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The Bird Artist Paperback – March 15, 1995
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Howard Norman's The Bird Artist, the first book of his Canadian trilogy, begins in 1911. Its narrator, Fabian Vas is a bird artist: He draws and paints the birds of Witless Bay, his remote Newfoundland coastal village home. In the first paragraph of his tale Fabian reveals that he has murdered the village lighthouse keeper, Botho August. Later, he confesses who and what drove him to his crime--a measured, profoundly engrossing story of passion, betrayal, guilt, and redemption between men and women.
The Bird Artist is a 1994 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPicador
- Publication dateMarch 15, 1995
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-109780312130275
- ISBN-13978-0312130275
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
There are echoes of Vladimir Nabokov's infamous narrator, Humbert Humbert, in Fabian's confessional tone, witty humor, and emotional detachment from the series of bizarre events he describes. Set at the turn of the century in a remote cod-fishing community, The Bird Artist is a love story of sorts, filled with curious characters and a chowder restaurant. The men wear "knitted underwear all year round lined with fleece calico" and periodically escape the island to pursue their livelihoods on the sea. But the women are land bound. Helen Twombly suspects fellow villagers of stealing her milk bottles. Alaric Vas suffers from arthritis that no liniment relieves and plots her son's arranged marriage with a fourth cousin in Richibucto, New Brunswick. Meanwhile, Fabian's childhood love, Margaret Handle, propels herself and the plot forward with unwieldy energy. How did things for a mild-mannered man who just likes "to wake up early, wash my face, and get out and draw birds" go so wrong?
Norman, a folklorist and naturalist, presents us with the possible explanations in the form of fine details from an island life he researched while living in a remote Inuit whale-hunting community. He carefully examines the inner isolation of his characters. The severe landscape and the weather serve as the perfect metaphor. If you're looking for linguistic pyrotechnics, Norman's economy won't suit you. In The Bird Artist--a finalist for the 1994 National Book Award--there is as much to admire on the page as what's not. --Cristina Del Sesto
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“A classic story . . . All that is splendid and spectacular in the book is simply light, magically employed to seek out what is real.” ―Richard Eder, The Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Bewitching . . . glows like a night light in the reader's mind.” ―Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
“Completely original and compelling . . . written with great intelligence, wit and clarity.” ―Anne Whitehouse, The Boston Sunday Globe
“[The Bird Artist] combines colorful backwoods eccentrics and gothic melodrama that strongly resembles the work of film director David Lynch.” ―Edward B. St. John, Library Journal
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : 0312130279
- Publisher : Picador (March 15, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780312130275
- ISBN-13 : 978-0312130275
- Item Weight : 12 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.68 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #113,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,038 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #8,641 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- #9,150 in American Literature (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
HOWARD NORMAN is a three-time winner of National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a winner of the Lannan Award for fiction. His 1987 novel, The Northern Lights, was nominated for a National Book Award, as was his 1994 novel The Bird Artist. He is also author of the novels The Museum Guard, The Haunting of L, and Devotion. His books have been translated into twelve languages. Norman teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland. He lives in Washington, D.C., and Vermont with his wife and daughter.
Customer reviews
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Customers find the story compelling and enjoyable. They describe the book as a marvelous, brilliant read with interesting characters that seem to be talking to them. The pacing is described as clear and easy to follow, making it hard to put down. The style is described as an easy blend of stark beauty and fantastic realism.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the story's compelling plot and setting. They find the prose suitable for telling the poignant tale. Readers appreciate the good characters and interesting settings. The story is described as a romantic fable for adults under climate stress, though some find it depressing at times.
"...I liked that the author says it all in the first pages, then unwinds the story, oh so slowly, carefully...." Read more
"...But he loves his characters, and tells a grand story. I liked his craft as well as the story. A quick, compulsive read." Read more
"...Love, murder, and art on the Newfoundland coast." Read more
"Good character development in this one..enjoyed the plot since i thought it often resembled real life.." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it well-written with interesting characters and a plot that keeps them hooked. The book has an offbeat protagonist and vivid descriptions of the setting and plot.
"...But most importantly it is a great piece of literature...." Read more
"...Another wonderful book by the great Howard Norman!" Read more
"...A book hard to put down and Pettit g my appetite for more of this author''s work." Read more
"A well written story, with interesting characters is always a good read." Read more
Customers find the characters interesting and engaging. They feel as if the characters are talking to them.
"Satisfying character development. The quirks are in the plot. Evoked “Shipping News”...." Read more
"The author is clear, detailed, and somewhat unemotional. But he loves his characters, and tells a grand story...." Read more
"This book got off to a slow start to me, but the characters and relationships finally reeled me in. Love, murder, and art on the Newfoundland coast." Read more
"...An odd main character and vivid secondary characters had me thinking it shouldn't have been called The Bird Artist." Read more
Customers appreciate the book's pacing and writing style. They find the prose clear and well-written, with an interesting setting and human condition presented in a unique way. The author is described as fabulous and underrated.
"...Evoked “Shipping News”. The Newfoundland human condition presented; unique, brutal, funny. It was a visit to a place I’ve never experienced." Read more
"...But I must applaud the masterful line in the last paragraph that makes you question everything that has gone before." Read more
"...Beautifully written with nary a wasted word this book captures both the period and The Rock in a way that I have yet to find in any other author...." Read more
"The author is clear, detailed, and somewhat unemotional. But he loves his characters, and tells a grand story...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's style. They find it easy to read and engaging, weaving a tale of love and beauty in an unrelenting and truthful way. The book blends love, murder, and art on the Newfoundland coast with an easy style and quirky flights of fantastic realism.
"...forever. Norman weaves a tale of love and stark beauty in a unrelenting and truthful look at the good and bad in all of us." Read more
"...Love, murder, and art on the Newfoundland coast." Read more
"...are unique, his plot unusual and he weaves the two together with an easy style." Read more
"Beautiful, quirky,..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2009This is one of my favorite novels. It helps to appreciate our quiet country to the north of us and especially Newfoundland. But most importantly it is a great piece of literature. I am curious that there are those who actually "loathed" this book in the reviews here but I would bet their idea of a good book is a world apart from those who did enjoy it. The story does have a weird twist but the characters and the "landscape" are what pulled me in like a true masterpiece-a great story well told.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2013I really liked this book. The subject matter was not what I had expected; birds, a lighthouse, an island in the north atlantic and a murder. I liked that the author says it all in the first pages, then unwinds the story, oh so slowly, carefully. Some of the characters will remain with me
forever. Norman weaves a tale of love and stark beauty in a unrelenting and truthful look at the good and bad in all of us.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2019Satisfying character development. The quirks are in the plot. Evoked “Shipping News”. The Newfoundland human condition presented; unique, brutal, funny. It was a visit to a place I’ve never experienced.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2013When I ordered "The Bird Artist" I was expecting something in the order of Wayne Johnston's books with lots of Newfoundland background. This was completely different and I really didn't enjoy it very much. The story was centered in one small town and the people who lived there. The purpose of the story was to tell that a murder occurred and the reasons for it. The murder was unjustified, the killer was never brought to justice and in between the townspeople turned their backs on all manner of transgressions. To my mind - not a very satisfactory story.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2014OK thank you G. M-M for inspiring North American writers (many years later) to fool around with the same sort of play with history & dreams. This is one of those books that fits what Stephen King says about falling through the page and getting lost. For very much most of the book, you are absolutely carried away into another world, the turn-of-the-century world of Nova Scotia (or some place like that) and also the timeless world of the so-small, cut-off village and its insular culture.
The clever set-up of announcing a murder and murderer in the first few pages and then elucidating all the events and emotions that led to it is a tricky to pull off scheme. It is excellently done here, until the very last. There are some bits that maybe don't seem quite well fit; too rough-hewn or maybe too polished and contrived. I'll leave that to other readers to debate where and how things really should have ended.
But I must applaud the masterful line in the last paragraph that makes you question everything that has gone before.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2001If you want a book to take with you to the beach that you won't be embarassed to have been caught reading, look no further. I may be biased as I read it under what may be perfect circumstances -on a foggy island on the coast of Maine, with the foghorn and the marine radio for background, but even for the shore-bound among you believe me that this is what The Shipping News never could deliver. Beautifully written with nary a wasted word this book captures both the period and The Rock in a way that I have yet to find in any other author. While the narrator may infuriate you at times you will also find yourself rooting for him throughout, and although we "know what will happen" from the first paragraph on the WHY & the HOW keeps you going to the end.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2023Set in the Canadien Maritimes, mostly in Newfoundland. Life, love and murder set in the 20th century. Another wonderful book by the great Howard Norman!
- Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2018The author is clear, detailed, and somewhat unemotional. But he loves his characters, and tells a grand story. I liked his craft as well as the story. A quick, compulsive read.
Top reviews from other countries
- EllentooReviewed in Canada on February 18, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Fine and dandy :-)
- travellerReviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2015
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, eventually.
Loved it.....eventually. It took me a fair while to get into this book and I was reading it because I had so enjoyed 'The Museum Guard'. I got my book club to read that one and no one like it except me. This one was a little harder to get into but but once I did, I found it compelling. It's a close look at little lives, but little because of where they live and the time in which it was set. It seems to me to be like a Victorian photograph, full of stillness but with lots of detail, if you look. Speech is quite sparse but there is lots of humour, though it is quite dry. I may have to read yet another of Howard Norman's books.