The Big Picture

I have read 5 of Douglas Kennedy’s novels and this one is, for me, really good. Interesting plot and way of telling it that reminded me of Patricia Highsmith.

Je n'ai pas pu poser le livre tellement j'étais prise par l'histoire, même si par moment cela ressemble à "l'homme qui voulait vivre sa vie", bien écrit ça vous "prend aux tripes", bien sûr comme tous les romans de Douglas Kennedy, il reste une impression de mal aise et il faut quelques jours avant d'attaquer un nouveau roman ! Mais en conclusion sachez que quand vous l'ouvrez vous ne pourrez plus le poser !

There were so many things I hated about this book. How once I picked it up I just couldn't put it down, how I could never pass by without picking it up, how it kept me up until the small hours of the morning when I should have been asleep, how I kept thinking about the story when I should have been doing something else.But the thing I hated most was how it made me feel. How I felt as if I was accompanying Ben Bradford every step of the way, how my stomach churned with nerves every time I turned the page... I don't think I've ever felt such sympathy and emotion for a fiction character and it's a tribute to Douglas Kennedy's awesome writing skills that made me feel this way.Of course, I didn't really hate this book. I loved it and now I've finished it...I read it at such a fast pace that it took me just 2 days but I know I could have sat down and read it straight through without once looking up.This is his third book I've read and luckily my withdrawal symptoms won't be that bad as I have "State of the Union" sitting waiting for me...

Que faire si vous deviez choisir entre votre vie et celle de quelqu'un d'autre ?Ben Bradford a tout : une belle épouse et deux fils en bonne santé, une grande maison dans une banlieue cossue du Connecticut, un partenariat dans un cabinet d'avocats prestigieux de Manhattan. Mais grattez la surface et vous trouverez un homme profondément malheureux. Non seulement les rêves de Ben comme photographe professionnel semblent très loin, mais sa femme le trompe et ne peut plus voir sa tête ni en peinture ni en photographie.Alors Ben a-t-il vraiment le choix ? Et que faire dans ce cas-là ?Quand la confrontation avec l'amant de sa femme tourne mal, il ne faut qu’une seconde à Ben pour comprendre qu’il n’y a pas de marche arrière et que sa vie peut encore changer...en bien. Réalisant rapidement qu'il n'y a qu'un seul moyen de s’en sortir, il met en marche un plan méticuleusement détaillé qui finit par l’emmener dans le grand Ouest américain (non, pas celui des westerns, l’autre, un peu moins connu sauf des écrivains et des amateurs de nature vierge). Mais le prix est élevé : Ben doit abandonner ses amis, sa maison, ses enfants, son nom. Sa vie.Et juste quand il pense être tiré d’affaire, il y a un hic : même dans une petite ville du Montana, c'est seulement une question de temps avant que votre passé vous rattrape. Un bon roman qui se lit vite, qu’on ne quitte plus. Et vous ? qu’auriez-vous fait ?

This is an eventful and pacey novel, which seems to have everything - action, thrills, suspense, big scenery, successful careers, relationships, romance and family problems, and a longing for fulfilment through creativity. The plot is a little bit incredulous at times, but it's so entertaining that I don't think it matters. As I read it, I kept thinking this is an ideal story for a film, and indeed I find it has been made into a film which I have yet to see (though not set in the same country).I thought the title, 'The Big Picture', was very apt as it seems to have several meanings which appear in the book: scooping a big picture using photography; looking at the big picture of life in terms of monetary success, or creative success, or success in relationships or loss of loved ones; as well as turning this book into a big picture film. I haven't given the book 5 stars, perhaps because I am comparing it to the author's best book 'The Pursuit of Happiness'; even though emotions are portrayed well in 'The Big Picture' , they can't compete with the intensity of those felt from reading the other.