Mmmm?

Odd narration style and rhythm.
Interesting story - probably better read than listened to as delivered by this narrator.

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Fascinating

I loved this book. It is so informative and opened my eyes to look at things differently about Vincent than what history has taught us. Highly recommended.

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Superb Detective Story That Destroys Myths

Written like a thriller, I loved the concrete details, in depth analysis and remarkable detailed historical research that flesh out the story of Van Gogh, his relationships and environs.

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An enthralling story

Thoroughly well researched and interesting book. The narration is very good and has added to my enjoyment. Would definitely recommend listening to this.

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Great book, terrible reader

This book captures the thrill of research and explodes many posthumous myths about its subject. However, I was really sorry I had not read it in hard copy as the narration here is of incredibly poor quality. The pronunciation of the French is all over the place, but worse, the reader's emphasis is frequently wrong and her delivery is weirdly staccato, making it very difficult to understand an already complex story. I'd be livid if I was the author as this wonderful book deserves better.

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EXCELLENT

This is an inspired work, the detail gone into amazing. If you like Vincent van Gough you will love this - the real story of his life & paintings.

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Wonderful story but so hard to listen to!

Would you consider the audio edition of Van Gogh's Ear to be better than the print version?

There is rather too much about the author's search; more needed about Van Gogh rather than the author's difficulty in catching a certain train. The audio edition is so hard to listen to, as the reader constantly emphasises the wrong words, and mispronounces words as well. If I could return it, I would.

Would you recommend Van Gogh's Ear to your friends? Why or why not?

Not as an audio book.

What didn’t you like about Su Douglas’s performance?

The reader actually makes it hard to understand, by putting emphasis on the wrong words, and mispronounces words like 'decade' as 'decayed' with the emphasis on the second syllabub.

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1 person found this helpful

Compelling

Well research and fascinating. Changed my thoughts about one of my favourite painters. Sadly let down by the reader who reads all the English text extremely well...and then totally ruins the overall experience by totally lacking in linguistic ability. Both French and Dutch pronunciation painful in the extreme. Sad.

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Great story.

Very good story well told.

I found myself in great sympathy with the situation Van Gogh found himself in and with connection and great love shown between these brothers.

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A triumphant challenge of van Gogh myths

Bernadette Murphy has lived in Provence for 30 years and has immersed herself in researching the true story behind van Gogh cutting his ear. The received version is that in one of his recurrent periods of mental instability he cut off just the lobe and presented it to a prostitute called Rachel at the local brothel. Through painstaking research and dogged worrying away at her subject - and her fluency in the French language - she has scotched the myths and shown that van Gogh did indeed cut off his entire ear, and presented it to Gabrielle (the 'Rachel' of the myth) who worked as a general cleaner in Arles, including the brothels. Murphy explores in detail the forms of mental illness which blighted the entire van Gogh family, and in particular the delusions which plagued Vincent leading him to believe that he was a Christ figure, which explains exactly why he presented Gabrielle with the newspaper-wrapped ear addressing the startled young woman with words echoing Christ at the Last Supper.

This is an important work in van Gogh studies with plenty of new material. Murphy also corrects the myth about the petition which was organised to evict van Gogh from the Yellow House in Arles, and explains her understanding backed up by letters and details from the paintings themselves of Gauguin's unsuccessful stay with van Gogh. Along the way there are many extremely interesting and finely researched topics including prostitution in Arles, treatment (such as it was) for mental illness, the role of absinthe drinking, as well as insightful analyses of van Gogh's paintings.

Murphy has chosen to include herself and her arduous pursuit, and some of this could have been usefully edited out as it can become bogged down in detail interesting only to herself. But generally, her choice to include herself does make the story hers as well as van Gogh's which adds another dimension.

If I were Murphy I would be deeply disappointed at the choice of narrator whose worst offence is her French pronunciation - and inevitably there is a great deal of French language for her to mangle. WHY was a fluent French speaker not chosen as a narrator? Even when the French accent is acceptable, it is clear that Su Douglas is not comfortable or fluent but, more seriously, she makes a catalogue of truly dire errors which really do spoil the whole narration. 'La place Lamartine' in Arles is repeated many times and at least twice, the narrator calls it 'Plaice Lamartine' which is unforgivable. A turkey 'dindon' is more than once called a 'dee-don' and the final 't' in words such as 'pont' and 'esprit' is routinely sounded. The French for august 'aout' is not pronounced 'eh-oo'! The list could go on...

So, full marks for Murphy's research, zero for Su Douglas's French.

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