Ebook314 pages5 hours
The Last Weynfeldt
By Martin Suter
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
“A sophisticated and urbane novel with a swanky, dapper European setting that is as much Poe and Chandler as Hitchcock and Truffaut . . . A page-turner” (André Aciman, New York Times–bestselling author of Call Me by Your Name).
Adrian Weynfeldt is an art expert in an international auction house, a bachelor in his mid-fifties living in a grand Zurich apartment filled with costly paintings and antiques. Always correct and well-mannered, he’s given up on love until one night—entirely out of character for him—Weynfeldt decides to take home a ravishing but unaccountable young woman. The next morning, he finds her outside on his balcony threatening to jump. Weynfeldt talks her down and soon finds himself falling for this damaged but alluring beauty and his buttoned-up existence comes unraveled. As their two lives become entangled, Weynfeldt gets embroiled in an art forgery scheme that threatens to destroy everything he and his prominent family have stood for. This refined page-turner moves behind elegant bourgeois façades into darker recesses of the heart.
“Suter . . . leavens the sensationalism of crime fiction with psychological insight and melancholy . . . Comfort food for readers who crave memorable characters, romance, and touching, drawn-from-life scenes.” —Publishers Weekly
“Swift, edgy . . . What distinguishes this work is the air of slightly faded existential elegance, which sets off the modern setting splendidly . . . Great for sophisticated suspense fans.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Set in the midst of that vibrant and bizarre organism known as the art world. A captivating read about a memorable protagonist.” —Noah Charney, author of The Museum of Lost Art
Adrian Weynfeldt is an art expert in an international auction house, a bachelor in his mid-fifties living in a grand Zurich apartment filled with costly paintings and antiques. Always correct and well-mannered, he’s given up on love until one night—entirely out of character for him—Weynfeldt decides to take home a ravishing but unaccountable young woman. The next morning, he finds her outside on his balcony threatening to jump. Weynfeldt talks her down and soon finds himself falling for this damaged but alluring beauty and his buttoned-up existence comes unraveled. As their two lives become entangled, Weynfeldt gets embroiled in an art forgery scheme that threatens to destroy everything he and his prominent family have stood for. This refined page-turner moves behind elegant bourgeois façades into darker recesses of the heart.
“Suter . . . leavens the sensationalism of crime fiction with psychological insight and melancholy . . . Comfort food for readers who crave memorable characters, romance, and touching, drawn-from-life scenes.” —Publishers Weekly
“Swift, edgy . . . What distinguishes this work is the air of slightly faded existential elegance, which sets off the modern setting splendidly . . . Great for sophisticated suspense fans.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“Set in the midst of that vibrant and bizarre organism known as the art world. A captivating read about a memorable protagonist.” —Noah Charney, author of The Museum of Lost Art
Author
Martin Suter
Martin Suter is a writer, columnist and screenwriter. Until 1991 he worked as a creative director in advertising, before deciding to focus exclusively on writing. His novels have enjoyed huge international success. He has also written screenplays for film and television, and several of his novels have been made into films. Martin lives in Zurich with his family.
Read more from Martin Suter
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Reviews for The Last Weynfeldt
Rating: 3.6949999199999994 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
100 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adrian Weynfeldt ist ein reicher Kunstmäzen und Sachverständiger Anfang 50. Er lebt allein und hat zwei getrennte Freundeskreise: Einen, der sich eher aus den Freunden seiner verstorbenen Eltern zusammensetzt und einen jüngeren Freundeskreis, für den er der reiche Gönner ist. Zufällig lernt der die 37jährige Lorena kennen, die ihn an seine Jungendliebe Daphne erinnert. Lorena ist eine etwas zwielichtige Gestalt. Bei ihr, wie auch bei den anderen Freunden, hat man das Gefühl, das sie Weynfeldt in erster Linie nur ausnutzen und wenig Zuneigung für ihn empfinden. Interessanterweise kann Weynfeldt, dieser stets höfliche und hilfsbereite Mann, damit gut umgehen und hat selbst weder Minderwertigkeitskomplexe noch Probleme - außer der gepflegten Langeweile seines Daseins vielleicht. Er lässt sich auf Lorena ein, hilft ihr immer wieder, lässt sich von ihr und anderen ausnutzen und bleibt am Ende doch Sieger: ruhig, gelassen und unaufgeregt.Mir hat das Buch sehr gefallen. Erstens fand ich es extrem spannend, zweitens sehr gut geschrieben und drittens auch durch das Setting "Kunstszene" interessant.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5What a bunch of rogues! Really there's no one we should like, but, well, we like them. A prig, a forger, a liar, a schemer, a double-crosser, gossipy servants, and a plot that's almost too silly. What fun! My copy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Martin Suter came to prominence as a writer of Zurich Yuppie tales. This time, he attempts a Buddenbrooks-like portrait of old money but fails. This starts with improper details of old money life such as misspelling 'foie gras', a mistaken tone (The mismatched transfer of swear words from Swiss-German into German has inappropriately increased the text's vulgarity.) and ends with a gentle, bloodless and boring main character who basically throws money at people and problems. The book focusses on food, restaurants, bars and interior decoration, a Yuppie superficiality and insecurity which craves for external feedback. Only the (non old money) minor characters sparkle from time to time but ultimatively remain clichés (a failed artist, a broken model, a motherly housekeeper, ...) in a predictable plot with a weak ending. Acceptable for summer reading but hardly great literature. I expect Adrian Weynfeldt himself would receive the book as a gift ("it's about art dealers") and then be trapped in an awkward social obligation of having to read it.
Book preview
The Last Weynfeldt - Martin Suter
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