4.5 stars

Maylis de Kerangal can write about anything and make you long for more. In Painting Time she peels back the curtains of the particular art of trompe-l’oeil, the creation of hyper-realistic 3D illusions on 2D surfaces. It’s such an incredibly niche subject and so very technical that it is hard to see how anyone could make a novel about but de Kerangal more than manages. She introduces us to Kate, Paula and Jonas, all students at the Institut Superieur de Painture in Brussels. They are wildly different characters, all captivated by the demanding course as they learn to paint detailed surfaces that are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. De Karangal entwines this with the birth of art in the caves of Chauvet in France where the walls are covered with paintings from the Aurignacian, era (32,000 to 30,000 years ago).

The writing is sublime, from the believable characters who infect the reader with all their enthusiasms and fears and obsessions, to the precision and beauty of her intricate descriptions. She breathes life into most complex, detailed processes, imbuing them with meaning and fascination even for readers who are new to the concepts. It is a masterful meditation on the meaning and power of art, the knife-edge of failure and triumph. There is no better example that this novel and the incredible work of translator Jessica Moore, whose skills and vision are just as evident in this incredible work.

I have tried to like this book but sadly it’s not for me. It’s not easy to identify why as it has all the elements of a novel which should appeal to me. Coming-of-age narrative, art, rich language, I feel that I ought to have loved it. Instead I struggled with the sentence structure which together with the language chosen, felt unnecessarily pretentious. I didn’t connect with the characters either. I don’t doubt that the author writes intricately crafted novels but unfortunately this one is not for me.

this felt like a chore. A tedious book with ambition and lacked in execution. In the end I was glad it to be over.

I want to love "Painting Time". Maylis de Kerangal used beautiful and salient imagery to craft her tale. As a hobbyist of both consuming literature and creating art, I felt a very strong connection between the way that the descriptions of the character's experiences ran away with the author and emulated the swept-up-ness of the character. Unfortunately, I found it a little difficult to read at times and would suggest that it constitutes a challenging read for most, as the wealth of description may lose the reader in wondering what the plot is. Still, it was a beautifully written story that entwined the present story as it unfolds, with memories and the creative process. I don't know how she did it, but de Kerangal managed to put onto paper the feeling of artistic inspiration as it hits you and as it carries you through the work. An amazing piece of literature, and I will be trying to read it again when I have the time, because I want to do it justice.

This read had real “Normal People” tones for me, which I lives, even down to the long paragraphs missing punctuation and the inner lives of these characters who seem to constantly struggle for their life’s purpose, alongside their convoluted and complex relationships with each other. Very much character rather than plot driven, it will appeal to anyone who previously enjoyed Sally Rooney. It is particularly notable for the interesting insights into high end art of painted marble and surfaces, which I had no idea was so involved and required such skilled artistry.

Unable to find a true vocation Paula Karst eventually ends up in Brussels at a school of decorative art and there she finds both her metier and her lifelong friends. As time and opportunity separate the friends, Paula develops to be a master of her craft. After stints in Italy and Russia she is finally commissioned to recreate the Lascaux caves.
There are some wonderful passages of writing in this book but I did find it a little too introspective. There is little plot to speak of, just the story of a woman and her feelings. Impressive to read but it did not really engage me.

I loved this book! Very well-translated, literary fiction. Poetic and perfect. I love character driven stories so this was a great pick. Rich in language and character and geography. A real coming of age novel. It’s about art and counterfeit art, how to create it, what’s involved. So rich and we’ll-written. Thank you for sending it to me!

Maylis de Kerangal looks at the very essence of painting through the eyes of three art students: Paula, Kate and Jonas. Paula is the central character, occasionally in love with Jonas, often unsure of her talent.
The novel really takes off when Paula works at Cinecitta Studios in Rome - Hollywood on the Tiber - as the once great studio struggles in a post-epic era.
One is given a fascinating glimpse of the closed caves at Lescaux, in the Dordogne, and the replica Paula helps to create.
A cultured, intellectual read that is as beautiful as an old master.

This coming of age tale centres around Paula Karst as she begins her studies of Art. As her studies unfold so to does her relationships. The deepening of her artistic skills is mirrored in the complexities of her realtionships.

I first became aware of the caves at Lascaux in the Dordogne a number of years ago whilst watching the Tour de France. The helicopter shot zoomed away from the riders for a brief moment and the commentators began talking about the amazing discovery of the caves in 1940 by an 18 year old whilst out walking with his dog. I was fascinated by the vast amount of cave wall paintings and looked into visiting the area (still on my wishlist btw!). Fast forward to 2021 and I was thrilled to discover the caves are explored in great detail in Maylis de Kerangals book Painting Time.
Aged 20, Paula Karst enrols at the Institute de Pienture in Brussels where she is plunged into the world of decorative painting and trompe l’oeil, tricking the eye into believing what the viewer is looking at is real and not a very skilled imitation. Learning to replicate textures and effects and reproduce materials using pigments and different surface techniques is a large part of the beginning of the book, and I loved the descriptions of the studio, the light and materials that the students used as they navigated their way through back breaking work, friendships and romances.
But my favourite part of the book was following Paula as she navigates her way through establishing herself as a freelance artist. She takes up private commissions painting interiors to replicate marble and oak panelling, travels to Moscow, Italy, Paris and finally the Dordogne. Her skill and confidence grows as she matures from a nervous beginner into a competent sought after artist.
There is a lovely section of the book where she is working on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel on a film set in Cinecitta, Rome and as she explores the different film stages, she walks through time as each door opens… Ancient Rome into 19th Century New York into Medieval Italy.
When she ends up in Lascaux as part of a team creating Lascaux IV (a highly technical copy of the caves paintings for the public to view), we are treated to highly detailed descriptions of the artwork and the complex history of the caves and I felt Paula had finally reached a highpoint in her career.
Beautifully translated by Jessica Moore, I loved the multi-textured and luminous feel of the writing and would recommend it to anyone with any interest in painting, coming of age novels and French Literature.

I was sent a copy of Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal to read and review by NetGalley. For me this felt more like an observation of art techniques, especially of Trompe-l'œil, with an under-story of protagonist Paula’s experiences woven through it. The book is littered with words that I did not know – I’m glad I was reading it on my kindle which meant easy look up! Have your dictionaries handy! There are some really interesting sections, especially towards the end which concerned the cave paintings of Lascaux and the relationship between Paula and Jonas has a nice intensity about it. This wasn’t what I would call an easy read and at times I found it to be quite a struggle, partly I think due to the layout of the Kindle edition that I had. I am glad I persevered though, I enjoyed the intensity of the emotion around both making and really studying a work of art. I learned a lot and have been inspired to research some things for myself. I can see why this has been labelled a Literary novel and I have decided to give it 4 stars but I fear in reality it may have been bordering on being a bit too highbrow for me!

My thanks to Quercus Books/MacLehose Press for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Painting Time’ by Maylis de Kerangal. It was first published in France in 2018 and has now been translated from the French by Jessica Moore.

The novel opens in 2015 with three friends meeting up for an evening out in Paris. Paula, Kate, and Jonas had all attended the Institut Supérieur de Peinture in Brussels where they studied to become artisans of trompe-l’œil, the art of illusion.

After this short introduction the narrative returns to October 2007 as Paula and nineteen others begin their six month period of study under the strict tutelage of the ‘woman in the black turtleneck’. Jonas becomes Paula’s flatmate and Kate, a six-foot former nightclub bouncer, befriends them both.

Paula becomes the main focus of the narrative and after graduation she undertakes a number of commissions including working as a set dresser for Cinecittà Studios, ‘Hollywood on the Tiber’. I found the scenes in which Paula walks around the crumbling sets of previous film projects very poignant.

There Paula encounters Silvia, a veteran makeup artist, who mourns the decline of traditional film making saying “Studios today are all about reality TV and commercials, galas, massive shows for the launch of a brand of sunglasses ..... It’s not cinema anymore, it’s events”.

Towards the end of the novel Paula becomes part of the project to create Lascaux IV, a facsimile of the Lascaux Cave paintings, the ‘Sistine Chapel of prehistory’. Within the narrative Maylis de Kerangal describes in detail the discovery of the caves, the subsequent erosion that led to their closure to the public in 1963, and the various replication projects.

‘Painting Time’ is framed within a coming-of-age tale though Maylis de Kerangal moves beyond Paula’s transition to adulthood to a subtle meditation upon the meaning of art and the evolving role of the artist. Her prose was exquisite and rich in description with the result that I felt completely transported to her locations. The cave paintings especially were brought so vividly to life.

It is difficult to find words to express my experience of reading ‘Painting Time’. As a student of art history and a life long film enthusiast, the novel brought together two subjects close to my heart. In addition, nature figures prominently including powerful interactions with the natural world, such as Kate swimming with a humpback whale and Paula’s love of tortoises that leads her to utilising her skills to recreate flawless reproductions that assist to uphold the prohibitions on the trading of the natural shell of these vulnerable creatures.

Jessica Moore is a poet, songwriter, and an award winning translator of literary fiction including two of de Kerangal’s earlier novels. I felt that her translation flowed elegantly.

I am expecting to see ‘Painting Time’ nominated for The International Booker Prize in 2022 as it is a superb work of literary fiction, with timeless themes and beautifully translated and is also an engaging and accessible read. I am now planning to seek out de Kerangal’s earlier novels in translation and expect that ‘Painting Time’ will be a novel that I will revisit again and again.

Highly recommended.

As contemporary coming of age novels go, Painting time is a breath of fresh air. Finally a book about a young woman discovering herself, discovering what she's good at and forging a name for herself that is not about the patriarchy, about sexism, about how societal expectations are putting women down and won't allow them to be who they want to be(eye roll), or about love, love, love. I would say it is more than obvious that it's not a book written by a Brit, but in fact a translation. Thank you Ms De Kerangal!

Paula is a young parisienne that has no idea what to do with her life. She moves from course to course until enrolling at a famous Institut de Peinture in Brussels. I was fascinated by this part of the novel. I've appreciated the realism with witch Paula's story has been painted: her indecisiveness, her struggles first with choosing what's best for her and then with the demands of the Institute. How she navigated the world of artists, the complex relationship she had with Jonas, how she finally became her own person, separated from her parents. But also the incursion into the artistic world, something that I am not familiar with and really enjoyed learning a new thing or two.
The second part of the book sadly bored me a bit. The narrative line meandered a bit too much for my liking. Despite all that, it was lovely to see Paula blossoming, becoming more confident in herself and her abilities; solving the conflicts between being a true artist versus only a replicator.

Many thanks for the opportunity to read this :)

This is the third novel I’ve read by de Kerangal, after her 2017 Wellcome Book Prize winner, Mend the Living, and 2019’s The Cook. Painting Time resembles the former in the way it revels in niche vocabulary and the latter in that it slowly builds up a portrait of the central character. But all three books could be characterized as deep dives into a particular subject – the human body, gastronomy, and painting, respectively.

The protagonist of Painting Time is Paula Karst, one of 20-some art students who arrive at the Institut de Peinture in Brussels in the autumn of 2007 to learn trompe l’oeil technique. They’re taught to painstakingly imitate every variety of wood and stone so their murals will look as convincing as the real thing. It’s a gruelling course, with many hours spent on their feet every day.

Years later, the only classmates Paula has kept up with are Jonas, her old flatmate, with whom she had a sort-of-almost-not-quite relationship, and their Scottish friend Kate. The novel opens with the three of them having a reunion in Paris. Given this setup, I expected de Kerangal to follow all three characters from 2007 to the near past, but the book sticks closely to Paula, such that the only secondary characters who come through clearly are her parents.

It’s intriguing to see the work that comes Paula’s way after a degree in decorative painting, including painting backdrops for a Moscow-set film of Anna Karenina and the job of a lifetime: working on a full-scale replica of the prehistoric animal paintings of the Lascaux Caves (Lascaux IV). The final quarter of the novel delves into the history of Lascaux, which was discovered in 1940 and open to the public on and off until the late 1960s. Deep time abuts the troubled present as Paula contemplates what will last versus what is ephemeral.

As de Kerangal did with medical terminology in Mend the Living, so here she relishes art words: colours, tools, techniques; names for types of marble and timber (Paula’s own surname is a word for limestone caves). The long sentences accrete to form paragraphs that stretch across multiple pages. I confess to getting a bit lost in these, and wanting more juicy interactions than austere character study. However, the themes of art and history are resonant. If you’ve enjoyed de Kerangal’s prose before, you will certainly want to read this, too.

The book begins with the reader being introduced to Paula, Jonas and Kate. Paula is enrolling at the Institut de Peinture as a painter, she wants to understand more about traditional painting techniques on wood, marble, semi precious stones and gilding for decorative art. She is going to learn the art of trompe-l’oeil and moves in with Jonas, another student in Brussels and soon she is brought face to face with the strenuous work that this course entails.

I found the authors writing style really engaging and although it is not the easiest narrative to follow at times but I was really engrossed by this story and the characters who are all so different. Paula is intense and obsessive about her painting. Her relationship with Jonas is also complex as the painting techniques that they study.

The prose is so rich and full of technical details, which after studying art history I found very interesting although I never studied to this degree. Broken by the pressure of the course, Paula says she is going to drop out but is persuaded to stay by Kate and Jonas. After they graduate, she then starts to do commissions which takes her all over the world on a series of mini adventures.

This is such a unique,beautiful and observational book, everything about it I loved the characters, the writing it almost feels biographical as we follow Paula. I was captivated and totally absorbed by this special book which will stay with me for a long time. One of my books of the year without a doubt.

Thank you to Milly Reid for my invitation to the blog blast and the opportunity to read this extraordinary book.

As a child I found it difficult to stand still and truly see something. I would race through zoos and museums, jumping from one exhibit or animal to the next, rabid for more. It wasn't until my father sat me down in front of an animal enclosure and told me to wait and see that I first truly saw and connected. Now, whenever I am in a museum I try to actually see the details, the way brush strokes evoke waves, how chiaroscuro guides the eye, how movement is created in stillness. It was only by standing still that I began to see the "always more" I had been looking for. Reading Painting Time similarly felt like rushing along while standing perfectly still, like taking everything in by looking at one thing in particular. Thanks to Quercus Books, Maclehose Press and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Art is at the heart of Painting Time, a novel that takes the coming-of-age theme and runs wild with it. I recalled a childhood experience of finally sitting down in front of an exhibit above because Painting Time is rife with memories. Memories of moments, touches, glances, feelings; it all comes to the surface as Paula connects with art and with the world around her. It is this layering of experience that completely drew me in to the novel, as it also draws me into art. It is about the story-telling, in the end. What is a tree ring if not a story of years passed? In order to reproduce it, Paula has to understand this process and as she becomes a painter, she becomes a storyteller. She takes the reader across Europe, is disappointed, frustrated, triumphant, always exhausted, but, at least for me, there is always a touch of the divine in her work. The jargon of the field, the listing of colours, of brushes, the slow, methodical work of painting becomes almost soothing in de Kerangal's writing. As the reader you slow down, completely absorbed as you follow Paula's eyes taking in the minutest detail and the grandest revelations about ourselves and about time.

Painting Time begins with a reunion between Kate, Jonas and Paula Karst, friends and previous students at the Institut Supérieur de Peinture in Brussels. From there we jump back to the beginning, the moment when Paula first enters the Institut and turns from a disaffected and slightly lost teenager into a determined and slightly disconnected adult. It is here she learns the art of trompe l'oeil, a technique that creates optical illusions, that makes you believe something is there even when you know it isn't. Paula begins to see the life in stone and wood, and so slowly comes to see the world around her, and herself, in a new, sharper light. She begins to know their stories, to see the history in their finest details, and with that knowledge is released back into the wild. Hopping from job to job across Europe, Paula works on the villas of the rich, the film sets of Cinecittà, and a neighbour's ceiling, all the while slowly finding answers to her own self, the nature of her work, and the larger questions of life. It is when she reaches the book's final destination, however, the Cave of Lascaux, that Painting Time reaches a new level. Confronted with this prehistoric cradle of art, history, memory and storytelling come together for Paula.

This was my first time reading Maylis de Kerangal and she blew me away from the first page. de Kerangal truly inhabits the field she writes about, making every moment a chance to highlight details in a painterly, masterful way. The way Paula's hair falls, how Kate's fish tattoos move over her muscles, the way the light falls through the windows of the Institut, each moment is elevated through de Kerangal's writing. Jargon becomes poetry and the heavy burden of growing into yourself becomes a Hero's Journey that requires, finally, a descent into the dark, the primeval. I often stood still at particular phrases, that suddenly cut through all the visual beauty and revealed hard, stark truths. The quote below is one I think will resonate with many. When describing the art of painting, and perhaps the art of living itself, Paula realizes it is nothing more:
'than an aptitude for failure, a consent to the fall, and a desire to start over'.
Much praise should also be laid at the feet of Jessica Moore , who does a brilliant and beautiful job at translating de Kerangal's prose. A novelist herself, she manages to retain de Kerangal's rapid fluidity as well as herhyper-focus, the way in which thoughts heap on top of thoughts, the stunning detail that she mines out of every moment. Painting Time surprised me with how quickly it settled within my mind, with how quickly it made me want to take a closer look at things, to learn the stories of the objects and beings around me. Especially in these times, when so many of us have been stuck within the same four walls, it was restorative to be exposed to so many different sensations, stories and views.

Painting Time is a beautiful book, both a meditation on an art form as well as a slow revelation of all the layers of storytelling that make up a human and a work of art. Whether you're looking for a novel that will soothe and take you somewhere else, or a novel that will invigorate and shake you awake, Painting Time can offer you both.

An aesthetic and existential coming-of-age novel exploring the apprenticeship of a young female painter.
Painting Time is the English title of de Kerangal’s novel “Un monde à portée de main”. Painting Time is a richly described, decadent and aesthetic, existential coming-of-age novel exploring the apprenticeship of a young female painter from award-winning author de Kerangal.
The book starts with a reunion after a decade or so between three friends who met at a college that taught decorative art. It then goes back into the life at the college and how the main character finds her career.
Paula is a young woman not sure what she wants in life. She thinks she wants to be an artist and is finally excited about learning about the decorative arts. She delves into the technical aspects as much as the practical and it is in this area the book shines. Paula also struggles with self-confidence and a feeling she is not good enough struggling to handle her crush on her flatmate, her talent and then her career.
I would like to thank Netgalley and MacLeHose Press for an advance review copy of Painting Time in return for an honest review.

For lovers of painting techniques this is a must read. Fortunately this educational element is set into a charming storyline which follows a young student trying to discover what she wants to do with her life. Attracted by the thought of getting away from her parental home she opts for a 6 month full-time course in Brussels studying how to reproduce wood, marble end trompe l'oeuil effects. Completing this course allows her to follow a peripatetic life-style in which she is to be found either painting private interiors or working on film sets. Just as the pleasure of doing this is beginning to fade she is contacted by one of her fellow students and told about painters being required to work on a major project to recreate an identical copy of all the original artwork from the Lascaux Caves onto the walls of a new cave network entirely constructed from resin - Lascaux IV. We learn the history of how the original caves were first discovered, then opened up for the world to visit and then so nearly damaged beyond repair. We also read about the thousands of hours spent in tracing and photographing the original artwork. This even to a layperson - unfamiliar with the world of pigments and texture - is truly fascinating stuff. So I am happy to warmly recommend "Painting TIme" as a thoroughly enjoyable novel and it certainly left me with enormous respect for the skills and techniques used by painters.

Paula Karst is a young woman who is unsure what to do with her life. She contemplates a life with art, and enrols at an art school in Belgium, where she will take an intensive course learning how to paint trompe l'oeil. It is here she starts to find herself, makes lifelong friends, throws herself wholeheartedly into learning her craft and the beginning of her life.
We follow Paula as she starts her career, beginning in Paris, then moving to Italy and Lascaux, where she ends up painting a replica of the world famous cave paintings. We are introduced to her friends Kate and Jonas, who pop up at various intervals throughout the novel, but they are never around for any length of time. Her parents feature every now and again too, and we find out a little about their life.

Plenty about this novel feels vague and ethereal, but not Paula's craft. The descriptions of her learning, the textures and paint colours, are certain and intriguing. They drew me in, much more than the character of Paula herself.
It is what she does and not what she is that feels important. As she moves forward in her career, she also moves backwards in time, from Paris, to the set of CineCitta in Italy, then eventually to Lascaux, the beginning to time.
I enjoyed reading this novel, but felt as though I was being kept at a distance, as though looking through a telescope. The art aspect of it was more interesting to me, and I enjoyed the language associated with that. I also noted that Paula's surname is associated with underground sinkholes and caverns, which tied in quite nicely with her landing up at Lascaux. And a coincidence, perhaps.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a pre-published copy in return for an honest review.

I really struggled to finish this book.It’s very wordy ,with deep ideas and long ,stream of consciousness passages which go off at long tangents.It tells of three characters,Paula,Jonas and Kate, who meet at a course to learn the art of decorative painting ,and then tells mainly of Paula’s career working in Cinecittà in Rome and finally at the caves in Lascaux ,where she is involved in painting the copy version of the prehistoric art works.
The writing is very detailed in describing the painting techniques and colours so might appeal to readers who know a lot about this ,but I found it hard to relate to any of the characters and was quite glad when I finally got to the end of the book.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review which reflects my own opinion.