This may be the hardest review that I've ever written...mainly because I'm not even sure it's possible to put into words my thoughts on this book. It just was. And partially that's because it was much more metaphysical than I was expecting, for it having been on the NYT Bestseller list. There was so much exploration and introspection and it took me so long to get through because this isn't a book you can just read. You have to concentrate so hard you end up inside the book yourself. Right now, I cannot even remember the book I read before this, I am that lost. The story itself was heartbreaking. Theo, as a boy, loses the one good thing in his life and spends the rest of his life dealing with it. There were failings in so many parts of his life that led him to where he ended up, but it's also not something that's easy to place blame for. As Boris says in the end, perhaps good and bad decisions don't necessarily always lead to good and bad outcomes, respectively. Maybe the lines aren't that cut and dry. Maybe everyone has to draw their own lines for themselves. And the painting. It was a beautiful metaphor for so many parts of this book, both physically and metaphysically. It became it's own character, pulled it's own weight in the plot. And each character was so real, so developed and played their role so well. Pippa and Hobie and Andy and Mrs. Barbour and Xandra. And Boris. Boris was superb. This was such an impressively realized, developed, book. I gave it the 3 stars because it just wasn't my favorite, just isn't my ideal style. But for someone who lives for this type of novel...this was it. This was all of it.