by Arturo Perez - Reverte (Author)
A man lives alone in a watchtower by the sea. On the circular walls of the tower he is painting a grand mural - the timeless landscape of a battle. He is a former war photographer, and the painting is his attempt to capture the photo he was never able to take; to encapsulate, in an instant, the meaning of war.But one day a stranger knocks on his door and announces that he has come to kill him. The man is a shadow from his past, one of the myriad faces of war, and now the consequences of his actions are brought home to him. As the novel progresses, the story of both the soldier and the artist emerge, entwined with a doomed love affair, and the progress of a painting that is infused with the history of art. Intense and turbulent this is a book about art, war, love and the human capacity for both violence and empathy. It asks very profound questions about human nature and the role of the artist, but it is also has the intensity of a psychological thriller as the painter trades stories with the man who has come to kill him - like the Knight playing chess with Death in the Seventh Seal...
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 224
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: W&N
Published: 04 Oct 2007
ISBN 10: 0297851691
ISBN 13: 9780297851691
Book Overview: 'Arturo Perez-Reverte is the great European storyteller of the 21st century in the tradition of Dumas, from the swashbuckling Captain Alatriste series to the fascinating but ruthless drug baroness in Queen of the South, and now in Painter of Battles, he delivers a gripping story of war, cruelty, testimony, and the past' Simon Sebag Montefiore Reminiscent of EMBERS by Sandor Marai NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER in Spain - 300,000 copies sold in first three months. In the top ten for 26 weeks Because there are undoubted links to Perez-Reverte's own personal experiences as a war correspondent, there are extra dimensions for publicity, interviews and features