some boring and annoying, some riveting and empathetic, made this a well rounded story.

it's definitely not the type of novel for everyone, but it was for me.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Who hired this Narrator and WHY

I can't get through the first chapter. Honestly. This narrator's voice is like the exact kind of person you hope stops talking to you after their first sentence. UNBEARABLE. I've never been so frustrated w an audiobook that I so badly wanted to read

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Ugh. Only one in book club to finish the book.

Never got into the story. Reciting content of notebooks (A to O or A to something) was dull as were most of the interviews. Reading about someone with a huge chip on their shoulder was just a drag. The book is full of negative people, negative emotions, crappy lives - didn't really like anybody. Perhaps not my genre.

It ended up I was the only one in my Book Club to finish the book with folks having the same perspective I did. Eventually I played it at 2X speed to just get it over with.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Narration is hurting my heart

Any additional comments?

Will return with a full review when I'm done, but for now: the mispronunciations are KILLING me! I understand that the names Bakhtin and Benjamin (with the German j) are perhaps obscure. But "soldered" should be easy!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I recommend this great read!

But you definitely need to have a strong interest in art. I enjoyed the plot twists and the complex and engaging characters and the strength and perseverance demonstrated by the main character, Harry (Harriet). Siri Hustvedt is a wonderful writer.

Not a Good Fit for an Audio Book

What would have made The Blazing World better?

This book is probably good in print but it's very cerebral and has a lot of characters so to me doesn't make for a good audio book. In print, which I plan to buy, I will circle things and go back and forth to remind myself what is going on.

Would you ever listen to anything by Siri Hustvedt again?

No.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Oh, I don't know. Nice voice. But the subject is basically self-absorbed so I found myself getting annoyed with "her" and that's not the narrator's fault.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment and confusion.

Any additional comments?

Unless you have a lot of time to sit in a chair and just listen, I would avoid this audio book. I tend to listen while driving or working out and it just didn't work.

An surprising, amazing and inspiring book

If you could sum up The Blazing World in three words, what would they be?

A story that went right under the skin, intricately crafted, psychologically compelling

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Blazing World?

The ending of the book was deeply moving, it is still with me

Have you listened to any of Patricia Rodriguez and Eric Meyers ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't think I have heard these two performers before, they were both masterful at setting down the various characters in a believable manner, allowing the listener to experience these different internal worlds in a very authentic manner

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I don't think the subtleties of the character's inner worlds would be translatable into a movie, so please don't!

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this compelling and challenging novel with its complicated female hero who is struggling with the times she lives in as woman and artist, and the discrepancies of her inner and outer life. I especially appreciate that the darker aspects of the main characters are not hidden and that we as listeners/readers are pulled into these sometimes almost unbearable struggles. Something I sometimes was reluctant to do, but which the novel compelled me to, moving me often to existential ponderings.

Much to think about.

Extremely well written-beautiful. Interesting ideas and characters. I like the academic style. The story is revealed through several voices and I did not find all of the narration appealing, but it did fit the characters.