LUST FOR LIFE

A NOVEL BASED ON THE LIFE OF VAN GOGH

«All my life I have tried to understand monsieur why one man should have more than the next, why one man should work hard while his neighbour sits by in idleness. Perhaps I’m too ignorant to understand. Do you think if I were educated, monsieur, I would be able to understand that better». Vincent glanced up quickly to see if Roulin were being cynical. There was the same look of naive innocence on his face. «Yes my friend, he said, most educated people seem to understand that state of affairs very well. But I’m ignorant like you, and I shall never be able to understand or accept it».


«It was not the length of his stay on earth that mattered to him; it was what he did with the days of his life».


«You’re a grand nerveux, Vincent, Doctor Rey had told him. You never have been normal. But then, no artist is normal; if he were, he wouldn’t be an artist. Normal men don’t create works of art. They eat, sleep, hold down routine, jobs and die. You’re hypersensitive to life and nature that’s why you’re able to interpret for the rest of us. But if you’re not careful, that very hypersensitiveness will lead you to your destruction. The strain of it breaks every artist in time».

«Words had never been his medium. He would have to paint goodbye, but one cannot paint goodbye».