{"id":4680,"date":"2018-06-23T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T16:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/?p=4680"},"modified":"2021-07-06T13:16:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T20:16:53","slug":"vincent-and-theo-the-van-gogh-brothers-teen-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2018\/vincent-and-theo-the-van-gogh-brothers-teen-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers — Teen Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

review by\u00a0Nina Dinan, age 14<\/p>\n

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers<\/strong><\/em> by\u00a0Deborah Heiligman<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This book is a portrait in words, filled with vivid descriptions of scenes and locations that are by turns devastating and breathtakingly beautiful. This is fitting in a sweeping dual biography of two brothers who lived for art. Following the lives of the painter Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo, an art dealer, Deborah Heiligman tells a story of devotion, tribulation, and turbulent genius.<\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vincent and Theo were born and raised in the rural Netherlands, sons of a Protestant pastor. After attending school, they both worked for art dealers, though Vincent attended divinity school for a time. (The question \u201cGod or art?\u201d would haunt him for much of his life.) As Theo rose in the art dealing profession and Vincent gradually branched off into painting, the brothers maintained a constant, moving correspondence, heavily quoted in the book, which keeps the reader invested in their struggles. This story is undoubtedly grim, with Vincent on the verge of starvation for much of the first half and both brothers always struggling in their private lives and their love lives. (Vincent allowed a penniless woman and her two children to live with him at one point, when he was already destitute.) As Vincent grows more and more skilled as a painter (his most trusted critic was Theo), the story becomes slightly more hopeful, but misunderstood talent, poverty, and frustration propel both brothers toward a devastating end.<\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While this is a story rife with misery and loss, it is also riveting and inspirational. The brothers\u2019 natures are brilliantly contrasted throughout: Vincent constantly struggles against his volatile, fiery spirit, while Theo suffers through episodes of deep depression as he doggedly works to support himself and his brother. Vincent depends on Theo for artistic advice and money, while Theo commits to developing his brother\u2019s gift. As Heiligman says, \u201cThe world would not have Vincent without Theo.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I highly recommend this book – 4 stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Find this book in our catalog:\u00a0Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers<\/a><\/p>\n

Catalog Number: YA 92 GOGH HEIL<\/p>\n

454 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

review by\u00a0Nina Dinan, age 14 Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by\u00a0Deborah Heiligman \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This book is a portrait in words, filled with vivid descriptions of scenes and locations that are by turns devastating and breathtakingly beautiful. This is fitting in a sweeping dual biography of two brothers who lived […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":4681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[120,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","category-teen-reviews"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/18\/files\/sites\/18\/2018\/06\/vincent-and-theo.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ZwbD-1du","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4994,"url":"http:\/\/pasadena-library.net\/teens\/2019\/dive-smack-teen-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":4680,"position":0},"title":"Dive Smack — Teen Review","author":"Teen Blogger","date":"March 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"review by\u00a0Jacob Chon, age 16 Dive Smack\u00a0by\u00a0Demetra Brodsky \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Like every high school student looking for a good college, Theo Mackey has his gimmick that will hopefully make him stand out. 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