Episode 59: Visual Artists
Summary: Grab your brushes and palettes, friends - we’re talking Visual Artists today! Join Holly and Devin as they discuss the role of art in their own lives and books in their wheelhouses. Whether you grew up drawing horses and chickens like Holly or unable to even master stick figures like Devin, a splash of color from artists (or blood) will be just what you need to get your hearts racing.
Topics Discussed:
The Dagger (5:28): Holly discussed The Mill House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, a puzzle game mystery novel set in 1985. On a long, stormy night a woman fell from the house’s tower, a painting disappeared, and a man vanished under what seemed to be impossible circumstances. Soon after, the group of six left in (alive) in the home discover a body burning in the basement incinerator. After that chill opener, the novel unfolds in two threads: this disastrous night and the same night one year later when the group gathers with more questions than ever. Holly’s key takeaways were:
Fujinuma Kiichi, wheelchair-bound after a horrific car accident, is the son of renowned artist Fujinuma Issei and lives in Mill House with all of his father’s paintings and his 20-years-younger wife who is kept isolated in the tower. The group we meet gathers annually for a viewing of the portraits, but this year goes sideways - fast.
The role of art is woven through the novel in an impactful way: the absent but looming artist father, the desire and greed the visitors feel for his work, art as a motivation for crimes and even a secret, final painting that Fujinuma Kiichi won’t let anyone see.
The overall structure and puzzle element to the mystery really resonated with Holly; you have to pay close attention as a reader and the plot can get a little convoluted but it all comes together in the end very effectively.
The Heart (24:14): Devin discussed Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center, a novel following Sadie Montgomery as she almost simultaneously discovers she is a finalist in a national portrait competition that would revolutionize her career prospects as an artist and that she was rendered face-blind after a surgery to remove a blood clot from her brain. Sadie must rediscover herself and the people in her life as she navigates her face-blindness and works to uncover how someone who can’t see faces could paint an award-winning portrait. Devin’s key takeaways were:
Center loves to weave new and old trauma through her romances and this book is no exception. Sadie has to deal not only with her mother’s death, her father’s apathy, her step mother and sister’s horrible treatment, but also the trials and struggles of navigating friendships with other priorities while she fights against her face blindness.
Post-surgery, Sadie must confront and work her way through the fact that her portraiture might be ruined. She fights hard to overcome her handicap and still render photo-realistic portraits for the competition, but is ultimately unable to do so and has to question her artistic identity and her personal identity through the process.
Never has Devin ever dealt with a love triangle this fun or unusual. To only have the male protagonists described in the most vague, weird ways (their vibe, their torsos, the blob of their face and hair) was an absolute blast and the potential lover character arcs were phenomenal to follow.
Hot On the Shelf (44:17):
What’s Making Our Hearts Race (48:06):
Holly: The Legend of Korra on Netflix
Devin: A wheel throwing pottery class
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