2.5
The Death of Francis Bacon
ByPublisher Description
Madrid. Unfinished. Man dying.
A great painter lies on his deathbed, synapses firing, writhing and reveling in pleasure and pain as a lifetime of chaotic and grotesque sense memories wash over and envelop him.
In this bold and brilliant short work of experimental fiction by the author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, Max Porter inhabits Francis Bacon in his final moments, translating into seven extraordinary written pictures the explosive final workings of the artist's mind. Writing as painting rather than about painting, Porter lets the images he conjures speak for themselves as they take their revenge on the subject who wielded them in life.
The result is more than a biography: The Death of Francis Bacon is a physical, emotional, historical, sexual, and political bombardment--the measure of a man creative and compromised, erotic and masochistic, inexplicable and inspired.
A great painter lies on his deathbed, synapses firing, writhing and reveling in pleasure and pain as a lifetime of chaotic and grotesque sense memories wash over and envelop him.
In this bold and brilliant short work of experimental fiction by the author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, Max Porter inhabits Francis Bacon in his final moments, translating into seven extraordinary written pictures the explosive final workings of the artist's mind. Writing as painting rather than about painting, Porter lets the images he conjures speak for themselves as they take their revenge on the subject who wielded them in life.
The result is more than a biography: The Death of Francis Bacon is a physical, emotional, historical, sexual, and political bombardment--the measure of a man creative and compromised, erotic and masochistic, inexplicable and inspired.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Death of Francis Bacon Reviews
2.5
Ba ba La
Created 24 days agoShare
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frey
Created 28 days agoShare
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“urm idk”
NickelName
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“I have mixed feelings on this little novella/poetry-ish collection. On the one hand, I adore Francis Bacon. He's one of my top 3 artists of all time, and I think he deserves even more recognition. On the other hand, I'm not sure that Porter fully achieved what he was going for here.
There were portions of this where I was completely enthralled and others where I felt a little lost. I am no expert on poetry by any means, but I do feel fairly well-equipped. Additionally, I am quite familiar with Francis Bacon's life and work. In some cases, I just felt a few sections fell short of the mark. However, I did love the sections where George Dyer was referenced. The paintings about Dyer are some of my favorites of Bacon's, including "Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer." I also really love Bacon's The Black Triptych, following Dyer's death.
Porter does a good job capturing Bacon's style in words, but I don't think the medium can fully capture the emotions, the blurring of lines, and the pain present within Bacon's works. I do admire this work a lot. So, it seems that I have mixed opinions on Porter's works, considering I only somewhat enjoyed Porter's "Grief Is the Thing with Feathers."
Even though it fell short in my mind, I don't regret reading it and enjoyed it overall.”
Jake Walter
Created about 2 months agoShare
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About Max Porter
Max Porter is the author of Lanny, longlisted for the Booker Prize, and Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, winner of the International Dylan Thomas Prize and shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Goldsmiths Prize. He is the recipient of the Sunday Times/Peter, Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year award.
Other books by Max Porter
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