I very much enjoyed this book. It seemed right in line with Tartt’s earlier books - a swirl of the best things in life and the seedy underbelly of the city. My favorite thing about this book, and I suppose probably the same could be said for anyone who reads it, is Hobie and his workshop. His patient reconstruction and reparation of the things that hold us up is such a terrific counterpoint to the terrible destructiveness that opens the book, and is so obviously exactly the thing that Theo needs. It’s terriffic.

The central image of this book is, obviously, the eponymous painting. Surrounding this painting are the themes of beauty substantiated, of beauty in captivity, of immortality in substance. It’s a gloriously clever device for exploring those ideas. While Theo is the main character of the book, it wouldn’t be terribly unfair to read instead the story of the painting, and the series of miracles surrounding its survival to the present day.

I’m not entirely sure what to think of the character of Boris, or of Pippa. It’s good to see Theo and Pippa not get together - it would just be a bit too simple that way - but Boris, in contrast, seems like some sort of elaborate deus ex machina, and a little too wild to be believed. Along the same lines I thought all the drug use was a little distracting. Xandra was simply too good to be true.

I highly recommend this book; and I think a bit of preparatory research on the painting in question would certainly make the experience that much better.