Literarture: Arturo Perez-Reverte's THE PAINTER OF BATTLES

Every now and then, I will let another interest (literature) take centre stage in the blog. I have three sub-genres in which I do some collecting and as much reading as I can manage -- legal fiction; espionage novels; and art-related fiction. For this purpose, obviously it will be art fiction that I will be recommending here and there. This first time around it is Arturo Perez-Reverte's THE PAINTER OF BATTLES (in translation by Margaret Sayers Peden, Random House, 2008; originally published in Spanish by Alfaguara in 2006). The publisher is correct, in my view, to refer to it as the Spanish writer's "most accomplished novel to date," at least from the total of five of his works I have read. His books are always intellecual thrillers at one level or another, and the Painter of Battles can be counted as one as well. That said the suspense dimension is a very very simple single question, and the essence of the novel is a meditation. It is very much in the tradition of the philosophical novel. Reviewers have tended to identify the philosophical reflection as being about the nature of cruelty and humans' seemingly infinite capacity for evil, while missing the parallel meditation about the character of (primarily documentary) photography and of painting in relation to the expression of moral truths. The central character in the book is a retired photographer of war who has turned to a mammoth mural inside an old lighthouse in a quest to express something his celebrated war photos never quitre seemed to get. There is much intertwined discussion of war and art, bolstered by evident art criticism and art history research and thought on the part of Perez-Reverte, which is entirely successful, I think, in raising important questions and prompting meaningful reflection on the part of the reader on possible answers. Fittingly, the novel ends with something of a puzzle for the reader as to what insights the central characters have gained and an arguably open-ended resolution to the 'what will happen' suspense question. In some sense, the novel sends a self-referential signal with its tantalizing ending: just where does literature and in particular fiction stand in relation both to conveying the nature of barbarity as contrasted to photography and painting and to reaching for moral 'truth.' In interesting ways, within the field of literature or more generally writing, The Painter of Battles presents a parallel structure within the life of Perez-Reverte, the war journalist (1973-1994) turned novelist (1986+), as is raised by Faulques, the war photographer turned painter of battles: where does fiction stand in relation to non-fiction, or more specifically reportage, in the search for understanding and moral truth. If you are looking for fast-paced suspense, you will find the Painter of Battles too "slow" as this otherwise-useful BookReporter.com review did. But, if you are looking for excellent writing (Perez-Reverte's best yet) with, in my view, a good balance between philosophical reflection and forward movement, then this book is highly recommended.